Meeting Abstract
As the human population increases, urban areas are expanding, which often brings humans in close proximity to wildlife. Disturbance by humans can lead to changes in animal behavior and ecological interactions. Urban areas also provide access to novel substrates (e.g., cement walls and metal posts), which may influence the behavior and performance of organisms. We studied whether urban habitats and the novel, artificial substrates found in cities influenced the escape behavior of the lizard Anolis cristatellus. We tested whether lizards in urban environments show reduced flight initiation distance (i.e. distance between the observer and the lizard when the lizard begins escape) and whether flight distance differs between urban and natural habitats. We found that flight initiation distance was significantly shorter in urban environment as compared to natural habitats. We also found differences in flight initiation between urban anoles that were perched on trees and those perched on artificial substrates. Anoles on urban trees initiated escape at shorter distances than those on metal posts and cement walls. Flight distance was not significantly different between habitats. Our results suggest that urban lizards have adjusted their escape response, reducing the distance at which they react to the persistent presence of humans near their perches. Both the urban environment itself and artificial substrates found in cities affect escape behavior of anoles.
