JOHNSON, M. A.; Washington University, St. Louis, MO: Does Where an Animal Lives Determine Its Behavior? The Role of Microhabitat in Lizard Territoriality

Many animals defend territories to monopolize resources. Despite much work on interspecific variation in territoriality, little is known about the role of habitat in this behavior. Specifically, species that occur in different habitats may experience dissimilar selective pressures, resulting in different territorial behaviors. To determine the effects of habitat structure on territoriality, I quantified aggressive display behaviors and territory overlap for six territorial species of Caribbean Anolis lizards occurring in a range of microhabitats. I also measured the microhabitats occupied by each species. Results from this work indicate that species occurring in more open microhabitats perform more territorial behaviors than those in more cluttered microhabitats, but that species in open microhabitats have a higher degree of territory overlap within sexes. Because male territoriality in Anolis is presumably primarily a means to increase mating opportunities, I am also conducting molecular paternity analyses of hatchlings from the populations studied in the field to determine if the different territorial strategies result in different spatial patterns of paternity among species.