TY - JOUR

T1 - Home ranges of Sand Lizards, Lacerta agilis (Squamata: Sauria: Lacertidae), along railway tracks

AU - Janssen, Alina

AU - Staab, Michael

AU - Rödel, Mark-Oliver

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Germany.

PY - 2025/5/15

Y1 - 2025/5/15

N2 - Railway tracks are important novel habitats for Sand Lizards, Lacerta agilis, where they often occur in high densities. However, railways are subject to regular interventions, which might threaten local Sand Lizard populations. To assess possible threats through maintenance and construction, detailed knowledge of how Sand Lizards use habitats along railway tracks is essential. Therefore, we assessed the home ranges of Sand Lizards with radiotelemetry in 2020 and 2021 and determined if home ranges differed between seasons and sexes. We further assessed the present microhabitats including the lizards’ sleeping sites. Our study took place in Brandenburg, Germany. We found that home ranges are smallest in spring and largest in summer but didn’t find significant differences between male and female Sand Lizards. Home range size was best predicted by calendar week, with larger home ranges during warmer seasons. The home range core areas were located directly along the railway track. Sleeping sites were found mostly in the embankment and in the track ballast. The latter was the main sleeping habitat in summer, while in spring and late summer sleeping sites were mainly located in the embankment and at the forest edge. Our study shows that railway tracks and the adjacent embankments with high structural diversity provide all crucial elements for the occurrence of Sand Lizards throughout the year, while exact habitat use varies among seasons. We furthermore provide detailed insights into the use of different microhabitats as hiding and sleeping sites.

AB - Railway tracks are important novel habitats for Sand Lizards, Lacerta agilis, where they often occur in high densities. However, railways are subject to regular interventions, which might threaten local Sand Lizard populations. To assess possible threats through maintenance and construction, detailed knowledge of how Sand Lizards use habitats along railway tracks is essential. Therefore, we assessed the home ranges of Sand Lizards with radiotelemetry in 2020 and 2021 and determined if home ranges differed between seasons and sexes. We further assessed the present microhabitats including the lizards’ sleeping sites. Our study took place in Brandenburg, Germany. We found that home ranges are smallest in spring and largest in summer but didn’t find significant differences between male and female Sand Lizards. Home range size was best predicted by calendar week, with larger home ranges during warmer seasons. The home range core areas were located directly along the railway track. Sleeping sites were found mostly in the embankment and in the track ballast. The latter was the main sleeping habitat in summer, while in spring and late summer sleeping sites were mainly located in the embankment and at the forest edge. Our study shows that railway tracks and the adjacent embankments with high structural diversity provide all crucial elements for the occurrence of Sand Lizards throughout the year, while exact habitat use varies among seasons. We furthermore provide detailed insights into the use of different microhabitats as hiding and sleeping sites.

KW - Biology

KW - Autocorrelated kernel density estimation

KW - microhabitat

KW - sleeping sites

KW - radiotelemetry

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105010934960&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 61

SP - 240

EP - 255

JO - Salamandra

JF - Salamandra

SN - 0036-3375

IS - 2

ER -