干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Locomotor performance in lizards is strongly affected by structural habitat. Understanding this relationship allows us to predict species distributions across habitat types. However, little information is available about the ecological role of the locomotion of multiocellated racerunner (Eremias multiocellata) in the desert steppe ecosystem of Inner Mongolia, China. Herein, we studied the effects of habitat structure on the locomotor performance of this lizard species in the field. We found that the sprint speed of this lizard declined significantly with increasing vegetation coverage. Manipulative experiments were further conducted to examine the effects of branch barriers and surface substrates on the sprint speed of the lizard. We found that the sprint speed was significantly influenced by the surface substrates and branch barriers, and there were no interactions between them. Branch barriers impeded sprint speed, and E. multiocellata showed better locomotor performance on sandy rather than loamy substrates. Our results indicate that E. multiocellata tends to occupy open areas with sandy substrates, but its locomotor performance is not closely associated with habitat preference.