island endemic

The Lesser Antilles is part of the Caribbean biodiversity hotspot and a priority for conservation of its flora is its endemic taxa. Using data from herbarium specimen labels, we recently carried out a preliminary conservation assessment of the 263 seed plant taxa unique to these islands, reporting that 70% of them are potentially threatened. In an effort to make conservation recommendations for the threatened species, we have further analyzed the specimen data for patterns in their distribution. We found that just over ⅓ of the region’s endemics are restricted to a single island, and the majority of these are only found at a single location, whereas the others are found at multiple sites on each island. Diversity of regional endemics appears to be associated with larger islands, and while there appears to be a loose correlation between areas of high diversity of regional endemics and local endemism, there are a number of isolated centers of local endemism scattered across the island chain that may be of particular conservation concern. We also detected a relationship between diversity and elevation, with a peak in the number of endemic species occurred at midelevations (400–800 m). This correlation translates to a relationship between endemism and habitat type, with elevated numbers of endemics found in rainforest and elfin woodland, both communities that typically occur at mid- to high elevations, respectively. The highest proportion of threatened taxa is found in restricted and fragmented communities (elfin woodland, summit-herb vegetation, river bank, and moist forest) and the lowest proportion is found in the largest, most contiguous community (rainforest). Focused conservation action should occur in these important areas where plant endemism is locally high and habitat types are restricted and fragmented.

House geckos in the genus Hemidactylus are highly successful colonizers of regions beyond their native range, with colonization often resulting in displacement of native gecko species through competitive interactions for daytime refuge (crevices) and prey resources. We report on data collected from nighttime surveys undertaken in April-May 2014 on Barbados, West Indies, that focused on the distribution and abundance of the endemic Barbados leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus pulcher) and the introduced tropical house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia) along unlit coastal walls and among boulders in the grounds of a hotel resort. In contrast to patterns of displacement of native species by H. mabouia seen elsewhere, P. pulcher was more abundant than H. mabouia on coastal walls, whereas the latter was found in greater numbers using boulders at this site. Walls and boulders differed with regard to availability of diurnal refugia suitable for geckos, with the walls having high frequency of small crevices with openings <20 mm, and boulders offering very little cover other than the underside of the boulder itself. To investigate whether this niche separation was a result of differences in diurnal refuge use between the species, we conducted experimental trials in which geckos were allowed to select between refugia with different characteristics. Both species selected for narrower and warmer refugia, and refugia that had been previously occupied by the other species. These shared preferences for refugia type suggest that other factors underlie the niche separation observed in the field. In supporting high densities of P. pulcher, coastal walls could offer important secondary habitat by augmenting the natural cliff side habitat of this endemic gecko, a finding that could be exploited for the conservation of this candidate species for Critically Endangered classification.