About This Project

How does a gecko choose its home? The Mediterranean Kotschyi's gecko resides under rocks in much of its distribution range, and on trees in other parts. What makes it choose one habitat over the other? Is it competition with other species? Or maybe they just choose the most abundant type of shelter around? I plan to explore the evolutionary processes behind this gecko's habitat preferences, and understand the drivers which influence its choice, by conducting habitat preference experiments.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

For my MSc research I studied Kotschyi's gecko in Greece. I found that, while on the Greek islands this species lives mainly under rocks, on the mainland it mainly inhabits trees (Schwarz et al. in press). This begs the question why this species inhabits different micro-habitats throughout its distribution, what drives variation in its habitat preferences, and whether this species was originally arboreal or terrestrial. Perhaps the geckos choice stems from their ability to climb some surfaces better than others, or simply reflects tree-scarcity on small islands. Other hypotheses suggest that it is competition with other species on the mainland that forces geckos to inhabit rocks on islands, while predators force them to inhabit trees on the mainland.

What is the significance of this project?

Kotschyi's gecko has both arboreal and terrestrial relatives, does not have specialized toe-pads for climbing trees or rocks, and inhabits both islands and the mainland. Studying the drivers of its habitat choice can shed light on the selection pressures that drive evolution of important ecological traits. Results from this project can, in turn, help predict species distributions based on habitat characteristics, help guide reptile conservation management, and maybe help assess the possible effects changing habitats have on species distributions.

What are the goals of the project?

Because my goal is to see whether evolutionary processes are responsible for Kotschyi's geckos' habitat preference, I will test it in hatchlings that are born to females which reside either under rocks or on trees. Hatchlings allow us to test whether habitat choice is an innate tendency shaped by evolutionary processes, or merely is affected by the immediate environment in their habitat. I will let hatchlings of females collected from several representative populations choose between rocks and trees placed in their enclosure. If habitat choice is a product of evolution I expect juveniles to prefer the habitat of their mother, but if habitat choice is a plastic trait I expect their choice to be random.