Where should I go? Habitat preference of a Mediterranean gecko

Methods

Summary

I will collect geckos from trees and from under rocks in insular and mainland Greece and run a common experiment on all individuals in the lab. I will place geckos collected in the wild and born in captivity to parents of known origins in an enclosure with both trees and rocks, and observe which shelter they select. I will also use different types of rocks and trees to test if these affect their choice. Additionally, I will place potential competitors and predators in terraria just outside the enclosure to evaluate their effects on shelter choice. Finally, I will test whether the temperature range that each shelter provides influences their preference. 

Challenges

Succeeding in raising enough hatchlings to have sufficient sample size from each location is going to be a major challenge, because mortality rates may be quite high. However, my colleagues in University of Athens and I have more than two years of experience in rearing Kotschyi's geckos, so I have trust in our ability to succeed with this mission.