Establishment of brown anoles ( Anolis sagrei ) across a southern California county and potential interactions with a native lizard species

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 8; p. e8937
• Main Authors: Fisher, Samuel R, Del Pinto, Lelani A, Fisher, Robert N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 08.04.2020; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Anolis sagrei; Biodiversity; California; Conservation Biology; Diurnal; Ecology; Indigenous species; Invasive species; Lizards; Lyme disease; Neighborhoods; Polls & surveys; Polychrotidae; Population; Sceloporus; Sceloporus occidentalis; Urban areas; Zoology; Taiwan; California; Bermuda; United States > US; Lyme disease; Invasive species; Sceloporus occidentalis; Norops sagrei; Polychrotidae; California; Sceloporus
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8937

The brown anole, , is a native species to the Caribbean; however, has invaded multiple parts of the USA, including Florida, Louisiana, Hawai'i and more recently California. The biological impacts of invading California are currently unknown. Evidence from the invasion in Taiwan shows that they spread quickly and when immediate action is not taken eradication stops being a viable option. In Orange County, California, five urban sites, each less than 100 ha, were surveyed for an average of 49.2 min. Approximately 200 were seen and verified across all survey sites. The paucity of native lizards encountered during the surveys within these sites suggests little to no overlap between the dominant diurnal western fence lizard, , and . This notable lack of overlap could indicate a potentially disturbing reality that are driving local extirpations of .