Inter- and intrapopulation resource use variation of marine subsidized western fence lizards

Marine resource subsidies can alter consumer dynamics of recipient populations in coastal systems. The response to these subsidies by generalist consumers is often not uniform, resulting in inter- and intrapopulation diet variation and niche diversification that may be intensified across heterogeneous landscapes.
We sampled western fence lizards, Sceloporus occidentalis, from Puget Sound beaches and from coastal and inland forest habitats, as well as the lizards’ marine and terrestrial prey items to quantify marine and terrestrial resource use with stable isotope analysis (SIA) and mixing models.
Isotopic results reveal beach lizards had higher average δ13C and δ15N values compared to coastal and inland forest lizards, exhibiting a strong mixing line between marine and terrestrial prey items. Across five beach sites, lizard populations received 20 to 51% of their diet from marine resources, on average, with individual lizards ranging between 7% and 86% marine diet.
The hillslope of the ..., Sceloporus occidentalis tail tissue, insects, and plant material were collected from several locations around Washington state in the summer months of 2020 and 2021. Stable isotope analyses were performed on these samples at the University of Washington Stable Isotope Laborator and the University of Colorado Boulder Earth Systems Stable Isotope laboratoty using methods described in Pringle and Fox-Dobbs, 2008. More detailed methodology can be found in Ebersole et al, \"Inter- and intrapopulation resource use variation of marine subsidized western fence lizards,\" or in the attached README file., , # Inter and intrapopulation resource use variation of marine subsidized western fence lizards

Authors: Alexi Ebersole1, Marie E. Bunker1, Stacey L. Weiss1, Kena Fox-Dobbs2

Department of Biology1 and Geology2 University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA, USA 98416

\## Data collection methods overview

\* We collected data from seven western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) populations across 3 different habitats in Washington State, USA. For stable isotope analysis, we removed a small piece of tail tissue from the lizards which we processed between the University of Puget Sound, University of Washington Stable Isotope Laboratory, and the University of Colorado Boulder Earth Systems Stable Stable Isotope Laboratories. We collected arthropod prey and plant samples for stable isotope analysis and lizard diet reconstruction. We measured lizard body length and weight data by hand using rulers and spring scales in the field. To model the diets of lizards and quantify marine diet contribution...