Environmental characteristics of the Mediterranean islands and the lizard assemblages

Aim: To identify and evaluate the environmental properties of the Mediterranean islands that make them a suitable habitat for their endemic lizards. This would represent an important improvement in our knowledge and would assist the conservation of these lizards, which are threatened by both the expansion of mainland species and the increasing intensity of human disturbance on these islands.

Location: Mediterranean Basin.

Methods: I assessed the environmental associations of 50 species of lizard (19 endemic) across 552 Mediterranean islands using outlying mean index analysis. The strength of the response of each species was assessed using binomial generalized linear models.

Results: The presence of endemic species is positively correlated with the distance of the island from the mainland. Island connectivity is also positively correlated with an increased presence of endemic lizards, but not with an increased presence of mainland species (those with exclusive or mainly continen...