Telemetry of the lizard species Gambelia sila at Carrizo Plain National Monument

At Carrizo National Monument, California, USA (35.1914⁰N, 119.7929⁰W) within the San Joaquin Desert, a 5 km²was identified for ecological research. This site was comprised of a foundation shrub species Mormon tea, <i>Ephedra californica</i>, other mixed annual and perennial vegetation, and was occupied by the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, <i>Gambelia sila</i>. For three years from 2016-2018, up to 30 individual lizards were tracked using telemetry each summer when this species was primarily active. Small VHF radio transmitters were attached to individuals (Holohil model BD‐2, frequency 151–152 MHz) and were relocated using a 3‐element Yagi antenna with a Model R‐100 telemetry receiver (Communications Specialists, Inc., Orange, CA, USA). Each instance was geotagged to within 5m, and specific ecological elements of habitat including shrub or open canopy microsites and micro-topography were recorded. A total of 3553 relocations were recorded, and only 6 outlier relocation data points outside the 5km²study area were excluded. At each sampling instance, the association of the individual animal was also coded as shrub or open defined as within 5 m of a visible shrub estimated using a laser rangefinder - Bushnell Outdoor Products, Overland Park, KS, USA and as above or belowground.本研究区域设于美国加利福尼亚州圣华金沙漠内的卡里佐国家纪念地（Carrizo National Monument），地理坐标为北纬35.1914°、西经119.7929°，研究团队在此选取了一块面积为5平方千米的地块开展生态学研究。该区域的建群灌木物种为加州麻黄（俗称摩门茶，*Ephedra californica*），伴生有多种一年生与多年生植被，同时是钝鼻豹蜥（*Gambelia sila*）的栖息生境。2016年至2018年的三年间，每年夏季该物种活动活跃期，研究团队通过无线电遥测技术追踪至多30只个体蜥蜴。研究人员将小型甚高频（VHF）无线电发射器（Holohil BD-2型，工作频率151–152 MHz）附着于蜥蜴体表，采用3单元八木（Yagi）天线搭配R-100型遥测接收机（Communications Specialists, Inc.，美国加利福尼亚州奥兰治市）完成位置复测。每一次位置复测均进行了精度不超过5米的地理标记，同时记录栖息地的关键生态要素，包括灌木冠层或开阔冠层微生境以及微地形特征。本次研究共记录到3553次位置复测数据，仅剔除了6处位于5平方千米研究区域之外的异常复测点。在每一次采样过程中，研究人员还对个体蜥蜴所处的微生境进行编码：以激光测距仪（Bushnell Outdoor Products，美国堪萨斯州欧弗兰帕克市）测定的、距离可见灌木5米范围以内定义为‘灌木周边’，反之则为‘开阔区域’，同时记录个体处于地面以上还是地下。