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211
INTRODUCTION
Reptilian taxa are declining worldwide for a number
of reasons including habitat loss and fragmentation,
climate change, introduced invasive species, environ-
mental contamination, disease or unsustainable use
(Gibbons et al., 2000; Arau´jo et al., 2006). Further-
more, reptiles can be sensitive indicators of human-
induced environmental changes stemming from in-
tensified grazing (Read, 2002), shifts in forest man-
agement practices (McLeod & Gates, 1998; Green-
berg & Waldrop, 2008), burning regimes (Wilgers &
Horne, 2006), or general human land use. The need
to acquire a more detailed understanding of their e-
cological preferences is a prerequisite for developing
efficient conservation management plans and moni-
toring schemes.
This need is even more pronounced in biodiversi-
ty hotspots, such as the Mediterranean Basin, which
harbours both exceptional concentrations of endemic
species, while experiencing severe habitat loss or de-
gradation (Myers et al., 2000). Cyprus is the third lar-
gest island in the Mediterranean and hosts a special
fauna and flora, as it lies at the crossroads of Europe,
Asia and Africa (Blondel & Aronson, 1999). While
the island of Cyprus is included in the top ten regio-
nal biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean in re-
gard to plant endemism (Médail & Quézel, 1999), its
herpetofauna is not particularly important in terms of
species richness and endemics (Corti et al., 1999;
Grenyer et al., 2006). Furthermore, the distribution
of the herpetofauna of Cyprus is poorly studied, and
this lack of knowledge is even more pronounced for
the proposed NATURA 2000 network of protected
areas.
This study aims to fill some of these knowledge
gaps by investigating the herpetofauna of the “Xeros
Diversity patterns and conservation management of
the lizard community in a Mediterranean reserve (Cyprus)
GEORGIOS MICHAELIDES and VASSILIKI KATI*
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management,University of Ioannina,
Seferi 2,30100 Agrinio,Greece
Received: 4 May 2009 Accepted after revision: 14 September 2009
The current study explores the diversity patterns of the lizard species assembly found on the Me-
diterranean island of Cyprus with the broader aim of providing guidelines for the conservation
management of these types of Mediterranean species communities. We sampled lizards in eight
quadrats of 10 ha each, located in the Xeros Potamos protected area (SW Cyprus), and recorded
16 environmental parameters for each quadrat. We identified eight lizard species, five of which
are protected under European legislation (Ablepharus budaki,Chalcides ocellatus,Laudakia stel-
lio,Mediodactylus kotschyi,Ophisops elegans), and one that is listed as endangered (Acanthoda-
ctylus schreiberi) based on IUCN assessments. The microhabitats used by the resident lizard com-
munity in the study area were defined best by substrate, bush cover, humidity, altitude and incli-
nation (RDA). Traditionally cultivated land with hedges harbored the highest lizard diversity.
The typical habitat for the endangered species A. schreiberi consisted of humid sandy river banks
with bush cover, a habitat currently threatened by the Xeros Potamos River channelization. Im-
mediate action should involve the establishment of a control mechanism for the protection of
the sandy riverbeds from illegal deposit of construction debris, the removal of embankments, and
the sustainable use of water so as to maintain the natural flow regimes of the river.
Key words: Acanthodactylus schreiberi, ecology, NATURA 2000, reptiles, river channelization.
Corresponding author: tel.: +30 26410 74193, fax: +30
26410 33716, e-mail: vkati@cc.uoi.gr, info@cbcd.eu
Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki 12: 211 – 220, 2009
J. Biol. Res.-Thessalon. is available online at http://www.jbr.gr
Indexed in: WoS (Web of Science, ISI Thomson), SCOPUS, CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)
Potamos” reserve in Cyprus, which constitutes a pro-
posed Site of Community Interest (pSCI) and addi-
tionally has been proposed as a Special Protection
Area for birds (SPA) (European Union Directives
92/43 EEC and 79/409 EEC, respectively). Specifical-
ly, our objectives were to: (a) investigate the diversity
patterns of the lizard community in Xeros Potamos,
(b) evaluate their habitat preferences, with a special
emphasis on protected taxa and (c) provide guideli-
nes for applied conservation management of the local
lizard community. Insights produced from this study
may be applicable to other Mediterranean areas (be-
yonf the studied site) with respect to conservation ma-
nagement.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area
The study area is situated in south-western Cyprus
(34Æ71′-34Æ85′¡, 32Æ53′-32Æ67′E), about 2 km away
from the coast and covers an area of ~41 km2. The
local climate is Mediterranean, with long, dry and hot
summers and mild winters; the dry season expands
for over 7 months, while the mean annual tempera-
ture is 27.3ÆC and the mean annual rainfall is 418.5
mm. The study area centers on the valley formed by
the Xeros Potamos River, an intermittently flowing
Mediterranean river that has been designated as a
priority habitat for conservation according to Euro-
pean legislation (Annex I, 92/43 EEC). The construc-
tion of a dam in the lower part of the river in 1980 re-
sulted in the formation of an artificial lake, and dis-
rupted the natural flow of water to the river estuary.
Study site elevations range from 30 to 700 m. The stu-
dy area includes nine European habitat types (Euro-
pean Commission, 2003) and one assigned only to
Cyprus (reedbed CY02), and includes mainly phryga-
na (38%), Mediterranean pine forests (17%) and pseu-
do-steppes with grasses and annuals (16%) (Fig. 1).
212 G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus
FIG. 1. Study area of Xeros Potamos in Cyprus and location of sampling quadrats (Q). The habitat codes used
refer to the European habitat typology (see European Commission, 2003).
Sampling
We randomly placed eight quadrats of 10 ha each to
represent the habitat types in the study area. We di-
vided each quadrat in ten sub-quadrats and noted the
average cover of high and low bushes, grasses, soil,
and stony substrate for each quadrat, with the help of
1:100 aerial photographs and in situ ground-truthing
(Table 1, Fig. 1). During a 120 min systematic tran-
sect sample of each quadrat we recorded all individ-
ual lizards encountered. We repeated the sampling
four times during one year period (in April, June, Ju-
ly and October of 2006). To standardize sampling ef-
ficiency we conducted each sampling during the morn-
ing hours when ambient temperatures ranged be-
tween 25 and 29ÆC.
To describe lizard microhabitats we also collected
for each quadrat the following 16 environmental pa-
rameters: altitude, soil humidity, shade, inclination,
aspect, microhabitat vegetation (four parameters),
and microhabitat substrate (six parameters). For soil
humidity measurement, we used humidity counter
apparatus (Trime-Fm-Imko) to take samples at 50
cm soil depth (October), at 5 randomly selected loca-
tions in each quadrat and then calculated plot aver-
ages. At a finer scale, we described the microhabitat
around a circle of 0.5 m radius for each lizard en-
countered. We estimated the proportion of microha-
bitat shade (%), and inclination (%) and used eight
categories for aspect. We used the following four pa-
rameters relating to microhabitat vegetation: absence
of vegetation, presence of tall bushes (1.6-7 m), pres-
ence low bushes (0.3-1.5 m) and presence of grasses.
We also used six qualitative parameters in regard to
microhabitat substrate: the presence of rocks (>50
cm), stones (>0.2 cm), gravel (<0.2 cm), dry hard
soil, loose soil and sand. Finally, we noted the sub-
strate on which each animal was encountered (un-
der/on stones, under/on leaves-grasses, under/on tree-
bushes, on rocks, on the road).
Data analysis
We calculated the Chao 1 and the abundance-based
coverage estimator (ACE) using Estimate S software
(Colwell, 2006). These estimators are non-parametric
tools (independent of the species community distrib-
ution model) that estimate the actual number of spe-
cies present in the study area and hence evaluating
sampling efficiency, based on the frequency of rare
species in the sample (Magurran, 2004). We created
the rank/ abundance of Whittaker plot (log 10 scale)
and we estimated species diversity of the quadrats on
the basis species richness (S), number of individuals
(N) and the reciprocal of Simpson’s index (1/D) (Ma-
gurran, 2004). We also created a hierarchical tree of
the quadrats on the basis of reptile community com-
position, using Ward’s hierarchical clustering method
and the option of x2coefficient of similarity (Legen-
dre & Legendre, 1998) (SPSS software, version 14).
We also conducted a constrained ordination to iden-
tify the environmental parameters influencing species
presence, using microhabitat data collected in the
field (CANOCO software: ter Braak & Smilauer,
2002). The species dataset presented a linear response
to environmental parameters (Detrended Correspon-
dence Analysis – DCA). We used therefore the Re-
dudancy Analysis (RDA) to find those environmen-
tal parameters that regulated significantly (p<0.05)
lizard species distribution, and that did not suffer
from collinearity (1000 permutations in a Monte Car-
lo test).
RESULTS
We recorded 848 individual lizards belonging to eight
species, and four families (Agamidae, Gekkonidae,
Lacertidae and Scincidae), out of the 11 lizard species
of Cyprus. The three species not recorded in the stu-
dy area were: Chamaeleo chamaeleon, Hemidactylus
turcicus, and Eumeces schneideri. Five of the species
sampled (Ablepharus budaki,Chalcides ocellatus,Lau-
dakia stellio,Mediodactylus kotschyi,Ophisops elegans)
have been afforded legal protection in Europe (Ap-
pendix IV, 92/43 EEC). One species, Acanthodacty-
lus schreiberi, is considered endangered according to
the Red List of threatened species (Hraoui-Bloquet
et al., 2006) (Table 2). Our sampling was exhaustive,
given that the species richness estimation was bet-
ween 8 and 8.58 (Chao 1 and ACE estimators respe-
ctively).
Ecological structure
Ward’s clustering procedure distinguished three clus-
ters of quadrats (Fig. 2). The first cluster grouped to-
gether the mosaic-character sites (Q1, Q8) which
combined several vegetation types and were additio-
nally characterized by an important stony substrate
along the riverbeds (Q8) or the lakeshore (Q1) (Ta-
ble 1). Open habitats with grassy or low bush under-
growth, located either in cultivations, phrygana or
pinewoods formed the second cluster (Q2, Q3, Q4,
Q6). The third cluster included two quadrats that
G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus 213
214 G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus
TABLE 1. Quadrat description and species diversity of the lizard community
Q Natura code Habitat description Topography Vegetation Ground Species Diversity
Alt (m) Exp TB LB Gr So St H S N 1/D
1 5420 X 3150 X 5330 phrygana X lake X pre-desert
X Cult. X CY02 scrub X cultivations X reedbeds 50 W 2 2 2 2 3 12 5 (3) 90 3.12
2 Cult. cultivations with hedges 150 SE 2 1 2 3 2 12 8 (5) 97 2.25
3 6220* X 5420 xerophile grassland X phrygana 150 SE 2 1 3 2 1 13 4 (2) 69 1.63
4 9540 semi-open pine wood 250 N 2 4 1 2 1 10 3 (2) 72 1.85
5 Cult. X 93A0* vineyard with hedges X oak wood 650 NW 3 2 2 2 1 13 5 (3) 152 1.90
6 5420 X 6220* phrygana X xerophile grassland 350 SE 2 1 3 3 1 13 4 (2) 80 1.80
7 9320 olive grove with tall bushes 450 E 3 3 3 2 1 10 5 (3) 146 2.13
8 92D0 X 5420 X 6220* river bed X phrygana X xerophile
X 9540 grassland X pine wood 250 SW 2 1 2 2 4 14 2 (2) 142 1.41
Topography: Alt: altitude, Exp: exposure (N: north, E: east, W: west, NW: north-west, SE: south-east, SW: south-west); Vegetation: TB: tall bushes (1.6-7 m), LB: low bushes (0.3-1.5
m), Gr: grass; Ground: So: bare soil, St: stony substrate, H: humidity; Species diversity: S: number of species, (numbers in parentheses indicate protected species of 92/43 EEC or en-
dangered), N: number of individuals, 1/D: Simpson reciprocal index. Categories of vegetation and ground: 1: <5%, 2: 6-25%, 3: 26-50%, 4: 51-75%, 5: >75%.
were located at higher altitudes and contained exten-
sive cover of tall bushes and low trees (Q5, Q7) (Fig.
2, Table 1).
Eight environmental parameters influenced sig-
nificantly the distribution patterns of lizard species
assemblage (31% of dataset variability explained)
(Fig. 3). The first axis reflected a gradient from mi-
crohabitats of higher altitudes and with tall bush
cover to localities at lower altitudes, with greater hu-
midity, and sandy substrate. The second axis was a
gradient from microhabitats with softer soil to more
bare microhabitats with greater inclination and stony
to rocky substrates (Fig. 3). The presence of humid
sandy substrate was the main factor that was associ-
ated positively with the presence of A. schreiberi, whe-
reas higher altitudes and the presence of tall bushes
defined the presence of Ophisops elegans and Phoeni-
G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus 215
100.000 75.000
stony substrate
low bushes
tall bushes
25.00050.000
Information remaining (%)
0.000
Q1
Q8
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q7
Q6
FIG. 2. Ward’s hierarchical tree based on the similarity of species communities across the quadrats sampled.
Inclination
L. stellio
Rh. troodica
O. elegans
M. kotschyi
C. ocellatus
A. schreiberi
E. vittatus
A. budaki
Stones
Rock
High bushes
Altitude
Soft soil
Humidity Sand
-0.6 1.0
-0.4
1.0
TABLE 2. Abundance matrix of lizard species across the quadrats sampled. Cell value refers to the overall number of indivi-
duals recorded and species names follow Fauna Europaea (2004)
Species Quadrats Total
123 4 5 6 7 8
Ablepharus budaki * 030 4 2 0 0 0 9
Acanthodactylus schreiberi E30 3 0 0 0 0 9 117 159
Chalcides ocellatus* 010 0 0 0 0 0 1
Euprepis vittatus 141 0 0 0 0 0 6
Phoenicolacerta troodica 0 8 0 18 37 7 8 0 78
Laudakia stellio* 23 13 11 0 8 13 26 0 94
Mediodactylus kotschyi* 124 0 1 2 7 0 17
Ophisops elegans* 35 63 53 50 104 58 96 25 484
* species listed under the Appendix IV of 92/43 EEC, E: Endangered species (IUCN, 2007)
FIG. 3. Environmental parameters affecting significantly
(p<0.05) the lizard species distribution using Redundancy
Analysis (RDA). Species located in the center are not signi-
ficantly influenced.
colacerta troodica. Presence of stony substrate was as-
sociated with the presence of Mediodactylus kotschyi,
Laudakia stellio and also P. troodica. Neither of these
environmental parameters was significantly associated
with the presence of those species positioned in the
center of the RDA diagram (C. ocellatus,E. vittatus,
A. budaki).
Type of substrate
We recorded lizards mostly under/on bushes (41%),
grasses or leaves (29%), and stones (21%), whereas
only rarely under/on rocks (6%) and on the road
(2%) (Fig. 4). Chalcides ocellatus (encountered only
once), A. budaki and E. vittatus, were mostly recorded
under grasses and leaves. On the other hand, M. ko-
tschyi,P. troodica and L. stellio were found on a di-
versity of substrates, but most frequently on rocky or
stony ground or under bushes. The two most abundant
species in the study area, O. elegans and A. schreiberi,
were encountered on a diversity of substrates, but
very frequently (42-43%) under bushes.
Diversity
The most important quadrat in terms of species-rich-
ness, supporting all the species of the study area, were
the cultivations (Q2), consisting in agricultural fields
of cereals separated with hedges (Table 1). Three
more quadrats were quite species-rich as they includ-
ed five species, three of which were of conservation
importance: a mosaic of habitats including phrygana
and cultivations (Q1), a vineyard at higher altitude
(Q5) and an olive grove with bush undergrowth (Q7).
The quadrats Q1, Q2 and Q7 had also in descending
order the greatest evenness of relative abundance dis-
tribution among species, as indicated by the recipro-
cal of Simpson’s index (1/D) and by the rank/ abun-
dance plot (Table 1, Fig. 5). The least species-rich
quadrat with the least evenness of relative abundance
among species was mosaic Q8, including river bed,
phrygana, grassland and pine wood habitats (Table 1,
Fig. 5). Although it supported only two species, its
conservation value was high, as it supported a domi-
nant population of the endangered A. schreiberi, with
relative abundance varying between 12 and 56 indi-
viduals per quadrat in April and October, respective-
ly. Notably, among the various habitats contained in
Q8, we encountered A. schreiberi exclusively in the
stony river bed, as well as the associated sandy humid
river banks and their important cover of low bushes
(Table 1).
DISCUSSION
Ecological structure
We found that degree of humidity, type of substrate
(sand, soft soil, or stones-rock), as well as the altitude,
inclination and the presence of tall bushes were the
most important factors defining the lizard communi-
ties in our study area. Some of these parameters de-
termine important reptile habitats in other Mediter-
ranean areas as well (e.g. Strijbosch et al., 1989; Ioan-
nidis & Bousbouras, 1997; Kati et al., 2007; Soares &
Brito, 2007). The ·-diversity of the reptile communi-
ty is mainly determined by the presence of appropri-
ate microhabitats on a small scale, rather than by the
216 G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus
On/under bush
On/under grass
On/under stones
Rock
Road
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
A.budaki
A.schreiberi
C. ocellatus
M. kotschyi
L. stelio
O. elegans
P. troodica
E. vittatus
FIG. 4. Frequency (%) of species encountered in different substrates and total number of individuals per species.
general composition of the dominant vegetation types
(Block & Morrison, 1998), landscape heterogeneity
(Atauri & De Lucio, 2001), or degree of fragmentation
at larger scales (Jellinek et al., 2004).
According to Ward’s dendrogram, the lizard com-
munity is structured into three ecological clusters, on
the basis of similarities in species composition across
quadrats. These clusters did not correspond to the hi-
erarchical European habitat typology, which is devel-
oped after the composition of dominant plant species
and vegetation physiognomy. Therefore, at least for
this study area, standard European habitat types
should not be used as predefined management units
for lizard community conservation.
Ecological requirements of protected species
Ablepharus budaki
While Budak’s Snake-Eyed Skink is a species of con-
servation concern in Europe (92/43 EEC) it is quite
common on Cyprus, and is classified as a taxon of
Least Concern by IUCN criteria (Lymberakis et al.,
2006). Nonetheless, we had only nine observations of
the species in our study area, although this most like-
ly attributable to cryptic behaviour rather than actual
rarity. We mostly encountered this lizard in leaf litter
and grass duff, both of which are considered typical
habitats for the species, and more rarely under bushes.
Acanthodactylus schreiberi
Schreibers’ fringe fingered lizard is currently listed as
endangered due to its serious population decline
(more than 50%), the limited extent of its occurrence
and area of occupancy, and its fragmented distribu-
tion (Hraoui-Bloquet et al., 2006). We recorded this
lizard in great abundance in the study area but only
within specific habitats: it was found almost exclusi-
vely along the river banks as well as within the dry ri-
verbed of Xeros Potamos (Q8), in humid microhabi-
tats with sandy and less stony substrate, and with an
important cover of low bushes of ~40 cm height. Ac-
cording to RDA results, its presence is tied to low al-
titude, high humidity and sandy substrate sites. Within
these locations it was recorded in a diversity of sub-
strates such as under bushes, on/ under grasses/lea-
ves, or stones. Although its typical habitat has been
described as coastal sand dunes (Hraoui-Bloquet et
al., 2006) all of the plots where we encountered it
were away from the sea (>2 km).
Chalcides ocellatus
The Ocellated skink is a species of European conser-
vation concern (92/43 EEC). This species is very rare
on our study site with a single record from grass litter
substrate.
G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus 217
100
1
10
Relative abundance
Species rank
Q8
Q3
Q5
Q4 Q1
Q6
Q7 Q2
FIG. 5. Relative abundance curves for lizard species on the eight quadrats. Curves represent the relative abun-
dances of species on a logarithmic scale (log10) plotted in sequence from most to least abundant.
Laudakia stellio
The Rough-tailed agama is a species of European
conservation concern (92/43 EEC). It is quite wide-
spread and abundant in the study area (94 observa-
tions). We recorded it in a diversity of habitats such
as cultivations, phrygana, olive grooves, scrubs and
grasslands. Its presence was associated with localities
of greater inclination. In particular it was tied to the
occurrence of stones and rocks (RDA), and was en-
countered in a diversity of substrates including rocks,
stones and bushes.
Mediodactylus kotschyi
Kotschy’s Gecko is a species of European conserva-
tion concern (92/43 EEC). It is quite widespread in
the Xeros Potamos protected area but is not very a-
bundant (17 observations). In our study area it was
generally sympatric with the Rough-tailed agama. Its
typical habitat is dry stony localities covered with scrub
vegetation (Valakos et al., 2008).
Ophisops elegans
The Snake-eyed Lizard is a species of European con-
servation concern (92/43 EEC). It was the most wide-
spread and abundant species in the Xeros Potamos
protected area occurring in all quadrats sampled. The
species occurs typically in open phrygana, but also in
bare or stony land (Valakos et al., 2008). We recorded
it on all substrates, including roads, rocks, stones,
grasses and bushes. Nonetheless its presence ap-
peared to be tied to three particular factors: higher
altitude, cover of tall bushes and presence of soft soil
(RDA).
Diversity conservation
Cultivated land is the most important habitat for con-
serving lizard diversity, because it supports a healthy
community of lizards, including all the species of the
reserve with even abundance distribution among them.
It consists mainly of traditionally cultivated agricul-
tural plots with cereals and plots of lemon trees. Typ-
ically, hedges of low or occasionally taller bushes are
used to separate the plots. Such hedgerows, inter-
spersed between cultivations increase habitat hetero-
geneity at a small scale, providing a diversity of mi-
crohabitats with variable bush cover or substrate type
suitable for different lizard species. The ecological
value of traditional agricultural landscapes containing
hedgerows has been shown to be considerable for a
diversity of taxonomic groups such as the breeding
birds (Hinsley & Bellamy, 2000), mammals (MacDo-
nald et al., 2007), or plants (Garcia Del Barrio et al.,
2006). Hence, this study provides additional evidence
supporting the European common agricultural policy
(CAP) towards the maintenance of this type of land-
scape in the Mediterranean region.
The river bed of Xeros Potamos was the poorest
in terms of species richness and with a great popula-
tion dominance of one species. However, the domi-
nant species was the resident A. schreiberi and there-
fore the humid sandy river banks of Xeros Potamos
dotted with low bushes represented its typical habitat
should be considered to be high value habitat for the
conservation of this species. This species suffers lo-
cally from habitat loss due to lack of sustainable wa-
ter management, illegal debris deposit and river chan-
nelization. The latter is currently carried out through
high (>170 cm) artificial embankments built up in
several parts along the river, to increase water supply
in the artificial lake of the dam (Fig. 1). This activity
will eventually result in the eventual loss of the fin-
gered lizard population, given the disruption of the
natural water flow of the river, and the prevention of
sandy sediment deposition that forms its habitat. Nat-
ural rivers and their fringing riparian zones are con-
sidered among the most threatened ecosystems world-
wide (Tockner & Stanford, 2002). One of the main
threats is river channelization damaging the riverside
habitats and threatening several other taxa, such as ri-
parian arthropods, fish or plant communities (e.g.
Paetzold et al., 2008). Immediate conservation mea-
sures should involve the establishment of control
mechanism for the protection of the sandy riverbeds
from illegal debris deposit, the removal of embank-
ments, the restoration of natural species habitats and
finally the sustainable water use so as to maintain the
natural ecological flow pattern of the river and to re-
tain adequate humidity conditions. The latter mea-
sure is also important for the restoration of Xeros Po-
tamos estuary zone.
Unsustainable water management in the area cuts
off any freshwater supply to Xeros Potamos estuary,
resulting in erosion, severe alteration of its vegetation
physiognomy and in amphibian population decrease.
Further research is however needed to assess current
population status of the species in the estuary zone as
well.
Herpetofaunal diversity is an important compo-
nent of the overall biodiversity in Mediterranean re-
gions and should be considered in general to be an in-
218 G. Michaelides and V. Kati — Diversity and conservation of lizards from Cyprus
dependent group for inventorying and monitoring in
European protected areas (Tuberville et al., 2005).
The future management plan and monitoring scheme
of the Xeros Potamos site as a part of the NATURA
2000 network should include lizard community and
develop independent management actions, adapted
to each species apart, with emphasis on the five pro-
tected species of the area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Y. Ioannidis for field support and
to J. Foufopoulos and P. Maragou for their helpful
comments that greatly improved this manuscript.
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