ECOLOGICAL RELEASE ANALYZED AMONG INDIVIDUALS, ACROSS TWO GENERATIONS, AND ALONG MULTIPLE NICHE AXES IN ANOLIS CAROLINENSIS

摘要: . A population freed from a constraining interspecific interaction (e.g., competition or predation) may experience niche shifts and expansions. This phenomenon, termed ecological release, is an eco-evolutionary process driven by individual behaviors and interindividual interactions. However, empirical studies of these interactions seldom observe them directly, instead inferring process from pattern. Here, we set up experimental conditions for ecological release of the lizard Anolis carolinensis (green anole) from constraining interactions with its congener, Anolis sagrei (brown anole), by constituting populations of lizards on small islands. We monitored individual and population habitat use along three niche axes (perch height, perch diameter, and lateral movement between perches) on one experimental (one-species) and one control (two-species) island, for three time periods: 1) preremoval, when both islands had …