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dc.contributor.authorKarunarathna, S.
dc.contributor.authorSurasinghe, T.
dc.contributor.authorMadawala, M.
dc.contributor.authorSomaweera, Ruchira
dc.contributor.authorAmarasinghe, A.
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-13T09:08:39Z
dc.date.available2018-12-13T09:08:39Z
dc.date.created2018-12-12T02:46:55Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.citationKarunarathna, S. and Surasinghe, T. and Madawala, M. and Somaweera, R. and Amarasinghe, A. 2017. Ecological and behavioural traits of the Sri Lankan water monitor (Varanus salvator) in an urban landscape of Western Province, Sri Lanka. Marine and Freshwater Research. 68 (12): pp. 2242-2252.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71046
dc.identifier.doi10.1071/MF17038
dc.description.abstract

The Asian water monitor Varanus salvator is one of the largest species of lizard in the world and is widespread on the island of Sri Lanka. In the present study, we conducted a 7-month survey within a 5-km stretch in the urbanised Attanagalu-Oya river area to study habitat associations, mesohabitat use and behaviour of V. salvator in urban landscapes. The greatest number of monitor sightings was made in aquatic habitats, followed by terrestrial and arboreal habitats within the riparian zone. Sightings of different life history stages of V. salvator across major habitat types varied significantly. The adults and subadults associated mostly with aquatic and terrestrial habitats, whereas hatchlings and juveniles associated mostly with aquatic and arboreal habitats. Given variable sighting frequencies of distinct life history stages across different major habitat types, it is likely that there is substantial age-structured niche partitioning in V. salvator. The urban population of V. salvator studied seemed to be fairly abundant, and resilient to anthropogenic stressors and adversity of urbanisation. In species-depauperate urban environments, ecosystem functions provisioned by V. salvator as generalist predators as well as scavengers are arguably significant and deserve further investigation. No direct anthropogenic threats were observed during the study.

dc.publisherCSIRO Publishing
dc.titleEcological and behavioural traits of the Sri Lankan water monitor (Varanus salvator) in an urban landscape of Western Province, Sri Lanka
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume68
dcterms.source.number12
dcterms.source.startPage2242
dcterms.source.endPage2252
dcterms.source.issn1323-1650
dcterms.source.titleMarine and Freshwater Research
curtin.departmentSchool of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
curtin.accessStatusFulltext not available


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