The impact of wildfires on the diet of Podarcis lusitanicus revealed by DNA metabarcoding.

ABSTRACT: Fire has long been recognized as an important ecological and evolutionary force in plant communities, but its influence on vertebrate community ecology, particularly regarding predator-prey interactions, remains understudied. This study reveals the impact of wildfires on the diet of Podarcis lusitanicus, a lizard species inhabiting a fire-prone region in the Iberian Peninsula. In order to explore diet variability associated with different local burn histories, we evaluated P. lusitanicus diet across three types of sites in Northern Portugal: those had not burned since 2016, those burned in 2016, and those more recently burned in 2022. Podarcis lusitanicus is a generalist arthropod predator with dietary flexibility. Given the turnover of arthropod species after fire, it is expected to find

SUBMITTER: Simoes C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12488016 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature