Do growth rate and survival differ between undisturbed and disturbed environments for Sceloporus spinosus Wiegmann, 1828 (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) from Oaxaca, Mexico?

Demography is intimately related to the evolution of the life history of a species, since it describes the patterns of variation in the growth, maturation, reproduction, and survival of an organism through populations, species, and environments. In this study the growth, survivorship, and population structure were evaluated for an oviparous lizard, Sceloporus spinosus from two sites, a relatively undisturbed area (UA) and a disturbed area (DA; zone of land-use change) within the Natural Protected Area Yagul of southern Oaxaca, Mexico. The results showed different relative densities between seasons (higher during the wet season than the dry season), but not between populations. Males and females from the UA and DA showed similar growth rate patterns, and both sexes reached sexual maturity at a similar body size. The highest survival rates and recapture probabilities were found in the UA; however, males from both populations showed higher survival rates than females. Overall, this study suggests that land-use changes do not seem to cause wide variation in the analyzed demographic characteristics of this species. This work describes and quantifies demographic effects on some life history characteristics of a species endemic to Mexico. We argue for the need to analyze and compare many capture-recapture data for a species between locations in order to obtain a better assessment of the variation in the life history characteristics analyzed.