title: The ecological associations of surface-dwelling lizards in Qom Province in the Northwest of Central Plateau of Iran.
abstract: We used pitfall trapping to investigate the effects of elevation, plant density and soil structure on species diversity and the impact of these habitat factors on lizard habitat selectivity in the Qom Province in the Central Plateau of Iran. From a total of 12 1-ha plots, we captured 363 individuals of 15 species of lizards (six species of Lacertidae, five species of Agamidae, two species of Gekkonidae, one species of Varanidae and one species of Scincidae). A generalized linear model (GLM) determined that elevation was the most important factor impacting species diversity. The highest species diversity was at the intermediate elevation (1289 m). Abundance of 6 out of 15 species showed strong relationships with some habitat factors. These relationships were demonstrated by habitat selectivity index (Ivlev's index). Our result supports other surveys that showed that elevation plays an important role in determining lizard species diversity.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Mehregan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shehid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran ; Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Faraham
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmadzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shehid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Aahmad Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mehrabian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute (ESRI), Shehid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Asghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdoli
authors.affiliation: Department of the Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolrasoul Salman
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mahini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D007492:Iran; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*