Göksu Delta as an environmental transition zone associated with lineage differentiation in Anatolian rock lizards (Anatololacerta ibrahimi and Anatololacerta danfordi)

OpenAlex · İngilizce

The present study aimed to evaluate the ecological niche characteristics, habitat preferences and potential lineage differentiation of Anatololacerta ibrahimi occurring west of the Göksu River and Anatololacerta danfordi distributed east of the river. By integrating ecological niche modelling, niche overlap analyses and habitat connectivity assessments, ecological niche models based on bioclimatic variables yielded high predictive performance, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.960 (TSS = 0.952) for A. ibrahimi and 0.986 (TSS = 0.979) for A. danfordi. Similarly, models incorporating topographic predictors showed very high accuracy, with AUC values of 0.992 (TSS = 0.985) and 0.977 (TSS = 0.976), respectively. Niche overlap analyses revealed limited overlap in environmental space, suggesting structured environmental segregation between taxa. Connectivity analyses further indicated that potential ecological corridors between the distributions of A. ibrahimi and A. danfordi exhibit low passage quality and potentially limit dispersal between suitable habitat patches across the Göksu River region. Ecological differentiation between the two lineages was primarily associated with seasonal vegetation dynamics, with A. ibrahimi linked to winter–spring productivity (January, February, June NDVI), whereas A. danfordi showed stronger associations with peak summer productivity (July NDVI). Collectively, these results provide ecological evidence consistent with niche differentiation playing a role in the divergence of these taxa.