We have a new paper out today from the Greek Island system! As readers know, we’ve been tracking the Aegean Wall lizards introduced to the Greek experimental islets back in 2014. The experimental islets are predator-free, and so the lizard populations have really taken off. With this increase in lizard numbers, we’ve been finding signs … More Rapid and repeated shifts in chemical signals in Greece
The last of the five experimental introduction islands is Kambana. Again, situated between Paros and Antiparos (just like Petalida). It’s been our biggest producer in terms of lizards, consistently having the largest population ever since 2015. I hope you’ve enjoyed the “Meet the islands” series. I’ll squish all five videos into one and post it … More Meet the islands: Kambana
Agios Artemios is the final island in the bay of Naoussa and a real challenge. Take a look at the footage and keep a weather eye on the divebombing seagulls! Note: I’ve switched from hosting my videos on Vimeo to YouTube so let me know if they still work for you. Vimeo seems “slicker” but … More Meet the islands: Agios Artemios
Claire’s back in Paris so I’ve mostly spent this week entering data, finalizing one manuscript (more on that very soon), and submitting another. It’s been busy, but not pretty. I did get out into the field for a bit though to catch some last lizards for a project with Kinsey and snapped some shots. Here … More Some recent photos from the field
I’m trying something a bit different this year: I bought a special cord that lets me enter a measurement directly from my calipers into my data spreadsheet. I’m hoping it’s going to save time ultimately (though I’m still recording everything on paper for backup). Because of the way the input is set up, it’s easier … More Column QC
It was a breakneck two weeks of sampling, but we’ve caught, measured, and released all the lizards in the island experiment! The 2018 census is in the books. Or at least, on a huge stack of data sheets waiting to be typed into my computer. The lizards are doing great! All of the populations are … More The lizards are in the books!
We’ve just finished the first week of the 2018 introduction island survey and the lizard populations are doing well! Week 1 was focused on the islands to the north of Paros in the Bay of Naoussa: Galiatsos, Mavronissi, and Agios Artemios. The population densities on Mavronissi and Agios Artemios have remained about constant since last … More One week into lizard surveying
We’re in Greece and heading out to check on the introduction island lizards starting on Monday. Last year we found 355 lizards and this year, trying to make sure I bring enough supplies, I’ve been polling friends to guess just how many we’re liable to find. Well, all the vials are packed, and I’m not … More Guess the number of lizards
Our little Greek Wall Lizards are getting the full BBC bright-lights treatment in an upcoming show and will be co-starring with long-time friend of the blog Kinsey Brock. For those of you in the states, tune in to PBS today (April 25) at 8pm EST to watch “Natural Born Rebels.” I’m going to have to … More Podarcis on PBS
Greece came and went this year faster than it ever has before. I think it had to do with the fact that it was the third of my field expeditions this spring. Maybe it had something to do with the only three days at home between returning from the Bahamas and leaving for Athens. Much … More Back from Greece!
Colin Donihue 