Are geckos useful bioindicators of air pollution?

Abstract

The response of an Australian arid-zone gecko community to sulphur dioxide and salt spray from a mine and industrial site was investigated from 1992 to 1995. Geckos were abundant and fecund at control sites in chenopod shrubland and annual capture rates were strongly influenced by minimum night temperatures. Capture rate and percentage of females gravid at sites exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants were significantly lower than at control sites. Discrepancies between control and impacted sites were greatest for the termite-specialist geckos Diplodactylus conspicillatus and Rhynchoedura ornata. An increase in capture rates and percentage of females gravid at sites close to the industrial site, followed a reduction in peak sulphur dioxide emissions. Geckos may be sensitive and useful bioindicators of the environmental impacts of some atmospheric pollutants.