Habitat selection of the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) (L.) in an area under development in southern Spain: implications for conservation Original Research Article

We studied the features of the habitat selection of the common chameleon [Chamaeleo chamaeleon (L.)] in a population located in an area under development in south-eastern Spain. Chameleons were recorded in zones characterised by the presence of roads, lack of natural vegetation and presence of cultivation at the macrohabitat level, and tree-dominated vegetation and bare soils at the microhabitat level. This particular habitat selection increases the propensity for casualties due to illegal collection, accidental road deaths or nest losses because of ploughing. However, chameleons were not present in nearby natural environments in which these sources of mortality are much less intense or absent. We suggest that the sustainability of chameleon populations requires a combination of maintaining traditional human land uses and the adoption of preventive measures, such as road barriers in some selected sites or the protection of safe sites for nesting, since both the more aggressive human pressures (settlements for tourism) and the promotion of natural landscapes (reforestation) could be negative for the species.