Short Communication

Climate change threatens many species, and Aotearoa | New Zealand’s lizards may be particularly vulnerable due to their limited dispersal ability and exacerbating threats such as invasive predators. In April 2020, a storm surge on the Wellington south coast inundated habitats occupied by northern grass skinks (Oligosoma polychroma) and Raukawa geckos (Woodworthia maculata). We compared pre-and post-inundation abundance, body size, and spatial distribution at inundated and unaffected sites. Inundation did not significantly affect the relative abundance of either species.

The creation of predator-free sanctuaries, sometimes enclosed by predator exclusion fences, is a common conservation and restoration tool in New Zealand. One such site, the Rotopiko wetland complex, in Waikato, is challenged with large flocks of non-native house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)—an estimated 500 000 birds—that roost within the predator exclusion fence, with the potential to alter nutrient regimes and plant community composition.