What do herpetofauna do for us? This question is hardly ever asked because a thorough evaluation of their role in ecosystems has not yet been completed. The adverse environmental impacts of increasing agricultural intensification have put the spotlight on the role that resident predator populations can play in improving crop health through biological pest control. Given their diverse roles as natural predators in farmland habitats, reptiles and amphibians have the potential to be effective bioregulators. However, targeted pest regulation programs that use herpetofauna as agents of biocontrol are still absent. To include herpetofauna in bioregulation, we need to reevaluate our understanding and the current state of knowledge of the ecosystem services and disservices that herpetofauna provide. We exhaustively reviewed literature on the role of herpetofauna in pest regulation over 5 decades using multiple search engines and combinations of keywords. We found that only 27 studies evaluated biological pest regulation using 60 species of herpetofauna on 20 species of crop pests. In this review, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the relevant data and possibilities of utilizing farmland herpetofauna as pest regulators in agroecological systems while also addressing key limitations. Finally, we suggest potential avenues for future research that can improve inclusion of amphibians and reptiles in crop pest mitigation and eventually conserve both herpetofauna and their ecosystem services.

The performance of ectotherms in their environment is predominantly shaped by body temperature, which is contingent upon the interplay of environmental conditions and their capacity to regulate heat exchange. Thermoregulation involves costs (e.g., energy and fitness costs), which can be buffered by behavioral, physiological, and biophysical mechanisms (e.g., coloration) or both. Here, we evaluated how differences in heating rates of Liolaemus melanops and Liolaemus xanthoviridis of the Liolaemus fitzingerii group were correlated with phenotypic traits expected to influence heat gain (melanic coloration and body size). We also investigated whether environmental conditions were correlated with heating rates in these species. We collected adult males in coastal and plateau localities of both species. We measured heating rates, mass, and melanism in laboratory conditions, and we collected data variables from each collecting site. Our results showed that heating rates were influenced only by mass, where slender lizards heated faster than heavier lizards. Our results did not provide evidence for the color-mediated thermoregulation hypothesis, which posits that, assuming a similar body size, melanic ectothermic individuals should heat more quickly and reach higher equilibrium temperatures than lighter ones. Also, we did not find evidence that different environmental conditions of the coastal and plateau localities affected heating rate. In these species of Liolaemus, behavioral and physiological adjustments could be key mechanisms driving active thermoregulation.

Amolops formosus, Assam Cascade Frogs, can act as key indicators of stream health because they are a rare endemic species of the Himalayas associated with riparian habitats. For a robust density estimate, we employed the first spatially explicit capture-recapture study of an anuran species in the Western Himalayas using individual identification without physical capture. We identified 51 individuals from two sampled streams. Minimum average movement was 57.14 ± 7.14 m and 75 ± 11.18 m in the two streams, respectively. Average abundance of A. formosus was 12.73 ± 2.83 individuals based on the top N-mixture model. Water flow showed a statistically significant negative correlation with frog abundance. Density was evaluated using spatially explicit capture-recapture methods. Mean density was 5.58 ± 1.95 and 5.11 ± 1.61 individuals/ha in the two streams, respectively. Meanwhile, mean density based on linear habitat was 90.51 ± 21.68 and 87.53 ± 18.81 individuals/km. Our study demonstrated the use of spatially explicit techniques for quantifying and monitoring important sentinel species such as A. formosus using different stream parameters.

Well-documented natural history allows for thorough study of a species' ecology and evolution. However, inadequate natural history data hamper such studies for many species. For example, diet plays a major role in the evolution of species and traits, but thorough quantitative dietary information is often lacking for many groups. Garter snakes (Thamnophis) have been used as model organisms for numerous studies, including many focused on feeding ecology and evolution, but these studies lack a thorough compilation of dietary records. To fill the substantial natural history gap, we amassed nearly 10,000 dietary records for 32 of 35 Thamnophis species, from more than 150 sources, and classified each species' dietary repertoire. We categorized 15 of 32 species as generalist predators and 17 of 32 species as specialist predators of varying prey groups, presenting novel dietary classifications for 15 species. Additionally, we investigated the hypothesis that generalist predators have larger body size, a pattern shown in other snake communities and lineages. However, we found no significant relationship between body size and dietary specialization in the genus. Our findings add to the knowledge of natural history, ecology, and evolution of Thamnophis and provide access to the largest dietary record repository for the genus to date.

Extraction of oil and gas occurs around the world and associated worksite activity can affect native species, even when some good habitat remains. Understanding the possible negative effects is important for management of protected species. Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizards (Gambelia sila) are a state- and federally listed endangered species in the San Joaquin Desert of California, and part of their remaining range coincides with oil field operations. In 2015 and 2016, we used radiotelemetry to study home ranges and movements of G. sila living in an oil field with limited infrastructure and roads (a light-density oil field constructed from 2011 to 2014) and at a control site of native habitat about 3 km away. We did not find significant differences between the oil field and control site in either home-range size or daily distances moved. We did, however, find that the number of predation events was significantly greater at the oil field site, assuming that known predation occurrences represented all predation. Predation by birds was greater at the oil field site and likely was facilitated by predator perching locations provided by power poles, transmission lines, and other tall vertical structures associated with the oil field. No similar structures or other perching locations for large predatory birds existed at the control site. Only a twin-pole, three-wire transmission line existed adjacent to the oil field prior to its development. Given that G. sila are endangered largely because of habitat loss, their recovery may benefit from minimizing these hazards in oil fields that currently support the species.

Selection and implementation of conservation measures require in-depth knowledge of ecology and biology of target species. Translocations of reptile populations are particularly likely to fail if basic habitat requirements and social structure are overlooked. Leopard Skinks (Lacertoides pardalis) are a vulnerable lizard species restricted to maquis shrublands on the nickel-rich ultramafic soils of New Caledonia, on the front line in the face of growing pressure from mining activities. Their extreme wariness limits observations and opportunities for ecological studies. We radio-tracked Leopard Skinks from two contrasting populations at the end of the warm season, after annual reproduction, to provide baseline data on home ranges, intraspecific relationships, and habitat preferences for future conservation actions. Mean seasonal home range area calculated by Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation was 4350.7 m^2. Apparent sex ratio was strongly in favor of females (80% of sexually mature specimens detected), and we observed stable groups of a few females and one male, with home ranges largely overlapping. Leopard Skinks occupy a range of open to closed, forest-like maquis vegetation and rely on rocky microhabitats for shelter, but also daily activities. Shelter sites are carefully selected and used by several individuals. This study offers rare observations of the social structure of Leopard Skinks, and our results call for caution in design of translocation operations.

Climate change is rapidly altering the earth's natural systems. Some organisms, such as amphibians, are particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of climate change. One documented response by certain taxa is a reduction in body size. Recent evidence has suggested a reduction in body size of several salamander species from the genus Plethodon, including one of the largest species, Plethodon yonahlossee. However, the sample size for P. yonahlossee was small (n = 36) relative to the other Plethodon species examined. Therefore, we re-examined the possibility of body size reductions in P. yonahlossee populations from North Carolina over time. We measured the snout-vent length and head morphology of 221 specimens collected from 1979–2020 in North Carolina. We were also able to account for museum shrinkage when data were available. Contrary to previous research, we did not find evidence for declines in SVL over time. We also found original SVL measurements made at or near the time of preservation were significantly larger than measurements made in 2019, indicating that museum shrinkage had taken place. Local climate data from the same collection period indicate no significant change in mean daily temperature or annual precipitation from this period. Overall, these results suggest a lack of environmental pressure to elicit shifts in body size for these populations.

Resource availability, acquisition, and assimilation drive trade-offs and shape life-history strategies within individuals and across populations. With limited dispersal ability and notable life-history variation, garter snakes provide unique model systems for understanding population responses to variable environments. We investigated the relationship between demographic parameters and the environment for montane populations of Common Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) using a 16-year mark-recapture data set. We quantified patterns in survival, reproduction, and growth and how they vary between sexes, among populations, and in response to annual variability in resource conditions. We found that reproductive output increased in years when prey availability was greater. In contrast, survival varied among populations and between males and females but not with respect to annual differences in environmental conditions. We found an interaction between early-life resource conditions and sensitivity to resource availability in later life. Growth was accelerated in years of higher prey availability for individuals that experienced poor prey conditions in their first year of life. Overall, our findings reveal spatiotemporal variation in growth and reproduction that are consistent with fluctuations in local resources and are complemented by trait plasticity in populations of a sympatric garter snake. Our results provide important insights regarding demography of ectothermic vertebrates with indeterminate growth and elucidate influences of annual variation in prey abundance on survival, reproduction, and growth and effects of early-life conditions. Importantly, our results suggest that efforts to predict how populations will respond to fluctuating environments should incorporate early-life environment to account for context-dependent variation in demographic processes.

Historical resurveys are uniquely valuable for the information that they provide regarding population responses to environmental changes. As anthropogenic impacts on the environment proceed, such efforts are becoming increasingly important for developing a historical baseline and for understanding how contemporary populations respond. We undertook a >50-year historical resurvey of the Mojave Desert flatland lizard community by pairing data from the 1960s and today, which provided a repeatable benchmark for future monitoring. We found few changes in distribution, with at least 9 of 11 species continuing to occur where they were previously detected. However, we found marked declines in abundance for the widespread and highly detectable Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana), one of three species where data were sufficient to robustly estimate abundance. Both our work and other recent works highlight the difficulty of estimating abundance for wild lizard populations and, should we wish to understand declines before they turn into extirpations, call for the continued development of methods for efficient and robust tracking of desert reptile populations.

We describe a new species of Erythrolamprus from the eastern slopes of the Tropical Andes in Ecuador. The most similar species in morphology and color patterns are E. fraseri and E. lamonae. However, this new species differs in dorsal and ventral color patterning, as well as scale count and hemipenial morphology. Previous molecular phylogenies strongly support monophyly of the new species described herein and its sister taxon relationship with E. fraseri from the western slopes of the Andes of Ecuador and northern Peru. An identification key for species of Ecuadorian Erythrolamprus formerly assigned as subspecies of E. epinephelus is provided.