Artificial refugia for lizard conservation and behaviour: investigating traditional designs and a novel camera box on Canterbury farms : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science at Lincoln University

For New Zealand lizard species, there are still many knowledge gaps that are yet to be filled. Over 85% of our species are Threatened or are At Risk (Hitchmough et al., 2021) and in order to reduce their risk of extinction, there needs to be a collaborative approach across landholders, conservationists and farmers. This study investigated three different artificial retreat (AR) designs constructed with different materials that are commonly found on farms: bricks and plywood. Onduline was the third material because it is a common material used for monitoring lizards. I investigated occupancy in the three AR types across three Canterbury farms: Flea Bay, Goughs Bay, and Cleardale Station. Six field visit rounds were made between January 2024 and May 2024. Along with a mechatronic engineer, I developed a novel AR, LizOx, that has a camera built into the lid to take photos or videos inside the AR. We initially tested the design at Orana Wildlife Park on their captive Woodworthia spp. and then conducted two field trials on the three farms. At Orana WIldlife Park, we researched and developed LizOx to ensure that it can run remotely for at least a month. While developing and testing the technological capabilities, we conducted a series of behavioural experiments for both females and males separately. The first two tests investigated whether the design of LizOx would alter their behaviour. We tested whether LED lights affect lizard behaviour and whether there is a room design preference in the interior of LizOx. We found no effect on behaviour with the use of LED light and found a preference for enclosed room design over the open design. In addition, we investigated general behaviour questions of how lizard occupancy in LizOx was influenced by hour of the day and temperature and documented the lizards’ daily activity patterns. We also tested under which conditions (temperature and hour of the day) the geckos most frequently clumped together. The first field trial was conducted at Cleardale Station, Goughs Bay and Flea Bay in February 2024 for three months with no lizards observed in LizOx. The second field trial conducted in October 2024 at Flea Bay was successful. One LizOx had three W. brunnea residents and the other frequently had daily visitations by skinks, juvenile W. brunnea, and a Banks Peninsula tree wētā. LizOx was in the field for six weeks without running out of power and only needing the SD card swapped every two weeks. SD card size and sunlight hours affect the frequency of services. Currently, LizOx is still a prototype and needs further research and development to extend its capabilities and reliability. The research in this thesis gives an insight into the novel research that can be conducted using LizOx that will add valuable information to species ecology and their conservation.