Low impact of anthropization on the demographic structure of the stick insect Clonistria guadeloupensis in Guadeloupe

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Abstract
Mitigating the biodiversity crisis will require an understanding of how species cope with various human disturbances of habitats ranging from fully natural environments to areas with higher anthropization levels. In this study, we investigated how the local demographics of Clonistria guadeloupensis (Redtenbacher) relate to human disturbances such as agricultural fields, roads, and urbanization in Guadeloupe. We sampled the species in diverse environmental situations in the wild, both on and around focal food plants, and recorded the habitat characteristics. We subsequently analyzed the demography of the juvenile, subadult, and adult stages. We found minimal impact of anthropization factors, with a tendency of the species to be associated with habitats with greater anthropization levels, possibly because such habitats are generally more open. We also found variation in local aggregation levels of the developmental stages, which may reflect bias in dispersal during the adult stage in which males are highly motile. Overall, the species shows ecological preferences appropriate for coexistence within areas of human disturbance.

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