Our use, misuse, and abandonment of a concept: Whither habitat?

The foundational concept of habitat lies at the very root of the entire science of ecology, but inaccurate use of the term compromises scientific rigor and communication among scientists and nonscientists. In 1997, Hall, Krausman & Morrison showed that 'habitat' was used correctly in only 55% of articles. We ask whether use of the term has been more accurate since their plea for standardization and whether use varies across the broader range of journals and taxa in the contemporary literature (1998-2012).

Range-wide phylogeography of a temperate lizard, the five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus).

We used mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite loci to examine the phylogeographic patterns of the most broadly distributed lizard in eastern North America, the five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus). We infer that longitudinal phylogeographic patterns in E. fasciatus are consistent with fragmentation due to refugial and post-glacial dynamics, but that deep divergences within the species imply historical fragmentation that predates the Pleistocene.