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Whether and how differences in environmental predictability affect life-history traits is controversial and may depend on mean environmental conditions. Solid evidence for effects of environmental predictability are lacking and thus, the consequences of the currently observed and forecasted climate-change induced reduction of precipitation predictability are largely unknown. Here we experimentally tested whether and how changes in the predictability of precipitation affect growth, reproduction, and survival of common lizard Zootoca vivipara. Precipitation predictability affected all three age classes. While adults were able to compensate the treatment effects, yearlings and juvenile females were not able to compensate negative effects of less predictable precipitation on growth and body condition, respectively. Differences among the age-classes’ response reflect differences (among age-classes) in the sensitivity to environmental predictability. Moreover, effects of environmental predictability depended on mean environmental conditions. This indicates that integrating differences in environmental sensitivity, and changes in averages and the predictability of climatic variables will be key to understand whether species are able to cope with the current climatic change.

The bleak Alburnus alburnus is native to most of Europe. This cyprinid fish is a successful invader in the Iberian Peninsula. No studies exist on its foraging strategies on a large scale for this ecoregion. The aim of the present study was to compare dietary traits of invasive bleak among the main Iberian rivers and a ‘reference’ native bleak population from France. Bleak were sampled during May–June 2019 from the Iberian Rivers Ebro, Tagus, Guadiana, Segura and Guadalquivir and the River Saône (France). Diptera larvae and zooplankton were common food categories in the River Saône. Insect nymphs were more important in the River Ebro. The intake of plant material was higher in the River Tagus. Flying insects were more consumed in the River Guadiana. Nektonic insects were important in the River Guadalquivir. Detritus was a frequent food category for all populations, in terms of occurrence and mass. Dietary parameters followed a unimodal response in relation to the latitudinal gradient, with the maximum values for the Tagus and Guadiana populations. Overall, results suggest that this wide inter-population variability will contribute to the species’ successful establishment throughout Mediterranean Europe, which poses a serious risk to its highly valuable native fish fauna.