Impact of immunological state on eco-physiological variables in one of the southernmost lizards in the world

Abstract

The immune state is an essential component of survival as it directly influences physiological performance and health status. Variation in the leukocyte profile, a significantly increase in body temperature, and a detriment of the eco-physiological performance are among the possible consequences of an unhealthy state. In this study we analyse and discuss how field body temperature, preferred body temperature, the speed for sprint and long runs, locomotor stamina, and body condition can be affected by the immunological state (i.e. leukocyte profile) in a wild population of Liolaemus sarmentoi. Juveniles and adult males with a high percentage of eosinophils, basophils, and a low percentage of monocytes preferred higher body temperatures in a thermal gradient, while pregnant females maintained thermal preferences independently of leukocyte profile. Although juveniles with a high percentage of heterophils showed less locomotor stamina, adult males and pregnant females showed no differences in locomotor performance in relation to leukocyte profile. This study represents a starting point in eco-immunology of a wild lizard population of Liolaemus in cold and temperate environments of Patagonia where the southward shift in the geographic ranges of pathogen populations due to global warming represents a threat to resident host populations.

Looking at the past to infer into the future: Thermal traits track environmental change in Liolaemidae*

“…Thermal traits have been considered static (conserved with limited among-individual or population variation), or labile (considerable inter-individual or inter-population variation suggesting adaptation to local environmental conditions, Hertz et al 1983), and also as a continuum of both (static and labile) responding to the pressures of multiple niche dimensions (Hutchinson 1957;Hertz et al 1983;Angilletta et al 2002;Holt 2009;Muñoz and Losos 2018). Moreover, there is a complex interplay among physiological plasticity, environmental constraints or opportunities shaped by habitat physiognomy, mode of reproduction (Esquerré et al 2019), immune activity (Paranjpe et al 2014;Duran et al 2019), diet (Espinoza et al 2004), and substrate affinity (Schulte et al 2004; Jiménez-Robles and De la Riva 2019) that affect diversification in thermal traits (Muñoz et al 2014;Llewelyn et al 2017;Logan et al 2018). Another complementary view of static-labile traits considers Behavioral Drive vs.…”