Can nesting behaviour allow reptiles to adapt to climate change?

Abstract

A range of abiotic parameters within a reptile nest influence the viability and attributes (including sex, behaviour and body size) of hatchlings that emerge from that nest. As a result of that sensitivity, a reproducing female can manipulate the phenotypic attributes of her offspring by laying her eggs at times and in places that provide specific conditions. Nesting reptiles shift their behaviour in terms of timing of oviposition, nest location and depth of eggs beneath the soil surface across spatial and temporal gradients. Those maternal manipulations affect mean values and variances of both temperature and soil moisture, and may modify the vulnerability of embryos to threats such as predation and parasitism. By altering thermal and hydric conditions in reptile nests, climate change has the potential to dramatically modify the developmental trajectories and survival rates of embryos, and the phenotypes of hatchlings. Reproducing females buffer such effects by modifying the timing, location and structure of nests in ways that enhance offspring viability. Nonetheless, our understanding of nesting behaviours in response to climate change remains limited in reptiles. Priority topics for future studies include documenting climate-induced changes in the nest environment, the degree to which maternal behavioural shifts can mitigate climate-related deleterious impacts on offspring development, and ecological and evolutionary consequences of maternal nesting responses to climate change. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolutionary ecology of nests: a cross-taxon approach’.

The influence of incubation temperature on offspring traits varies across northern and southern populations of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

“…These results may be driven by microhabitat population differences in temperature that are not represented by latitude. On the other hand, maternal nest site choice can be an important driver of nest temperatures and may vary across populations (Du et al, 2023;Warner & Shine, 2008). This can result in similar nest temperatures despite different environmental temperatures (Bodensteiner et al, 2023) and the consistency of such effects across years will be particularly informative.…”

Cross-species genomic survey reveals a single origin of the soft-shelled turtles

“…Alternatively, except for the maternal effects that allow TSD turtles to circumvent the imbalances of offspring sex ratio caused by the temperature variation, such as females can choose the appropriate times and places for nesting and laying eggs to avoid the effects of extreme temperatures (Du et al, 2023; Mitchell and Janzen, 2010), the embryonic self-regulation in eggs is also a critical mean (While and Wapstra, 2019; Ye et al, 2019). Briefly, the embryos can move within the eggs to select the optimal ambient temperature, thus influencing their own sex fates and maintaining the fitness sex ratios of the population.…”

The evolutionary ecology of nests: a cross-taxon approach

“…Changes in nest sites may not enable painted turtles to adapt to further increases in temperature [80], yet Du et al [81] review the extent to which nest design allows reptiles to adapt to climate change. Du et al [81] outline that reproducing females can manipulate the phenotypic attributes of offspring by selecting nest sites that increase the viability of embryos by varying nest depth, soil moisture, mean temperature and temperature variance. Despite these findings, Du et al [81] caution that more studies are required to fully understand the extent to which changes in nesting behaviours can enable reptiles to adapt to climate change.…”

“…Changes in nest sites may not enable painted turtles to adapt to further increases in temperature [ 80 ], yet Du et al . [ 81 ] review the extent to which nest design allows reptiles to adapt to climate change. Du et al .…”