Contemporary Drought and Future Effects of Climate Change on the Endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard, Gambelia sila

Westphal, Michael F.; Stewart, Joseph A. E.; Tennant, Erin N.; Butterfield, H. Scott; Sinervo, Barry

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154838

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Using the lesser prairie‐chicken population on the Southern High Plains as a bioindicator of wildlife response to intense drought supports burgeoning evidence that wildlife is negatively affected by above average frequencies of drought and, over the long‐term, may not be adapted to the magnitude of drought expected with climate change. In fact, negative effects of increases in drought magnitude and frequency have been documented for all taxa, including amphibians (Mac Nally, Horrocks, & Lada, ), reptiles (Westphal, Stewart, Tennant, Butterfield, & Sinervo, ), fish (Jaeger, Olden, & Pelland, ), mammals (Ahlers et al., ), and birds (Selwood et al., ). Like other wildlife species in arid and semiarid grasslands, lesser prairie‐chickens on the Southern High Plains have adaptations that increase resilience to extreme environments and fluctuating weather patterns; however, environmental conditions expected from climate change may be outside of their adaptive potential, particularly in the time frame weather changes are expected to occur.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of severe drought and grazing on the life history cycle of a bioindicator species

Fritts

Grisham

Cox

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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We used the lesser prairie‐chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), an iconic grouse species that exhibits a boom–bust life history strategy, on the Southern High Plains, USA, as a bioindicator of main and interactive effects of severe drought and grazing. This region experienced the worst drought on record in 2011. We surveyed lesser prairie‐chicken leks (i.e., communal breeding grounds) across 12 years that represented 7 years before the 2011 drought (predrought) and 4 years during and following the 2011 drought (postdrought). Grazing was annually managed with the objective of achieving ≤50% utilization of aboveground vegetation biomass. We used lek (n = 49) count data and covariates of weather and managed grazing to: (a) estimate long‐term lesser prairie‐chicken abundance and compare abundance predrought and postdrought; (b) examine the influence of annual and seasonal drought (modified Palmer drought index), temperature, and precipitation on long‐term lesser prairie‐chicken survival and recruitment; and (c) assess and compare the influence of grazing on lesser prairie‐chicken population predrought and postdrought. Lesser prairie‐chicken abundance was nearly seven times greater predrought than postdrought, and population declines were attributed to decreased survival and recruitment. The number of days with temperature >90th percentile had the greatest effect, particularly on recruitment. The population exhibited a substantial bust during 2011 and 2012 without a boom to recover in four postdrought years. Adaptive grazing positively influenced the population predrought, but had no effects postdrought. Results suggest that the severe drought in 2011 may have been beyond the range of environmental conditions to which lesser prairie‐chickens, and likely other species, have adapted. Land management practices, such as grazing, should remain adaptive to ensure potential negative influences to all species are avoided. Increasing habitat quantity and quality by reducing habitat loss and fragmentation likely will increase resiliency of the ecosystem and individual species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of severe drought and grazing on the life history cycle of a bioindicator species

Fritts

Grisham

Cox

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Similarly, a long‐term drought in California dramatically reduced juvenile recruitment among most known populations of the endangered blunt‐nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia sila (Westphal et al. ), and future projections for reduced precipitation in California suggest it may drive extinction risk in this species. Moisture availability may also play a role in P. husabensis surface activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work on the actively foraging teiid Aspidoscelis exsanguis in an arid ecosystem in New Mexico showed that the availability of moisture (in this case rainfall) influenced lizard activity and microhabitat use more than soil and air temperatures, and suggested that lizard populations will not only be impacted by temperature shifts but also by differences in moisture regimes (Ryan et al 2015). Similarly, a long-term drought in California dramatically reduced juvenile recruitment among most known populations of the endangered bluntnosed leopard lizard, Gambelia sila (Westphal et al 2016), and future projections for reduced precipitation in California suggest it may drive extinction risk in this species. Moisture availability may also play a role in P. husabensis surface activity.…”

Section: Other Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulatory behavior and high thermal preference buffer impact of climate change in a Namib Desert lizard

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Knowledge of the thermal ecology of a species can improve model predictions for temperatureinduced population collapse, which in light of climate change is increasingly important for species with limited distributions. Here, we use a multi-faceted approach to quantify and integrate the thermal ecology, properties of the thermal habitat, and past and present distribution of the diurnal, xeric-adapted, and active-foraging Namibian lizard Pedioplanis husabensis (Sauria: Lacertidae) to model its local extinction risk under future climate change scenarios. We asked whether climatic conditions in various regions of its range are already so extreme that local extirpations of P. husabensis have already occurred, or whether this micro-endemic species is adapted to these extreme conditions and uses behavior to mitigate the environmental challenges. To address this, we collected thermoregulation and climate data at a micro-scale level and combined it with micro-and macroclimate data across the species' range to model extinction risk. We found that P. husabensis inhabits a thermally harsh environment, but also has high thermal preference. In cooler parts of its range, individuals are capable of leaving thermally favorable conditions-based on the species' thermal preference-unused during the day, probably to maintain low metabolic rates. Furthermore, during the summer, we observed that individuals regulate at body temperatures below the species' high thermal preference to avoid body temperatures approaching the critical thermal maximum. We find that populations of this species are currently persisting even at the hottest localities within the species' geographic distribution. We found no evidence of range shifts since the 1960s despite a documented increase in air temperatures. Nevertheless, P. husabensis only has a small safety margin between the upper limit of its thermal preference and the critical thermal maximum and might undergo range reductions in the near future under even the most moderate climate change scenarios.

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“…Deserts are highly distinct ecosystems that contribute significantly to global biodiversity and global ecosystem function. The conversion and loss of desert habitat is therefore a global biodiversity crisis requiring immediate intervention, including conservation of remaining undisturbed habitat and restoration of degraded desert (Bachelet, Ferschweiler, Sheehan, & Strittholt, ; Cook, ; Hannah, Carr, & Lankerani, ; Hoekstra, Boucher, Ricketts, & Roberts, ; Kéfi et al, ; Mouat & Lancaster, ; Westphal, Stewart, Tennant, Butterfield, & Sinervo, ). Identifying the drivers of ecological health in desert communities will be a crucial component of such interventions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A test of desert shrub facilitation via radiotelemetric monitoring of a diurnal lizard

Westphal

Noble

Butterfield

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Preservation of desert ecosystems is a worldwide conservation priority. Shrubs can play a key role in the structure of desert communities and can function as foundation species. Understanding desert shrub ecology is therefore an important task in desert conservation. A useful model for the function of shrubs in deserts is ecological facilitation, which explores benefits that shrubs confer on their community. Facilitation has been well developed in the context of shrub–plant interactions but less well studied for plant–animal interactions. We used radiotelemetry to test the hypothesis that a dominant desert shrub facilitates one species of diurnal lizard. We hypothesized that the blunt‐nosed leopard lizard Gambelia sila would spend some part of its daily activity cycle associated with California jointfir Ephedra californica, and that lizard association with shrubs would increase during the afternoon peak temperature period. We relocated lizards three times daily for 24 days and scored whether lizards were within 0.5 m of a shrub, which we used as an indicator of shrub association. For each relocation, we also scored lizard association with a set of predefined microhabitat features. We also scored lizard behavior according to a set of predefined behavioral traits. We constructed home ranges following the minimum convex polygon method and generated estimates of shrub density and relative shrub area within each home range polygon. We obtained 1,190 datapoints from a sample of 27 lizards. We found that lizards were associated with open sites significantly more often than with shrubs but were associated with shrubs more than predicted by percent shrub area within their home ranges. Lizards were associated significantly more often under shrubs during the afternoon peak temperature period, and lizards were observed cooling under shrubs significantly more often. The frequency of association of individual lizards with shrubs was not correlated with the density of shrubs within their home range. Synthesis and Applications. Shrubs can be considered as a component of high‐quality habitat for ectothermic desert vertebrates for the purposes of restoration and management. Furthermore, radiotelemetry provides a novel methodological approach for assessing shrub–animal facilitative interactions within desert communities.

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Contemporary Drought and Future Effects of Climate Change on the Endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard, Gambelia sila

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

Interactive effects of severe drought and grazing on the life history cycle of a bioindicator species

Interactive effects of severe drought and grazing on the life history cycle of a bioindicator species

Thermoregulatory behavior and high thermal preference buffer impact of climate change in a Namib Desert lizard

A test of desert shrub facilitation via radiotelemetric monitoring of a diurnal lizard

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