Main factors affecting lacertid lizard thermal ecology

Abstract

The thermal ecology of ectotherms has been studied for almost 2 centuries, but additional attention is currently being paid to it, to understand how organisms deal with the environment in a climate change context. A consensus is still far away due to the large number of factors involved and their complex interactions. In this context, 3 analyses in lacertid lizards were carried out: (i) a meta-analysis, to test for differences between body and air temperatures from 71 populations; (ii) a meta-analysis concerning correlations between body and air temperatures from 60 populations; and (iii) a multimodel inference of thermoregulation effectiveness indices from 45 populations. The importance of different factors, including body size, habitat, insularity, altitude, climate and season, was evaluated in all analyses to model the response variables. A strong seasonality effect was observed, with a consistent pattern of less effective thermoregulation in summer compared to other seasons. Altitude was the second most important factor, with a consistent higher thermoregulation effort in populations occurring at high elevations (>1000 m above sea level). Other factors, such as insularity or body size, can also be important, but did not exhibit a clear pattern. Finally, thermoregulation was less affected by climate and habitat type.

Broad seasonal changes in thermoregulation of Podarcis lilfordi (Squamata, Lacertidae) at Binicodrell islet (Menorca, Spain)

“…The use of microhabitats under filtered sun was similar in spring and summer. By using microhabitats differently, lizards can achieve different thermoregulation accuracy and effectiveness and seasonal changes are a key factor in conditioning lacertid's thermoregulatory effort (Ortega and Martín-Vallejo 2018).…”

“…In temperate lizards, their microhabitat selection and thermoregulatory effectiveness is greatly influenced by the seasonal variation in environmental conditions (Van Damme et al 1987;Díaz et al 2006;Ortega and Pérez-Mellado 2016). For example, Mediterranean lacertids usually thermoregulate more effectively in the summer, when environmental temperatures are higher, than in the spring (Ortega and Martín-Vallejo 2018).…”

Thermal biology of two sympatric Lacertids lizards (Lacerta diplochondrodesandParvilacerta parva) from Western Anatolia

“…It is made The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 17, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.16.435405 doi: bioRxiv preprint 6 environment has an important role in thermoregulation (Logan et al, 2019(Logan et al, , 2015Sears et al, 2011). This heterogeneity provides more opportunities for activities and regulations for lizards by enabling lizards to behaviorally regulate their energetic thermoregulation costs (Ortega and Martín-Vallejo, 2019).…”

Changes in thermal quality of the environment along an elevational gradient affect investment in thermoregulation by Yarrow’s spiny lizards

“…Most data on reptilian thermoregulation have been collected from temperate‐zone lizards (Schall & Pianka, 1978; Blouin‐Demers & Nadeau, 2005; Pianka et al ., 2017; Ortega & Martín‐Vallejo, 2019) that are small‐bodied and experience wide daily and seasonal fluctuations in T e . In this type of environment, a lizard must invest considerable time and effort into thermoregulation if it is to maintain a high and stable T b (Cowles & Bogert, 1944).…”