Seasonality provokes a shift of thermal preferences in a temperate lizard, but altitude does not

Dı́az, José A.; Iraeta, Pablo; Monasterio, Camila

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2005.10.001

Cited by 60 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The thermal traits analysis indicates lack of differences among populations and within lineages of T. mauritanica. Similar thermal rigidity in T p across populations of the same species has been evidenced in lacertid lizards (Van Damme et al 1989;Tosini and Avery 1993;Díaz et al 2006), some of them even sympatric with T. mauritanica. It is well documented that behavioral adjustments are the primary means by which lizards buffer fluctuations in environmental heat loads to keep their T p within the range of optimal performance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Ecophysiology Tracks Phylogeny and Meets Ecological Models in an Iberian Gecko

Rato

Carretero²

2015

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

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Because fitness of ectotherms, including reptiles, is highly dependent on temperature and water availability, the study of ecophysiological traits, such as preferred temperature (T p) and water loss rates (WLRs), may provide mechanistic evidence on the restricting factors to the species ranges. The Moorish gecko, Tarentola mauritanica, is a species complex with a circum-Mediterranean distribution. In the Iberian Peninsula, two sister parapatric forms of the complex, known as the Iberian and the European clades, are found. Ecological models previously performed using presence records and bioclimatic variables suggest niche divergence between both lineages correlated with precipitation rather than with temperature. In this study, we test this correlative hypothesis using ecophysiological evidence. In the laboratory, we analyzed the T p and WLRs for 84 adult males from seven distinct populations ascribed to one of the two lineages present in Iberia. Specifically, we evaluated the existence of trait conservatism versus adaptation among populations, lineages, or both. In addition, we tested for a trade-off between water and thermal traits and assessed whether climate regime of sampling localities had any influence on the ecophysiological patterns found. We found that T p is quite conserved at both the population and lineage levels and independent from body size. In contrast, water loss experiments revealed some variation among populations, but the regression analysis failed to detect correlation between T p and WLR at any level. Overall, the European lineage displayed a trend for higher water loss and was more diverse among populations when compared with the Iberian lineage. The lack of correspondence between ecophysiological traits and local climatic conditions favors phylogenetic signal versus adaptation. This suggests divergent evolutionary responses to the environment, mainly acting on water ecology, in both lineages, which may account for the differences in their range expansion.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Ecophysiology Tracks Phylogeny and Meets Ecological Models in an Iberian Gecko

Rato

Carretero²

2015

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

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“…-Camacho et al, 2013;submitted), so co-adaptation implies a similar impact of body temperature on lizards' speed regardless of different thermal environments. On the other hand, Díaz et al, (2006) found that, in another population, this lizard does not shift thermal preferences in a 700 m elevational gradient, as in our system, but increases them by about 2°C from spring to summer, thus showing seasonal plasticity. Hence, sprint performance is at least one of the reasons why lizards thermoregulate, when the body temperature that optimizes sprint speed performance matches the body temperature that ectotherms seek (Bennett, 1990;Huey and Kingsolver, 1989).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Thermal dependence of sprint performance in the lizard Psammodromus algirus along a 2200-meter elevational gradient: Cold-habitat lizards do not perform better at low temperatures

Zamora‐Camacho

Rubiño-Hispán

Reguera

et al. 2015

Journal of Thermal Biology

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“…Similarly, Tp may be highly conservative at the popula tion level despite populations occuring across diverse thermal habitats such as along altitu dinal gradients (Gvozdik and Castilla, 2001;Diaz, Iraeta and Monasterio, 2006). In fact, to our knowledge, the literature presents only two reports of geographic variation in Tp (Du, 2006;Sagonas, Valakos and Pafilis, 2013) and static Tp among populations seems to be the rule rather than the exception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

An evaluation of daily, seasonal and population-level variation in the thermal preference of a group-living lizard, Ouroborus cataphractus (Sauria: Cordylidae)

2014

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Ectotherms are known to function optimally within a specific range of body temperatures, bordered by two setpoint values (i.e. preferred temperature range; Tp). Preferred body temperature stands central in understanding behavioural thermoregulation in a thermally dynamic temperate environment. In this study we determined Tp for the group-living cordylid lizard, Ouroborus cataphractus, during the respective annual peak periods in food availability and scarcity. Body temperatures were recorded in ecologically realistic photo-thermal gradients using body-mounted, modified iButtons. In addition to studying seasonal and spatial variation in Tp we also assessed daily variation and among-day repeatability of Tp estimates. The mean Tp among populations and across seasons was 29.8 ± 2.3°C (range: 26.8-32.6°C) and represents the lowest mean Tp and range recorded for any cordylid lizard to date. Literature reports on the seasonal activity patterns and micro-spatial variation in thermal habitat quality of 0. cataphractus suggest that the low Tp minimizes thermoregulatory costs during summer, autumn, late winter and spring. The low 7"p is therefore expected to relax energy budgets and function as part of the adaptive strategy of the species to survive seasonal food stress in a semi-arid environment. The among-day repeatability of mean Tp varied among populations and across seasons despite exposure conditions that were kept constant. The results of the present study suggest that Tp estimates based on short term laboratory trials may be inaccurate due to potential high among-day individual variation and low repeatability in thermal preference.

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Seasonality provokes a shift of thermal preferences in a temperate lizard, but altitude does not

Cited by 60 publications

References 41 publications

Ecophysiology Tracks Phylogeny and Meets Ecological Models in an Iberian Gecko

Ecophysiology Tracks Phylogeny and Meets Ecological Models in an Iberian Gecko

Thermal dependence of sprint performance in the lizard Psammodromus algirus along a 2200-meter elevational gradient: Cold-habitat lizards do not perform better at low temperatures

An evaluation of daily, seasonal and population-level variation in the thermal preference of a group-living lizard, Ouroborus cataphractus (Sauria: Cordylidae)

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