The peak of thermoregulation effectiveness: Thermal biology of the Pyrenean rock lizard, Iberolacerta bonnali (Squamata, Lacertidae)
| Autor: | Valentín Pérez-Mellado, Zaida Ortega, Abraham Mencía |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Male
0106 biological sciences Squamata 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Physiology Range (biology) Climate Change Population Iberolacerta 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Biochemistry Body Temperature biology.animal Animals Lacertidae education Ecosystem 0105 earth and related environmental sciences education.field_of_study Behavior Animal biology Ecology Lizard Lizards biology.organism_classification Ectotherm Female Iberolacerta bonnali General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Body Temperature Regulation Developmental Biology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Thermal Biology. 56:77-83 |
| ISSN: | 0306-4565 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2016.01.005 |
| Popis: | We studied, at 2200m altitude, the thermal biology of the Pyrenean rock lizard, Iberolacerta bonnali, in the glacial cirque of Cotatuero (National Park of Ordesa, Huesca, Spain). The preferred thermal range (PTR) of I. bonnali indicates that it is a cold-adapted ectotherm with a narrow PTR (29.20-32.77°C). However, its PTR (3.57°C) is twice as wide as other Iberolacerta lizards, which may be explained by its broader historical distribution. The studied area is formed by a mosaic of microhabitats which offer different operative temperatures, so that lizards have, throughout their entire daily period of activity, the opportunity to choose the most thermally suitable substrates. I. bonnali achieves an effectiveness of thermoregulation of 0.95, which makes it the highest value found to date among the Lacertidae, and one of the highest among lizards. Their relatively wide distribution, their wider PTR, and their excellent ability of thermoregulation, would make I. bonnali lizards less vulnerable to climate change than other species of Iberolacerta. Thanks to its difficult access, the studied area is not visited by a large number of tourists, as are other areas of the National Park. Thus, it is a key area for the conservation of the Pyrenean rock lizard. By shuttling between suitable microhabitats, lizards achieve suitable body temperatures during all day. However, such thermally suitable microhabitats should vary in other traits than thermal quality, such as prey availability or predation risk. Hence, it seems that these not-thermal traits are not constraining habitat selection and thermoregulation in this population. Therefore, future research in this population may study the causes that would lead lizards to prioritize thermoregulation to such extent in this population. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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