Dataset Information

Ontogenetic Variation in the Thermal Biology of Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is rapidly altering the way current species interact with their environment to satisfy life-history demands. In areas anticipated to experience extreme warming, rising temperatures are expected to diminish population growth, due either to environmental degradation, or the inability to tolerate novel temperature regimes. Determining how at risk ectotherms, and lizards in particular, are to changes in climate traditionally emphasizes the thermal ecology and thermal sensitivity of physiology of adult members of a population. In this study, we reveal ontogenetic differences in thermal physiological and ecological traits that have been used to anticipate how ectotherms will respond to climate change. We show that the thermal biological traits of juvenile Yarrow's Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus jarrovii) differ from the published estimates of the same traits for adult lizards. Juvenile S. jarrovii differ in their optimal performance temperature, field field-active body temperature, and critical thermal temperatures compared to adult S. jarrovii. Within juvenile S. jarrovii, males and females exhibit differences in field-active body temperature and desiccation tolerance. Given the observed age- and sex-related variation in thermal physiology, we argue that not including physiological differences in thermal biology throughout ontogeny may lead to misinterpretation of patterns of ecological or evolutionary change due to climate warming. Further characterizing the potential for ontogenetic changes in thermal biology would be useful for a more precise and accurate estimation of the role of thermal physiology in mediating population persistence in warmer environments.

SUBMITTER: Gilbert AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4739709 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ontogenetic Variation in the Thermal Biology of Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii.

Gilbert Anthony L AL Lattanzio Matthew S MS

PloS one 20160203 2

Climate change is rapidly altering the way current species interact with their environment to satisfy life-history demands. In areas anticipated to experience extreme warming, rising temperatures are expected to diminish population growth, due either to environmental degradation, or the inability to tolerate novel temperature regimes. Determining how at risk ectotherms, and lizards in particular, are to changes in climate traditionally emphasizes the thermal ecology and thermal sensitivity of ph ...[more]

PMID: 26840620

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Project description:BACKGROUND:High-altitude ecosystems are extreme environments that generate specific physiological, morphological, and behavioral adaptations in ectotherms. The shifts in gut microbiota of the ectothermic hosts as an adaptation to environmental changes are still largely unknown. We investigated the food ingested and the bacterial, fungal, and protistan communities in feces of the lizard Sceloporus grammicus inhabiting an altitudinal range using metabarcoding approaches. RESULTS:The bacterial phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and the genera Bacteroides and Parabacteroides dominated the core fecal bacteriome, while Zygomycota and Ascomycota, and the species Basidiobolus ranarum and Basidiobolus magnus dominated the core fecal mycobiome. The diet of S. grammicus included 29 invertebrate families belonging to Arachnida, Chilopoda, and Insecta. The diversity and abundance of its diet decreased sharply at high altitudes, while the abundance of plant material and Agaricomycetes was significantly higher at the highest site. The composition of the fecal microbiota of S. grammicus was different at the three altitudes, but not between females and males. Dietary restriction in S. grammicus at 4150 m might explain the high fecal abundance of Akkermansia and Oscillopira, bacteria characteristic of long fasting periods, while low temperature favored B. magnus. A high proportion of bacterial functions were digestive in S. grammicus at 2600 and 3100, while metabolism of aminoacids, vitamins, and key intermediates of metabolic pathways were higher at 4150 m. Different assemblages of fungal species in the lizard reflect differences in the environments at different elevations. Pathogens were more prevalent at high elevations than at the low ones. CONCLUSIONS:Limiting food resources at high elevations might oblige S. grammicus to exploit other food resources and its intestinal microbiota have degradative and detoxifying capacities. Sceloporus grammicus might have acquired B. ranarum from the insects infected by the fungus, but its commensal relationship might be established by the quitinolytic capacities of B. ranarum. The mycobiome participate mainly in digestive and degradative functions while the bacteriome in digestive and metabolic functions.

Dataset Information

Ontogenetic Variation in the Thermal Biology of Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii.

Publications

Ontogenetic Variation in the Thermal Biology of Yarrow's Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii.

Similar Datasets

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