Linking physiology and climate to infer species distributions in Australian skinks

Anderson, Rodolfo O.; Tingley, Reid; Hoskin, Conrad J.; White, Craig R.; Chapple, David G.

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.14000

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 99 publications

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“…Fifteen minutes before each performance measure, lizards were placed in an incubator at 28 °C to ensure constant body temperature across lizards. Although recent studies have shown that the thermal optimum is slightly higher than 28 °C ( Anderson et al 2023 ; Zhang et al 2023 ) there is substantial individual and species-specific variation with 28 °C being firmly within this range. Animals were then transferred to the racetrack and were chased down toward a terrarium placed at the end of the track.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Maternal investment and early thermal conditions affect performance and antipredator responses

Iglesias-Carrasco,

Zhang,

Noble

2024

Behavioral Ecology

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Exposure to increased temperatures during early development can lead to phenotypic plasticity in morphology, physiology, and behaviour across a range of ectothermic animals. In addition, maternal effects are known to be important contributors to phenotypic variation in offspring. Whether the two factors interact to shape offspring morphology and behaviour has been barely explored. This is critical since climate change is expected to impact both incubation temperature and maternal resource allocation and stress levels. Using a fully-factorial design, and Bayesian multivariate mixed models, we explored how the manipulation of early thermal environment and yolk-quantity in eggs affected the morphology, performance and antipredator behaviour of two sympatric Australian skink species (Lampropholis delicata and L. guichenoti). We found that juveniles from the hot treatment were larger than those on the cold treatment in L. guichenoti but not L. delicata. Using repeated behavioural measures for individual lizards, we found an interaction between incubation temperature and maternal investment in performance, with running speed being affected in a species-specific way by the treatment. We predicted that changes in performance should influence antipredator responses. In support of this prediction, we found that maternal investment impacted antipredator behaviour, with animals from the yolk-reduced and cold treatment resuming activity faster after a simulated predatory attack in L. delicata. However, the prediction was not supported in L. guichenoti. Our results highlight the importance of exploring the multifaceted role that environments play across generations to understand how different anthropogenic factors will impact wildlife in the future.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Maternal investment and early thermal conditions affect performance and antipredator responses

Iglesias-Carrasco,

Zhang,

Noble

2024

Behavioral Ecology

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Skinks on a Plane: Does Human‐Mediated Transportation Impact the Behaviour of an Invasive Lizard?

Harris,

Goulet,

Chapple

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The human‐mediated transportation of stowaway individuals to non‐native regions is a major driver of new biological invasions, and the post‐establishment spread of the invader in its introduced range. In order for the stowaway individuals to successfully establish in the non‐native region, they must survive the harsh conditions during the journey (e.g., extreme temperatures, cramped spaces, and lack of food) and arrive in good condition. However, few studies have investigated the impact of human‐assisted transportation on the behaviour of stowaway individuals. Here, we examined whether human‐mediated transportation, via both air and road, impacted the activity and exploratory behaviour of the invasive delicate skink (Lampropholis delicata). We exposed delicate skinks to either flights on a commercial airliner (total ~2.5 h flight time, and car transport to/from the airport), or a 3 h drive in a car. We found that although the temperatures experienced by skinks during transportation were more variable than those experienced by control group lizards, the temperature during transit remained well within the thermal tolerances for the species. Human‐assisted transportation only had a relatively minor impact on the behaviour of the invasive delicate skink: transportation by plane did not influence activity or exploratory behaviour, and car transportation increased activity, but did not impact exploratory behaviour. The capacity of stowaways to cope with the stress associated with human‐mediated transportation is a key factor in the success of species introductions, and subsequent invasion. As such, there should be a greater focus on the behaviours that facilitate the success of potential invaders in the early stages of the introduction process.

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Linking physiology and climate to infer species distributions in Australian skinks

Anderson,

Tingley,

Hoskin

et al. 2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Climate has a key impact on animal physiology, which in turn can have a profound influence on geographic distributions. Yet, the mechanisms linking climate, physiology and distribution are not fully resolved. Using an integrative framework, we tested the predictions of the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH), which states that species with broader distributions have broader physiological tolerance than range‐restricted species, in a group of Lampropholis skinks (8 species, 196 individuals) along a latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia. We investigated several physiological aspects including metabolism, water balance, thermal physiology, thermoregulatory behaviour and ecological performance. Additionally, to test whether organismal information (e.g. behaviour and physiology) can enhance distribution models, hence providing evidence that physiology and climate interact to shape range sizes, we tested whether species distribution models incorporating physiology better predict the range sizes than models using solely climatic layers. In agreement with the CVH, our results confirm that widespread species can tolerate and perform better at broader temperature ranges than range‐restricted species. We also found differences in field body temperatures, but not thermal preference, between widespread and range‐restricted species. However, metabolism and water balance did not correlate with range size. Biophysical modelling revealed that the incorporation of physiological and behavioural data improves predictions of Lampropholis distributions compared with models based solely on macroclimatic inputs, but mainly for range‐restricted species. By integrating several aspects of the physiology and niche modelling of a group of ectothermic animals, our study provides evidence that physiology correlates with species distributions. Physiological responses to climate are central in establishing geographic ranges of skinks, and the incorporation of processes occurring at local scales (e.g. behaviour) can improve species distribution models.

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Linking physiology and climate to infer species distributions in Australian skinks

Cited by 5 publications

References 99 publications

Maternal investment and early thermal conditions affect performance and antipredator responses

Maternal investment and early thermal conditions affect performance and antipredator responses

Skinks on a Plane: Does Human‐Mediated Transportation Impact the Behaviour of an Invasive Lizard?

Linking physiology and climate to infer species distributions in Australian skinks

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