Local extinction risk of three species of lizard from Patagonia as a result of global warming

Kubisch, Erika Leticia; Corbalán, Valeria; Ibargüengoytía, Nora R.; Sinervo, Barry

doi:10.1139/cjz-2015-0024

Cited by 55 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Two out of the three Liolaemidae possible climate change‐driven extinctions reported by Sinervo et al () are viviparous Andean species. Subsequent studies also predicted future extinctions of populations of other viviparous Liolaemidae in Patagonia near their warm distribution border due to restriction of activity by temperature increase (Kubisch, Corbalán, Ibargüengoytía, & Sinervo, ; Vicenzi, Corbalán, Miles, Sinervo, & Ibargüengoytía, ). In our case, even when considering the thermal requirements of pregnant females, restriction hours did not show significant negative effect on the distribution and abundance of any of the studied Liolaemus species, although they had a non‐significant negative effect on L. orientalis .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Lizards in the mist: Thermal niches constrained by habitat and microclimates in the Andes of southern Bolivia

Jiménez-Robles

Riva

2019

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim To understand how the activity budgets of ectotherms vary in mountain areas with high microclimatic and habitat heterogeneity, and how these factors together with habitat modulate the assemblage of ectotherm communities. Location Tajzara Basin, Cordillera de Sama (3,600–4,300 m a.s.l.), Department of Tarija, Bolivia. Taxon Four lizard species of the genus Liolaemus. Methods After parameterizing the thermal physiology of each species and recording operative temperature time series with dataloggers, we calculated activity budgets for every species across 30 sampling sites. By multimodel inference we evaluated how activity budgets varied across the topography. We also assessed how abundances of each species were predicted by activity budgets, restriction time, temperature deviation, habitat covers and exposure to cold microclimate. Results Activity budgets were not only influenced by elevation but also by the exposure to cold air that comes through saddles from the eastern side of the mountain divide. Although thermal physiological parameters were relatively similar among the species, their abundances were conditioned to different extents by activity budgets, habitat and microclimates. Main conclusions The abundance and distribution of each species across these lizard communities reflect the microclimatic heterogeneity originated by complex topography, which uncouples activity budgets from elevation. Only one species was confined to cold microclimate refugia with higher exposure to Föhn effect. Despite having a relatively similar thermal aspect of fundamental niches, lizards may differ in their realized niches by habitat selection. Habitat specialization could compromise the persistence of some species under global warming by reducing the dispersal possibilities to certain areas where population sustainability might be impaired in the long term. Understanding the heterogeneity of microclimates and habitats and the physiology of the species partially explains their distribution at local scale, and provides insights on how to best confront upcoming climate change effects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Lizards in the mist: Thermal niches constrained by habitat and microclimates in the Andes of southern Bolivia

Jiménez-Robles

Riva

2019

Journal of Biogeography

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“…, Kubisch et al. , Vicenzi et al. ) with two‐way ANOVAs using season and microhabitat category as factors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, sites 2–5, Table ) to cover the range of operative environmental temperatures occurring there (Kubisch et al. ). To incorporate our data into the modeling framework of Sinervo et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulatory behavior and high thermal preference buffer impact of climate change in a Namib Desert lizard

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Knowledge of the thermal ecology of a species can improve model predictions for temperatureinduced population collapse, which in light of climate change is increasingly important for species with limited distributions. Here, we use a multi-faceted approach to quantify and integrate the thermal ecology, properties of the thermal habitat, and past and present distribution of the diurnal, xeric-adapted, and active-foraging Namibian lizard Pedioplanis husabensis (Sauria: Lacertidae) to model its local extinction risk under future climate change scenarios. We asked whether climatic conditions in various regions of its range are already so extreme that local extirpations of P. husabensis have already occurred, or whether this micro-endemic species is adapted to these extreme conditions and uses behavior to mitigate the environmental challenges. To address this, we collected thermoregulation and climate data at a micro-scale level and combined it with micro-and macroclimate data across the species' range to model extinction risk. We found that P. husabensis inhabits a thermally harsh environment, but also has high thermal preference. In cooler parts of its range, individuals are capable of leaving thermally favorable conditions-based on the species' thermal preference-unused during the day, probably to maintain low metabolic rates. Furthermore, during the summer, we observed that individuals regulate at body temperatures below the species' high thermal preference to avoid body temperatures approaching the critical thermal maximum. We find that populations of this species are currently persisting even at the hottest localities within the species' geographic distribution. We found no evidence of range shifts since the 1960s despite a documented increase in air temperatures. Nevertheless, P. husabensis only has a small safety margin between the upper limit of its thermal preference and the critical thermal maximum and might undergo range reductions in the near future under even the most moderate climate change scenarios.

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“…Might losses of genetic diversity also be tied to attenuation of plasticity (as seen in canalized island populations, Aubret and Shine ), thus removing an important buffer against climatic shifts? These types of interactions are particularly relevant for ectotherms such as reptiles, which are sensitive to environmental conditions and also exhibit low dispersal relative to other terrestrial vertebrates (Kubisch et al , ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Fine with heat, problems with water: microclimate alters water loss in a thermally adapted insular lizard

Belasen

Brock

et al. 2016

Oikos

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Global change, including habitat isolation and climate change, has both short‐ and long‐term impacts on wildlife populations. For example, genetic drift and inbreeding result in genetic impoverishment in small, isolated populations, while species undergo range shifts or adaptive phenotypic change in response to shifts in environmental temperatures. In this study, we utilize a model system in which Holocene landscape changes have occurred to examine long‐term effects of population isolation. To examine how isolation may constrain responses to climate change, we characterized ecophysiology across land‐bridge island populations of Erhard's wall lizard Podarcis erhardii. We hypothesized that 1) small, isolated populations that are likely genetically depauperate would exhibit lower phenotypic variability; and 2) populations would be adapted to local microhabitat conditions. We compared a population at a low elevation site on the large island of Naxos with two small populations on nearby islets to determine the effects of population fragmentation. We further compared the low elevation Naxos population with two high elevation sites characterized by disparate microclimates to examine the effects of microclimate. To assess the thermal biology and ecophysiological limits of the study species we measured operative body temperatures (Te), field body temperatures (Tb), preferred temperatures (Tp), thermal tolerances (CTmax and CTmin), and evaporative water loss (EWL). Our results indicate that small, isolated populations did not exhibit thermal biology or evaporative water loss, while EWL and thermoregulatory effort varied according to microhabitat characteristics. This study integrates fine‐scale measurements with environmental data to provide a holistic view of the relationships between ecophysiology, fragmentation, and microclimate. Our methods can be applied to other ectotherms to gain a better understanding of potential impacts of global change on natural populations.

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Local extinction risk of three species of lizard from Patagonia as a result of global warming

Cited by 55 publications

References 77 publications

Lizards in the mist: Thermal niches constrained by habitat and microclimates in the Andes of southern Bolivia

Lizards in the mist: Thermal niches constrained by habitat and microclimates in the Andes of southern Bolivia

Thermoregulatory behavior and high thermal preference buffer impact of climate change in a Namib Desert lizard

Fine with heat, problems with water: microclimate alters water loss in a thermally adapted insular lizard

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