Thermal ecophysiology of a native and an invasive gecko species in a tropical dry forest of Mexico

Romero-Báez, Óscar; Santos-Bibiano, Rufino; Domínguez-Godoy, Miguel A.; Miles, Donald B.; Muñoz-Nolasco, Francisco Javier

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102607

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The B 80 of the three species ( Table 1 ) is wider than the reported values for several species of snakes and lizards ( Huey & Bennett, 1987 ; Tanaka, 2008 ; Lelièvre et al, 2010 ; Bonino et al, 2015 ; Romero-Báez et al, 2020 ), which suggests that they are thermal generalists that can maintain performance over a wide interval of temperatures. Having a wide B 80 can be beneficial to the performance of C. lineata in the cold site of Los Dinamos, since such a characteristic has been found to allow some species to maintain adequate performance levels in suboptimal temperatures ( Gómez-Alés et al, 2018 ; Valdez Ovallez et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Physiological thermal responses of three Mexican snakes with distinct lifestyles

Figueroa-Huitrón,

Díaz de la Vega-Pérez,

Plasman

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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The impact of temperature on reptile physiology has been examined through two main parameters: locomotor performance and metabolic rates. Among reptiles, different species may respond to environmental temperatures in distinct ways, depending on their thermal sensitivity. Such variation can be linked to the ecological lifestyle of the species and needs to be taken into consideration when assessing the thermal influence on physiology. This is particularly relevant for snakes, which are a very functionally diverse group. In this study, our aim was to analyze the thermal sensitivity of locomotor performance and resting metabolic rate (RMR) in three snake species from central Mexico (Crotalus polystictus, Conopsis lineata, and Thamnophis melanogaster), highlighting how it is influenced by their distinctive behavioral and ecological traits. We tested both physiological parameters in five thermal treatments: 15 °C, 25 °C, 30 °C, 33 °C, and 36 °C. Using the performance data, we developed thermal performance curves (TPCs) for each species and analyzed the RMR data using generalized linear mixed models. The optimal temperature for locomotion of C. polystictus falls near its critical thermal maximum, suggesting that it can maintain performance at high temperatures but with a narrow thermal safety margin. T. melanogaster exhibited the fastest swimming speeds and the highest mass-adjusted RMR. This aligns with our expectations since it is an active forager, a high energy demand mode. The three species have a wide performance breadth, which suggests that they are thermal generalists that can maintain performance over a wide interval of temperatures. This can be beneficial to C. lineata in its cold habitat, since such a characteristic has been found to allow some species to maintain adequate performance levels in suboptimal temperatures. RMR increased along with temperature, but the proportional surge was not uniform since thermal sensitivity measured through Q10 increased at the low and high thermal treatments. High Q10 at low temperatures could be an adaptation to maintain favorable performance in suboptimal temperatures, whereas high Q10 at high temperatures could facilitate physiological responses to heat stress. Overall, our results show different physiological adaptations of the three species to the environments they inhabit. Their different activity patterns and foraging habits are closely linked to these adaptations. Further studies of other populations with different climatic conditions would provide valuable information to complement our current understanding of the effect of environmental properties on snake physiology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Physiological thermal responses of three Mexican snakes with distinct lifestyles

Figueroa-Huitrón,

Díaz de la Vega-Pérez,

Plasman

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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“…In the case of X. henshawi , we also compared diurnal and nocturnal T b through an ANCOVA. We implemented a repeated measures linear‐mixed effects model (LMM) with T sel as the dependent variable, species, sex, and season as fixed factors, individual as random factor, and T sel measurement in thermal gradient as repeated measure (Romero‐Báez et al, 2020). In the case of X. henshawi , the only species for which we recorded both diurnal and nocturnal activity in the field, we performed a second LMM to test for intraspecific differences in T sel by phase (photophase/scotophase), also incorporating sex and season as fixed factors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulatory strategies of three reclusive lizards (genus Xantusia) from the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, under current and future microenvironmental temperatures

et al. 2021

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The thermal quality of the habitat is key for the regulation of body temperature in terrestrial ectotherms and, therefore, permits them to carry out their fundamental biological activities. In thermally heterogeneous environments, ectotherms might follow different behavioral or physiological strategies to maintain their body temperature within biologically adequate boundaries, for which they depend on microhabitat selection. These aspects are, thus, relevant in the context of habitat degradation and land-use change. In this study, we characterized the thermal ecology of three lizard species (genus Xantusia) that differ in microhabitat use along the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. We made three predictions: (1) the three species will follow different thermoregulatory strategies according to habitat thermal quality; (2) the thermal requirements and tolerances of these species will match the environmental or microenvironmental thermal conditions; and (3) due to their habitat and range restriction, the species studied will be highly vulnerable to climate change. Our results indicate the existence of thermoregulatory mechanisms in Xantusia to face thermal heterogeneity, including behavioral thermoregulation by choosing different microhabitats, shifts in activity periods, and adaptation to particular high thermal quality microhabitats. Furthermore, despite their association to specific microhabitats and specialized physiology, the studied species will not be adversely affected by climate change, as the increased microenvironmental temperatures will lead to a higher habitat thermal quality and lower costs of thermoregulation. However, we do not discard other indirect adverse effects of climate change not considered in this study.

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“…While not all introductions are successful, some have led to widespread invasions across multiple regions (Compton et al, 2010;Ihlow et al, 2016;Zhou et al, 2021), and even continents (Kolbe et al, 2010;Tedeschi et al, 2022). To better understand these massive invasion events, previous studies have quantified physical performance traits (speed, endurance, jump force) as proxies of dispersal capacity (Kolbe et al, 2010;Llewelyn et al, 2010;Lombaert et al, 2014;Louppe et al, 2017) and fitness-related traits (Dallas et al, 2021;Louppe et al, 2018;Romero-Báez et al, 2020;Young et al, 2022). However, studies often neglect the drivers of variation in performance (Arnold, 1983) and how variation in the propensity of an individual to become invasive may be driven by its anatomy and physiology (Bennett, 1987;Forsman and Wennersten, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What makes a great invader? Anatomical traits as predictors of locomotor performance and metabolic rate in an invasive frog

Padilla,

Herrel,

Denoël

2023

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Invasive species are characterized by their ability to establish and spread in a new environment. In alien populations of anurans, dispersal and fitness-related traits such as endurance, burst performance, and metabolism are keys to their success. However, few studies have investigated inter-individual variation in these traits and more specifically have attempted to understand the drivers of variation in these traits. Associations of anatomical features may be excellent predictors of variation in performance and could be targets for selection or subject to trade-offs during invasions. In this study, we used marsh frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus), a species which has been introduced in many places outside its native range and which is now colonizing large areas of Western Europe. We first measured the inter-individual variation in resting metabolism, the time and distance they were able to jump until exhaustion, and their peak jump force, and then measured the mass of specific organs and lengths of body parts suspected to play a role in locomotion and metabolism. Among the 5000 bootstraps replicates on body size corrected variables, our statistical models most often selected the stomach (75.42%), gonads (71.46%), and the kidneys (67.26%) as predictors of inter-individual variation in metabolism and the gluteus maximus muscle (97.24%) mass was the most often selected predictor of jump force. However, endurance was poorly associated with the anatomical traits (R²distance=0.42, R²time=0.37). These findings suggest that selection on these predictors may lead to physiological changes that may affect the colonization, establishment, and dispersal of these frogs.

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Thermal ecophysiology of a native and an invasive gecko species in a tropical dry forest of Mexico

Cited by 9 publications

References 43 publications

Physiological thermal responses of three Mexican snakes with distinct lifestyles

Physiological thermal responses of three Mexican snakes with distinct lifestyles

Thermoregulatory strategies of three reclusive lizards (genus Xantusia) from the Baja California peninsula, Mexico, under current and future microenvironmental temperatures

What makes a great invader? Anatomical traits as predictors of locomotor performance and metabolic rate in an invasive frog

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