Vulnerability to climate warming of Liolaemus pictus (Squamata, Liolaemidae), a lizard from the cold temperate climate in Patagonia, Argentina

IBARGÜENGOYTÍA, NORA RUTH; KUBISCH, ERIKA LETICIA; FERNANDEZ, JIMENA BEATRIZ

JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Lugar: HEIDELBERG; Año: 2016 vol. 186 p. 243 - 253

0174-1578

A rise in environmental temperatures due to global warming can detrimentally affect an organism?s physiological performance including growth, foraging, reproduction, immune capabilities, behaviours and competitiveness. Predictions of the effects of climate change species frequently rely on the analyses of the variation of locomotor performance with environmental temperatures (Angilletta 2009; Huey et al. 2012) since locomotion influences the fitness of individuals and is particularly subject to the pressures of natural selection (Snell et al. 1988; Bennett 1990; Jayne and Bennett 1990; Sinervo et al. 2000; Miles 2004; Cote and Clobert 2007; Zajitschek et al. 2012; Logan et al. 2013). Locomotion relates with dispersal or migration, feeding activities, predator avoidance, dominance behaviour, and reproduction (Bennett 1980; Christian and Tracy 1981; Snell et al. 1988; Robson and Miles 2000; Perry et al. 2004). In this regard, the thermal sensitivity of lizards? locomotion becomes one of the most relevant locomotor parameters and can be calculated from performance curves defined by the optimal temperature (To) at which maximum speed is achieved (Vmax), the thermal performance breadth (B80 = range of body temperature over which the lizard can run at 80% or faster of its Vmax) and the Critical Thermal Minimum and Maximum (CTMin and CTMax, respectively; Huey et al. 2012).