INVESTIGADORES
IBARGUENGOYTIA Nora
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Short terms positive response to warming on the growth of a Brazilian common lizard
Autor/es:
CARLA PIANTONI; NAVAS, CARLOS; IBARGÜENGOYTÍA, NORA RUTH
Reunión:
Congreso; 8th World Congress of Herpetology; 2016
Resumen:
For the last decades, climatic envelope models have predicted the extinction of populations to whole lineages. but very few studies account on individual responses to climate change. Herein, we report on the geographic and temporal variation of growth rates, age at sexual maturity and longevity of two populations of a South American lizard, Tropidurus torquatus, and state the possible eco-physiological responses to the global warming scenario. Subsamples displayed similar bone arrangement and growth patterns fitted the sigmoid model. Whereas in 1960s lizards attained sexual maturity at the age of 5 yr and 6-7 yr in the southern and northern sites, respectively, in 2012 animals achieved the minimum adult 2 yr younger in both populations. Additionally, juvenile growth rates were higher at the southern (warmer) site. Life span did not present temporal variation but was always longer in the northern site. Thus, the reproductive years increased in both populations in the last four decades. Higher temperatures positively affect growth, denoting that global warming might shorten the number of hours that offer beneficial temperatures for metabolic processes to be complete. Although short term effects may appear beneficial to this species, the long term exposure to this scenario could affect the fitness of the species unable to cope with the rate of alteration of its habitat. To achieve a better prediction of a species persistence research on the interaction between both habitat and individual-based approaches is needed.