Global Environmental Science, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA.
School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Oecologia. 2022 Aug;199(4):819-829. doi: 10.1007/s00442-022-05235-3. Epub 2022 Aug 10.
Global climate change has profound effects on species, especially those in habitats already altered by humans. Tropical ectotherms are predicted to be at high risk from global temperature increases, particularly those adapted to cooler temperatures at higher altitudes. We investigated how one such species, the water anole (Anolis aquaticus), is affected by temperature stress similar to that of a warming climate across a gradient of human-altered habitats at high elevation sites. We conducted a field survey on thermal traits and measured lizard critical thermal maxima across the sites. From the field survey, we found that (1) lizards from the least disturbed site and (2) operative temperature models of lizards placed in the least disturbed site had lower temperatures than those from sites with histories of human disturbance. Individuals from the least disturbed site also demonstrated greater tolerance to high temperatures than those from the more disturbed sites, in both their critical thermal maxima and the time spent at high temperatures prior to reaching critical thermal maxima. Our results demonstrate within-species variability in responses to high temperatures, depending on habitat type, and provide insight into how tropical reptiles may fare in a warming world.
全球气候变化对物种有深远的影响，特别是那些生活在已经被人类改变的栖息地中的物种。热带变温动物预计将面临全球气温升高的高风险，特别是那些适应高海拔地区较凉爽温度的物种。我们调查了一种这样的物种，水巨蜥（Anolis aquaticus），如何受到类似于气候变暖的温度胁迫的影响，这种胁迫在高海拔地区的一系列受人类干扰的栖息地梯度中存在。我们在现场调查了热特性，并在各地点测量了蜥蜴的临界热最大值。从现场调查中，我们发现：（1）来自受干扰最小的地点的蜥蜴；（2）放置在受干扰最小的地点的蜥蜴的有效温度模型，其温度低于来自有人类干扰历史的地点的蜥蜴。来自受干扰最小的地点的个体在高温下比来自受干扰更大的地点的个体表现出更高的耐受性，无论是在它们的临界热最大值方面，还是在达到临界热最大值之前在高温下花费的时间方面。我们的研究结果表明，在物种内部，对高温的反应存在差异，这取决于栖息地类型，并为了解热带爬行动物在变暖的世界中的表现提供了线索。
