College of Wildlife and Protected Areas, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Integr Zool. 2024 Nov;19(6):1034-1046. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12784. Epub 2023 Oct 28.
Climate warming poses a significant threat to species worldwide, particularly those inhabiting arid and semi-arid regions where extreme temperatures are increasingly prevalent. However, empirical studies investigating how moderate heat events affect the physiological processes of arid and semi-arid animals are largely scarce. To address this knowledge gap, we used an arid and semi-arid lizard species (Phrynocephalus przewalskii) as a study system. We manipulated thermal environments to simulate moderate heat events (43.5 ± 0.3°C during the heating period) for lizards and examined physiological and biochemical traits related to survival, metabolism, locomotion, oxidative stress, and telomere length. We found that the body condition and survival of the lizards were not significantly affected by moderate heat events, despite an increase in body temperature and a decrease in locomotion at high test temperatures were detected. Mechanistically, we found that the lizards exhibited down-regulated metabolic rates and enhanced activities of antioxidative enzymes, resulting in reduced oxidative damage and stable telomere length under moderate heat events. Based on these findings, which indicated a beneficial regulation of fitness by physiological and biochemical processes, we inferred that moderate heat events did not have a detrimental effect on the toad-headed agama, P. przewalskii. Overall, our research contributes to understanding the impacts of moderate heat events on arid and semi-arid species and highlights the adaptive responses and resilience exhibited by the toad-headed agama in the face of climate warming.
气候变暖对全球物种构成重大威胁，特别是对栖息在干旱和半干旱地区的物种，因为这些地区的极端温度越来越普遍。然而，关于中度热事件如何影响干旱和半干旱动物生理过程的实证研究却很少。为了解决这一知识空白，我们以一种干旱和半干旱蜥蜴物种（青海沙蜥）为研究系统。我们通过控制热环境来模拟中度热事件（加热期内温度为 43.5 ± 0.3°C），并检测与生存、代谢、运动、氧化应激和端粒长度相关的生理和生化特征。我们发现，尽管在高温下蜥蜴的体温升高且运动能力下降，但中度热事件并未显著影响蜥蜴的身体状况和生存。从机制上看，我们发现蜥蜴表现出代谢率下调和抗氧化酶活性增强，从而在中度热事件下减少了氧化损伤并保持了端粒长度的稳定。基于这些发现，即生理和生化过程对适应性的有益调节，我们推断中度热事件对青海沙蜥没有不利影响。总的来说，我们的研究有助于了解中度热事件对干旱和半干旱物种的影响，并强调了面对气候变暖，青海沙蜥所表现出的适应响应和恢复力。
