Small Island Effects on the Thermal Biology of the Endemic Mediterranean Lizard Podarcis gaigeae

Author:

Reppa Aikaterini1,Agori Ariadne Faidra2,Santikou Panayiota2,Parmakelis Aristeidis1,Pafilis Panayiotis34ORCID,Valakos Efstratios D.34,Sagonas Kostas5ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Section of Ecology and Taxonomy, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece

2. Section of Animal and Human Physiology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece

3. Section of Zoology and Marine Biology, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece

4. Zoological Museum, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece

5. Section of Zoology, Department of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

Ectotherms are vastly affected by climatic conditions as they rely on external sources of heat to regulate their body temperature, and changes in their habitat thermal quality could seriously affect their overall biology. To overcome the problems of a thermally unfavorable habitat, lizards need to either adjust their thermoregulatory behavior or respond to directional selection and shift their preferred body temperatures. To assess the impact of habitat thermal quality on the thermoregulatory profile, we studied multiple islet and ‘mainland’ populations of the Skyros wall lizard Podarcis gaigeae, an endemic lacertid to Skyros Archipelago, Greece. We evaluated the effectiveness of thermoregulation (E) using the three main thermal parameters: body (Tb), operative (Te), and preferred (Tpref) temperatures. We first hypothesized that the spatial homogeneity, the scarcity of thermal shelters, and the exposure to higher winds on islets would result in more demanding climate conditions. Second, we anticipated that islet lizards would achieve higher E in response to the lower thermal quality therein. As hypothesized, thermal parameters differed between populations but not in the expected manner. Skyros ‘mainland’ habitats reached higher temperatures, had more intense fluctuations, and were of lower thermal quality. As a result, lizards showed higher accuracy, precision, and effectiveness of thermoregulation. Noteworthy, we found that lizards from different populations have shifted their thermal profile and preferred body temperatures to cope with the particular conditions prevailing in their habitats. The latter supports the labile view on the evolution of thermoregulation.

Funder

Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

General Veterinary,Animal Science and Zoology

Reference69 articles.

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