Short-term predicted extinction of Andean populations of the lizard Stenocercus guentheri (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae)

María Belén Andrango; Carla Sette; Omar Torres-Carvajal

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2016.09.012

Short-term predicted extinction of Andean populations of the lizard Stenocercus guentheri (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae)

María Belén Andrango^*, Carla Sette, Omar Torres-Carvajal

^*Corresponding author for this work

Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

We studied the thermal physiology of the Andean lizard Stenocercus guentheri in order to evaluate the possible effects of global warming on this species. We determined the preferred body temperature (T_pref), critical thermals (CTmin, CTmax), and hours of restriction and activity. T_pref was 32.14±1.83 °C; CTmin was 8.31 °C in adults and 9.14 °C in juveniles, whereas CTmax was 43.28 °C in adults and 41.68 °C in juveniles. To assess extinction risk, we used the model created by Sinervo et al. (2010) and predicted that 16.7% of populations will have a high risk of extinction by 2020, with an increase to 26.7% by 2050. These results suggest that this species, despite being able to maintain its T_pref through behavioral thermoregulation and habitat selection, could be physiologically sensitive to climate warming; thus, the potential for local adaptation may be limited under a warmer climate. Further studies focusing on the ability of S. guentheri to evolve higher T_pref and thermal tolerances are needed to understand the ability of this species to respond to climate change.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	30-36
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Thermal Biology
Volume	62
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2016.09.012
State	Published - 1 Dec 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

We are very thankful to Andrés Merino-Viteri and Don Miles who contributed with helpful advice for experimental methods and provided important suggestions. Andrés Merino-Viteri also created the bioclimatic layers used in PCA. We thank Gabriela Galarza, Simón E. Lobos, and Nadia B. Páez for their help with ArcGIS. Julio Sánchez-Otero provided statistical advice. We also thank Fernando Ayala-Varela, Estefany Guerra, and Santiago R. Ron for their help and comments. We acknowledge the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología (INAMHI) for the meteorological data and Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador for providing temperature and precipitation data used in PCA. This study was conducted with permission of the Environmental Management Direction of Pichincha Government. Financial support was provided by Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (Grant number: K13060 ).

Funders	Funder number
Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador	K13060

Keywords

Andes
Critical thermal
Extinction
Global warming
Lizard
Restriction hours

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jtherbio.2016.09.012

Cite this

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title = "Short-term predicted extinction of Andean populations of the lizard Stenocercus guentheri (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae)",

abstract = "We studied the thermal physiology of the Andean lizard Stenocercus guentheri in order to evaluate the possible effects of global warming on this species. We determined the preferred body temperature (Tpref), critical thermals (CTmin, CTmax), and hours of restriction and activity. Tpref was 32.14±1.83 °C; CTmin was 8.31 °C in adults and 9.14 °C in juveniles, whereas CTmax was 43.28 °C in adults and 41.68 °C in juveniles. To assess extinction risk, we used the model created by Sinervo et al. (2010) and predicted that 16.7% of populations will have a high risk of extinction by 2020, with an increase to 26.7% by 2050. These results suggest that this species, despite being able to maintain its Tpref through behavioral thermoregulation and habitat selection, could be physiologically sensitive to climate warming; thus, the potential for local adaptation may be limited under a warmer climate. Further studies focusing on the ability of S. guentheri to evolve higher Tpref and thermal tolerances are needed to understand the ability of this species to respond to climate change.",

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Short-term predicted extinction of Andean populations of the lizard Stenocercus guentheri (Iguanidae: Tropidurinae)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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