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Length of activity season drives geographic variation in body size of a widely distributed lizard
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 3.0
Length of activity season drives geographic variation in body size of a widely distributed lizard
Bibliographic description
| title: | Length of activity season drives geographic variation in body size of a widely distributed lizard |
| author: | Horváthová Terézia  , Cooney Christopher R., Fitze Patrick S., Oksanen Tuula A., Jelic Dusan, Ghira Ioan, Uller Tobias, Jandzik David |
| journal title: | Ecology and Evolution |
| volume: | 3 |
| issue: | 8 |
| date of publication : | 2013 |
| pages: | 2424-2442 |
| eISSN: |
2045-7758 |
| DOI: | |
| language: | English |
| journal language: | English |
| abstract in English: | Understanding the factors that drive geographic variation in life history is an important challenge in evolutionary ecology. Here, we analyze what predicts geographic variation in life-history traits of the common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, which has the globally largest distribution range of all terrestrial reptile species. Variation in body size was predicted by differences in the length of activity season, while we found no effects of environmental temperature per se. Females experiencing relatively short activity season mature at a larger size and remain larger on average than females in populations with relatively long activity seasons. Interpopulation variation in fecundity was largely explained by mean body size of females and reproductive mode, with viviparous populations having larger clutch size than oviparous populations. Finally, body size-fecundity relationship differs between viviparous and oviparous populations, with relatively lower reproductive investment for a given body size in oviparous populations. While the phylogenetic signal was weak overall, the patterns of variation showed spatial effects, perhaps reflecting genetic divergence or geographic variation in additional biotic and abiotic factors. Our findings emphasize that time constraints imposed by the environment rather than ambient temperature play a major role in shaping life histories in the common lizard. This might be attributed to the fact that lizards can attain their preferred body temperature via behavioral thermoregulation across different thermal environments. Length of activity season, defining the maximum time available for lizards to maintain optimal performance, is thus the main environmental factor constraining growth rate and annual rates of mortality. Our results suggest that this factor may partly explain variation in the extent to which different taxa follow ecogeographic rules. |
| keywords in English: | Bergmann's rule, ecogeographic variation, life-history traits, reptiles, thermoregulation |
| affiliation: | Wydział Biologii i Nauk o Ziemi : Instytut Nauk o Środowisku |
| type: | journal article |
| subtype: | academic paper |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 3.0
Projekt „Repozytorium otwartego dostępu do dorobku naukowego i dydaktycznego UJ” współfinansowany w ramach poddziałania 2.3.1 „Cyfrowe udostępnianie zasobów nauki” Programu Operacyjnego Polska Cyfrowa z Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego i budżetu państwa na podstawie umowy o dofinansowanie nr POPC.02.03.01-00-0030/17-00
