Thermal ecology of five remaining populations of an endangered lizard (Liolaemus lutzae) in different restinga habitats in Brazil

We studied the thermal ecology of five populations (Marambaia, Barra de Maricá, Praia Grande, Praia do Foguete and Praia do Peró) of the endemic and endangered liolaemid lizard Liolaemus lutzae along its geographic range in coastal Rio de Janeiro state. Our aims were to analyze to what extent popula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal conservation 2015-06, Vol.19 (3), p.335-343
Main Authors: Almeida-Santos, Patrícia, Militão, Catia Moura, Nogueira-Costa, Paulo, Menezes, Vanderlaine Amaral, Rocha, Carlos Frederico Duarte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
air
air temperature
ambient temperature
Biogeography
body size
Body temperature
Brazil
Climate change
Coastal
Coastal Sciences
Coastal zone management
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Endangered & extinct species
Geography
Habitats
Lacertilia
Liolaemus
Lizards
microhabitats
Municipalities
Nature Conservation
Oceanography
population
Populations
Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry
Reptiles & amphibians
Rio de Janeiro
wet season
Wildlife conservation
wind
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Summary:We studied the thermal ecology of five populations (Marambaia, Barra de Maricá, Praia Grande, Praia do Foguete and Praia do Peró) of the endemic and endangered liolaemid lizard Liolaemus lutzae along its geographic range in coastal Rio de Janeiro state. Our aims were to analyze to what extent populations differ in mean body temperature and to evaluate the effect of some local environmental factors (such as air and substrate temperatures in the microhabitat and wind intensity) on lizard body temperature. Lizards were manually collected during its period of activity (7 to 18 h) from late February to early April 2012 (rainy season), always under similar weather conditions (sunny days). The body and environmental temperatures as well as wind intensity were taken immediately after capture at the same point where each lizard was initially sighted. The mean body temperature of L. lutzae in activity (all populations pooled) was 33.2 ± 2.5 °C (range = 22.5–40.2; N = 242) and varied from 31.5 ± 2.6 °C (range = 25.4–36.2; N = 34) to 34.0 ± 2.2 °C (range = 29.1–39.2; N = 67), depending of the locality. However, after removing the effect of the local thermal environment no interpopulational differences remained, suggesting a relative conservativeness in body temperature for the species. Temperatures of air and substrate interact to influence body temperature of individuals locally. Air temperature decreased with the increase of wind intensity, suggesting an indirect effect of wind in lizard body temperatures. Sex or body size did not affect lizard body temperature. Mean and maximum air temperatures in Rio de Janeiro municipality show an increase since 1930’s.
ISSN:1400-0350
1874-7841
DOI:10.1007/s11852-015-0395-7