RT Journal Article
T1 Intense nocturnal warming alters growth strategies, colouration and parasite load in a diurnal lizard
A1 Rutschmann, Alexis
A1 Dupoué, Andréaz
A1 Miles, Donald B.
A1 Megia Palma, Rodrigo Manuel
A1 Lauden, Clémence
A1 Richard, Murielle
A1 Badiane, Arnaud
A1 Rozen-Rechels, David
A1 Brevet, Mathieu
A1 Blaimont, Pauline
A1 Meylan, Sandrine
A1 Clobert, Jean
A1 Le Galliard, Jean-François
AB In the past decades, nocturnal temperatures have been playing a disproportionate role in the global warming of the planet. Yet, they remain a neglected factor in studies assessing the impact of global warming on natural populations.Here, we question whether an intense augmentation of nocturnal temperatures is beneficial or deleterious to ectotherms. Physiological performance is influenced by thermal conditions in ectotherms and an increase in temperature by only 2°C is sufficient to induce a disproportionate increase in metabolic expenditure. Warmer nights may expand ectotherms' species thermal niche and open new opportunities for prolonged activities and improve foraging efficiency. However, increased activity may also have deleterious effects on energy balance if exposure to warmer nights reduces resting periods and elevates resting metabolic rate. We assessed whether warmer nights affected an individual's growth, dorsal skin colouration, thermoregulation behaviour, oxidative stress status and parasite load by exposing yearling common lizards (Zootoca vivipara) from four populations to either ambient or high nocturnal temperatures for approximately 5 weeks. Warmer nocturnal temperatures increased the prevalence of ectoparasitic infestation and altered allocation of resources towards structural growth rather than storage. We found no change in markers for oxidative stress. The thermal treatment did not influence thermal preferences, but influenced dorsal skin brightness and luminance, in line with a predicted acclimation response in colder environments to enhance heat gain from solar radiation. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of considering nocturnal warming as an independent factor affecting ectotherms' life history in the context of global climate change.
PB British Ecological Society
SN 0021-8790
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/113926
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/113926
LA eng
NO Rutschmann, A., Dupoué, A., Miles, D. B., Megía-Palma, R., Lauden, C., Richard, M., Badiane, A., Rozen-Rechels, D., Brevet, M., Blaimont, P., Meylan, S., Clobert, J., & Le Galliard, J.-F. (2021). Intense nocturnal warming alters growth strategies, colouration and parasite load in a diurnal lizard. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90(8), 1864-1877. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13502
NO Monitoring was supported by the ‘Agence Nationale de la Recherche’ ANR (ANR-13-JSV7-0011-01 to S.M. and ANR-17-CE02-0013 to J.-F.L.G.). D.B.M. was supported by NSF (EF128428 and EF1241848).
NO Agence Nationale de la Recherche
NO National Science Foundation
DS Docta Complutense
RD 2 ago 2025