Global warming is increasing the overheating risk for many organisms, though potential plasticity in thermal tolerance to mitigate this largely unknown. In part, shortcoming stems from a lack of knowledge about global and taxonomic patterns variation plasticity. To address critical issue, we test leading hypotheses broad-scale ectotherm using dataset that includes vertebrate invertebrate taxa terrestrial, freshwater marine habitats. Contrary expectation, heat was unrelated latitude or...

The predominant view is that the thermal physiology of tropical ectotherms, including lizards, not labile over ecological timescales. We used recent introduction (∼35 years ago) Puerto Rican lizard Anolis cristatellus to Miami, Florida, test this rigidity hypothesis. measured lower (critical minimum [CTmin]) and upper maximum [CTmax]) tolerances found introduced population tolerates significantly colder temperatures (by ∼3°C) than does source population; however, CTmax did differ. These...

Activity budgets influence the expression of life history traits as well population dynamics. For ectotherms, a major constraint on activity is environmental temperature. Nonetheless, we currently lack comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding thermal constraints activity, which hinders our ability to rigorously apply data answer ecological and evolutionary questions. Here, integrate multiple aspects temperature-dependent into single unified that has general applicability. We also...

Summary Plasticity is a near‐ubiquitous feature of the thermal physiology ectothermic organisms. Understanding significance plasticity in evolutionary and ecological contexts requires determining whether observed beneficial, and, if so, to what extent can compensate for environmental change (i.e. ‘complete’ or ‘incomplete’). Using site‐specific daily temperature records spanning several decades, we test ‘beneficial acclimation hypothesis’ by calculating number days predicted exceed heat...

Gut microbial communities affect their animal hosts in numerous ways, motivating investigations of the factors that shape gut microbiota and consequences variation for host traits. In this study, we tested effects increases environmental temperatures on fence lizards, a vertebrate ectotherm threatened by warming climates. By monitoring lizards microbes during an experimental temperature treatment, showed altered destabilized lizard microbiota. Moreover, measuring thermal performance at end...

ABSTRACT The effects of climate change are often body size dependent. One contributing factor could be size-dependent thermal tolerance (SDTT), the propensity for heat and cold to vary with among species individuals within species. SDTT is hypothesized caused by differences in temperature dependence underlying physiological processes that operate at cellular organ/system level (physiological SDTT). However, temperature-dependent physiology need not observed. can also arise because physical...

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates, yet their resilience to rising temperatures remains poorly understood1,2. This is primarily because knowledge of thermal tolerance taxonomically and geographically biased3, compromising global climate vulnerability assessments. Here we used a phylogenetically informed data-imputation approach predict heat 60% amphibian species assessed daily temperature variations in refugia. We found that 104 out 5,203 (2%) currently exposed overheating events...

Melanins are common feather pigments that contribute to signaling and crypsis. may also help feathers resist feather‐degrading bacteria (FDB). Two recent studies (Goldstein et al. 2004, Grande 2004) tested the resistance of melanized versus unmelanized FDB using in vitro experiments, but draw opposite conclusions. Goldstein (2004) concluded more than feathers, while feathers. To resolve this conflict literature, we replicated previous included additional tests not previously used. We...

Summary 1. Rising global temperatures are predicted to impact organisms in diverse ways. For ectotherms, recent broad‐scale analyses have patterns of vulnerability warming, with tropical species at higher risk detrimental effects than temperate species. However, results from complex interactions between environment, physiology and behaviour. that inhabit a diversity habitat types, these may change across their range. 2. We measured operative thermal environments ( T e ) body b the Caribbean...

Thermal activity constraints play a major role in many aspects of ectotherm ecology, including vulnerability to climate change. Therefore, there is strong interest developing general models the temperature dependence activity. Several have been put forth (explicitly or implicitly) describe such constraints; nonetheless, tests predictive abilities these are lacking. In addition, most consider as threshold trait instead considering continuous changes vigor among individuals. Using field data...

Urbanization is rapidly altering Earth's environments, demanding investigation of the impacts on resident wildlife. Here, we show that urban populations coyotes (Canis latrans), crested anole lizards (Anolis cristatellus), and white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) acquire gut microbiota constituents found in humans, including bacterial lineages associated with urbanization humans. Comparisons rural wildlife human revealed significant convergence among relative to populations. All...

Birds are important models for the study of host–parasite interactions (Loye and Zuk 1991, Clayton Moore 1997). Much this research has focused on arthropod ectoparasites that feed feathers (e.g., et al. 2003, Proctor 2003), because so to avian life-history traits. Feathers function in thermoregulation (Stettenheim 2000), communication (Andersson 1994, Shuster Wade flight (Rayner 1988). Damaged have reduced abilities perform these functions (Booth 1993, Swaddle Witter 1997, Ferns Lang...

Parasites influence the expression of secondary sexual traits and health infected individuals. We set out to test reputed exogenous parasites, plumage bacteria, including feather‐degrading bacteria (FDB), on characteristics body condition wild adult eastern bluebirds Sialia sialis . Previous work has shown that FDB alter coloration structurally‐colored bluebird feathers in vitro ( Shawkey et al. 2007 ). In a correlational study how affect birds wild, we found female got duller with...

Elucidating how ecological and evolutionary mechanisms interact to produce maintain biodiversity is a fundamental problem in ecology. Here, we focus on physiological evolution affects performance species coexistence along the thermal niche axis replicated radiations of Anolis lizards best known for resource partitioning based morphological divergence. We find repeated divergence physiology within these radiations, that this significantly natural environments. Morphologically similar co-occur...

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates, yet their resilience to rising temperatures remains poorly understood. This is primarily because knowledge of thermal tolerance taxonomically and geographically biased, compromising global climate vulnerability assessments. Here, we employed a novel data imputation approach predict heat 60% amphibian species assessed daily temperature variation in refugia. We found 198 out 5203 currently exposed overheating events shaded terrestrial conditions....

Extreme heat events are becoming more common as a result of anthropogenic global change. Developmental plasticity in physiological thermal limits could help mitigate the consequences extremes, but data on effects early temperature exposure later life rare, especially for vertebrate ectotherms. We conducted an experiment that to our knowledge is first isolate effect egg (i.e. embryonic) conditions adult tolerance reptile. Eggs lizard Anolis sagrei were incubated under one three fluctuating...

Comparative analyses have a long history of macro-ecological and -evolutionary approaches to understand structure, function, mechanism constraint. As the pace science accelerates, there is ever-increasing access diverse types data open databases that are enabling inspiring new research. Whether conducting species-level trait-based analysis or formal meta-analysis study effect sizes, comparative share common reliance on reliable, carefully curated databases. Unlike many scientific endeavors,...

Thermal tolerance plasticity is a core mechanism by which organisms can mitigate the effects of climate change. As result, there need to understand how variation in arises. The baseline tolerance/plasticity trade-off hypothesis (hereafter referred as hypothesis, TOH) has recently emerged potentially powerful explanation. TOH posits that with high thermal have reduced relative those low tolerance. Many studies found support for TOH. However, this must be regarded cautiously because most...

A major focus of current ecological research is to understand how global change makes species vulnerable extirpation. To date, mechanistic ecophysiological analyses vulnerability have focused primarily on the direct effects changing abiotic conditions whole-organism physiological traits, such as metabolic rate, locomotor performance, cardiac function, and critical thermal limits. However, do not live in isolation within their physical environments, climate are likely be compounded by...