title: Vulnerability to climate change of Anolis allisoni in the mangrove habitats of Banco Chinchorro Islands, Mexico.
abstract: As niche specialist species, lizards from tropical environments are characterized by a low tolerance and high physiological sensitivity to temperature changes. The extent of vulnerability to thermal changes depends on the lizard's physiological plasticity to adjust the environmental changes. Herein we studied the thermal biology of Anolis allisoni, an endemic arboreal lizard from the tropical islands of the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, carried out during April and May 2012 and April 2014. We report field body (Tb) and preferred body temperatures in the laboratory (Tpref), operative temperatures (Te) and restriction of hours of activity. Anolis allisoni showed high and identical Tb and Tpref (33°C), not significantly different than the mean Te (32.15°C). The effectiveness of thermoregulation (E=-0.30) and the analysis of hours of restriction suggested that the high temperatures of Te (40-62.5°C) registered at midday (from 12:00 to 15:00) of A. allisoni habitat are hostile and force lizards to take refuge during a period of 3h of their daily time of activity. The scarcity of opportunities to find alternative refuges for thermoregulation in Banco Chinchorro point out the vulnerability of A. allisoni and the risk of local extinction when considering future predictions of increase in global environmental temperatures.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Esquel, Chubut 9200, Argentina; CIEMEP - CONICET, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Esquel, Chubut 9200, Argentina. Electronic address: marlinmedina74@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marlin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad del Comahue, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina; INIBIOMA - CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro 8400, Argentina.
authors.forename: Jimena B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad en el Sureste, A.C., Calle Centenario del Instituto Juarez sn, C.P. 86080 Villahermosa, Tabasco, México.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Charruau
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Distrito Federal 04510, México.
authors.forename: Fausto Méndez
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: de la Cruz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad del Comahue, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina; INIBIOMA - CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro 8400, Argentina.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ibargüengoytía
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D001831:Body Temperature; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D057232:Global Warming; D008116:Lizards / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013696:Temperature; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: Anolis; Extinction; Global warming; Temperature; Tropical environment; Vulnerability