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To thermoconform or thermoregulate? An assessment of thermoregulation opportunities for the lizard Zootoca vivipara in the subarctic

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Abstract

The general model of thermoregulation of ectotherms predicts that thermally challenging environments select for evolution of thermoconformity. Studies of reptilian thermoregulation at climatic extremes are rare and, in the subarctic zone, completely lacking. Thermal characteristics of the habitat of the lizard Zootoca vivipara were studied in the subarctic zone, at the northern margin of its distribution, where lizard density was already extremely low. We found that, during the activity period, the preferred body temperatures of Z. vivipara were not available for a thermoconformer, but available for 7 h for a thermoregulator in an average day. Therefore, thermoconformity is unbeneficial and accurate thermoregulation should be the appropriate strategy. We hypothesise that the extremely low lizard abundance at our subarctic study site is caused by the short activity season and the large daily temperature fluctuations, with night temperatures occasionally falling below zero even during the activity period.

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Acknowledgements

The work was facilitated by access to equipment and space of the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, University of Helsinki. The study was supported by LAPBIAT grant (no. HPRI-CT-2001-00132). We thank Antero Järvinen for advise on field work, Anssi Laurila, Gergely Hegyi, Chris Gleed-Owen and three referees for their comments leading to improvements of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Herczeg, Tibor Kovács & Attila Hettyey

  2. Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Ecology and Systematics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Finland

    Juha Merilä

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  1. Gábor Herczeg
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  2. Tibor Kovács
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  3. Attila Hettyey
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  4. Juha Merilä
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Correspondence to Gábor Herczeg.

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Herczeg, G., Kovács, T., Hettyey, A. et al. To thermoconform or thermoregulate? An assessment of thermoregulation opportunities for the lizard Zootoca vivipara in the subarctic. Polar Biol 26, 486–490 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-003-0507-y

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