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How the most northern lizard, Zootoca vivipara, overwinters in Siberia

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Abstract

The common lizard Zootoca vivipara has the largest range of all the terrestrial reptiles which includes the subarctic regions of the Palaearctic. The species provides a unique model for studying the strategies of adaptation of a reptile to extreme low winter temperatures. The aim of our research was to determine whether this species survives the severe winters of Siberia, including Yakutia, due to its exceptional cold hardiness or due to wintering in abnormally warm places. The cold hardiness limit of lizards from the southeast of Western Siberia was lower than in conspecific European populations (−4 °C) and was the record low for all adult reptiles. In dry substrate (water content 13–14 %), 21 % of lizards survived at temperatures from −3 to −10 °C, but in wet substrate (70–80 %) none of them survived even at slightly below-zero temperatures. The survivors remained in a supercooled state until the temperature dropped to about −3 °C, and then they froze and could remain frozen for over 2 months. In most biotopes examined in the southeast of Western Siberia, soil temperatures at the depth of the lizard hibernacula (5–13 cm) were higher than −10 °C. Despite very cold air, similar winter soil temperatures were recorded in the warmest lizard habitats in Yakutia, due to the soil-heating effect of unfrozen groundwater in talik zones. Thus, extensive distribution of the common lizard in Yakutia is determined not only by its exceptional cold hardiness but also by specific hydrogeological conditions maintaining winter soil temperatures above its tolerance limit.

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Acknowledgments

The study was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grants 10-04-00425-a, 13-04-00156-a, 16-04-00082-a). We are also grateful to V.K. Zinchenko (ISEA SB RAS, Novosibirsk) for identification of the dung beetle, to A.N. Leirikh (IBPN FEB RAS, Magadan) for discussion of the methods of studying cold hardiness, to A.A. Poploukhin (IBPN FEB RAS, Magadan) for the flawless work of the refrigeration equipment, and to N.P. Zhornyak, O.Yu. Rozhkova (Olyokminsk), and the Solomov family (Abyi) for their help during field work. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their comments, which resulted in substantial improvement of the manuscript. All the procedures were carried out in accordance with the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences, 1985).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Portovaya Str. 18, Magadan, Russia, 685000

    Daniil I. Berman, Nina A. Bulakhova, Arcady V. Alfimov & Ekaterina N. Meshcheryakova

  2. Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, Tomsk State University, Lenina Str. 36, Tomsk, Russia, 634050

    Nina A. Bulakhova

Authors
  1. Daniil I. Berman
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  2. Nina A. Bulakhova
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  3. Arcady V. Alfimov
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  4. Ekaterina N. Meshcheryakova
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Correspondence to Nina A. Bulakhova.

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Berman, D.I., Bulakhova, N.A., Alfimov, A.V. et al. How the most northern lizard, Zootoca vivipara, overwinters in Siberia. Polar Biol 39, 2411–2425 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1916-z

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