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Title: Interactions between a lizard and its thermal environment: implications for sprint performance and space utilization in the lizard Uta stansburiana

Abstract

At the end of their breeding season, male side-blotched lizards, Uta stansburiana from western Colorado decreased their home range to a size not different from that of females. Both males and females showed a high degree of overlap in home ranges, not found in populations previously studied in Texas. Uta's sprint speed was dependent on body temperature, with maximum sprint speed occurring at body temperatures between 35/sup 0/C and 38/sup 0/C, with lower speeds at higher and lower temperatures. An energy budget model was used to predict the range of body temperatures (and thus sprint speeds) available to lizards in four microhabitats within each animal's home range. Predicted body temperatures were converted to a space-time index. The distribution of the space-time index in each microhabitat was used to predict the spatial and temporal distributions of lizards. Predicted distributions accurately reflected the measured distributions of lizards in the morning and late afternoon, but did not reflect the measured distributions during midday. These inconsistencies are thought to be the result of lizard responses to other temperature-dependent processes, such as evaporite water loss.

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
OSTI Identifier:
6216354
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Ecology; (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 64:3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; LIZARDS; BEHAVIOR; COLORADO; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; HOME RANGE; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; PHYSIOLOGY; TEMPERATURE EFFECTS; VARIATIONS; ANIMALS; FEDERAL REGION VIII; NORTH AMERICA; REPTILES; USA; VERTEBRATES; 550100* - Behavioral Biology; 551000 - Physiological Systems; 560205 - Thermal Effects- Vertebrates- (-1987)

Citation Formats

Waldschmidt, S, and Tracy, C R. Interactions between a lizard and its thermal environment: implications for sprint performance and space utilization in the lizard Uta stansburiana. United States: N. p., 1983. Web. doi:10.2307/1939967.
Waldschmidt, S, & Tracy, C R. Interactions between a lizard and its thermal environment: implications for sprint performance and space utilization in the lizard Uta stansburiana. United States. https://doi.org/10.2307/1939967
Waldschmidt, S, and Tracy, C R. 1983. "Interactions between a lizard and its thermal environment: implications for sprint performance and space utilization in the lizard Uta stansburiana". United States. https://doi.org/10.2307/1939967.
@article{osti_6216354,
title = {Interactions between a lizard and its thermal environment: implications for sprint performance and space utilization in the lizard Uta stansburiana},
author = {Waldschmidt, S and Tracy, C R},
abstractNote = {At the end of their breeding season, male side-blotched lizards, Uta stansburiana from western Colorado decreased their home range to a size not different from that of females. Both males and females showed a high degree of overlap in home ranges, not found in populations previously studied in Texas. Uta's sprint speed was dependent on body temperature, with maximum sprint speed occurring at body temperatures between 35/sup 0/C and 38/sup 0/C, with lower speeds at higher and lower temperatures. An energy budget model was used to predict the range of body temperatures (and thus sprint speeds) available to lizards in four microhabitats within each animal's home range. Predicted body temperatures were converted to a space-time index. The distribution of the space-time index in each microhabitat was used to predict the spatial and temporal distributions of lizards. Predicted distributions accurately reflected the measured distributions of lizards in the morning and late afternoon, but did not reflect the measured distributions during midday. These inconsistencies are thought to be the result of lizard responses to other temperature-dependent processes, such as evaporite water loss.},
doi = {10.2307/1939967},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6216354}, journal = {Ecology; (United States)},
number = ,
volume = 64:3,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983},
month = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983}
}