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

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983 · Ecology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/1939967· OSTI ID:6216354

Waldschmidt, S; Tracy, C R

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.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
• OSTI ID: 6216354
• Journal Information: Ecology; (United States), Vol. 64:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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)