DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kp140
title: Data from: Fine with heat, problems with water: microclimate alters water loss in a thermally adapted insular lizard

description: Global change, including habitat isolation and climate change, has both
 short- and long-term impacts on wildlife populations. For example, genetic
 drift and inbreeding result in genetic impoverishment in small, isolated
 populations, while species undergo range shifts or adaptive phenotypic
 change in response to shifts in environmental temperatures. In this study,
 we utilize a model system in which Holocene landscape changes have
 occurred to examine long-term effects of population isolation. To examine
 how isolation may constrain responses to climate change, we characterized
 ecophysiology across land-bridge island populations of Erhard's wall
 lizard Podarcis erhardii. We hypothesized that 1) small, isolated
 populations that are likely genetically depauperate would exhibit lower
 phenotypic variability; and 2) populations would be adapted to local
 microhabitat conditions. We compared a population at a low elevation site
 on the large island of Naxos with two small populations on nearby islets
 to determine the effects of population fragmentation. We further compared
 the low elevation Naxos population with two high elevation sites
 characterized by disparate microclimates to examine the effects of
 microclimate. To assess the thermal biology and ecophysiological limits of
 the study species we measured operative body temperatures (Te), field body
 temperatures (Tb), preferred temperatures (Tp), thermal tolerances (CTmax
 and CTmin), and evaporative water loss (EWL). Our results indicate that
 small, isolated populations did not exhibit thermal biology or evaporative
 water loss, while EWL and thermoregulatory effort varied according to
 microhabitat characteristics. This study integrates fine-scale
 measurements with environmental data to provide a holistic view of the
 relationships between ecophysiology, fragmentation, and microclimate. Our
 methods can be applied to other ectotherms to gain a better understanding
 of potential impacts of global change on natural populations.
description: Belasen et al.
 CTmaxSites are coded as
 follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 - Naxos South-Facing (NSF); 3 -
 Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro, Small Islet 1 (OVR); 5 -
 Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP); Max temp is the maximum temperature at
 which a lizard could right itself during a laboratory righting test;
 weight is the weight of the lizard in grams; SVL is the snout-vent length
 of the lizard in centimetersBelasen et al.
 CTminSites are coded as
 follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 - Naxos South-Facing (NSF); 3 -
 Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro, Small Islet 1 (OVR); 5 -
 Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP); temp is the minimum temperature at which
 a lizard could right itself during a laboratory righting test; duration is
 the duration of the experiment in minutes; weight is the weight of the
 lizard in grams; SVL is the snout-vent length of the lizard in
 centimetersBelasen et al. adult
 male EWLSites are divided into
 separate tabs in the spreadsheet. Lizards were given a "number"
 and an "ID" reflecting unique toeclip combinations. Activity was
 recorded as either hiding, basking, or foraging. Sex is coded as F for
 female, F(n) for non-gravid female, F(g) for gravid female, and M for
 male. Site is coded as follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 - Naxos
 South-Facing (NSF); 3 - Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro, Small
 Islet 1 (OVR); 5 - Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP). Activity c and sex c
 are coded versions of these variables. Body temperature is the internal
 temperature of the lizard taken with a cloacal thermometer. Substrate temp
 was the temperature of the substrate on which the lizard was found, and
 Air temp was the temperature of the air ~5 cm above the substrate. Weight
 of the lizard was recorded in grams and snout-vent length (SVL) and tail
 length (TL) in centimeters. Tail condition (TC) was recorded as complete
 (1 or C) or broken (0 or B). Fragment length (FL) was recorded in
 centimeters for lizards with broken tails.Belasen et al. thermal
 preference dataSite is coded as
 follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 - Naxos South-Facing (NSF); 3 -
 Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro, Small Islet 1 (OVR); 5 -
 Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP). Lizards were given an "ID"
 reflecting unique toeclip combinations. Sex is coded as F for female, F(n)
 for non-gravid female, F(g) for gravid female, and M for male. Weight of
 the lizard was recorded in grams and snout-vent length (SVL) and tail
 length (TL) in centimeters. Tail condition (TC) was recorded as complete
 (1 or C) or broken (0 or B). Fragment length (FL) was recorded in
 centimeters for lizards with broken tails. Date is the date of the thermal
 preference experiment and start and end time of the experiment is
 recorded. Temperature was recorded at 2 min intervals for one hour. Mean
 and quartiles were calculated at the end of the trial.Belasen et al. adult
 male EWLLizards were given a
 "number" and an "ID" reflecting unique toeclip
 combinations. Site is coded as follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 -
 Naxos South-Facing (NSF); 3 - Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro,
 Small Islet 1 (OVR); 5 - Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP). Snout-vent
 length (SVL), trunk girth, tail length (TL), and tail girth were recorded
 in centimeters. Surface area was calculated as the sum of the SA of the
 trunk (cylinder) and the tail (cone). EWL was calculated as the difference
 between final lizard mass and initial lizard mass, divided by number of
 hours the experiment was run. Any lizards that defecated were re-run.
 Temperature and humidity were recorded at three time points during the
 experiment.Belasen et al. offspring
 EWLData on incubation time
 and clutch size are recorded for gravid females kept in the laboratory.
 Snout-vent length (SVL), trunk girth, tail length (TL), and tail girth
 were recorded in centimeters. Surface area was calculated as the sum of
 the SA of the trunk (cylinder) and the tail (cone). EWL was calculated as
 the difference between final lizard mass and initial lizard mass, divided
 by number of hours the experiment was run. Any lizards that defecated were
 re-run. Temperature and humidity were recorded at three time points during
 the experiment. EWLs from babies were recorded and averaged within in a
 clutch for statistical analyses.Belasen et al. soil
 moisture dataBelasen et al. Hobo
 readoutsIn this folder there is
 a separate excel file for each sampling day at each site. In the
 filenames, site is coded as follows: 1 - Naxos Low Elevation (NLE); 2 -
 Naxos South-Facing (NSF); 3 - Naxos North-Facing (NNF); 4 - Ovriokastro,
 Small Islet 1 (OVR); 5 - Aspronissi, Small Islet 2 (ASP). Readings from
 before the logger was deployed in the field (during the time between
 turning the logger on and arriving at the field site) were deleted.
 Temperature was recorded every 5 min at each site. Loggers are divided
 into tabs, with loggers 1 and 2 always being deployed in the sun, loggers
 3 and 4 in mixed sun/shade, and loggers 5 and 6 always deployed in the
 shade. Each logger had two probes, thus there are two temperatures
 (recorded in degrees C) per logger per time point.