20.500.12556/RUL-150469 Functional responses in a lizard along a 3.5-km altitudinal gradient Aim: Physiological and metabolic performance are key mediators of the functional response of species to environmental change. Few environments offer such a multifaceted array of stressors as high-altitude habitats, which differ markedly in temperature, water availability, UV radiation and oxygen pressure compared to low-altitude habitats. Species that inhabit large altitudinal gradients are thus excellent models to study how organisms respond to environmental variation. Location: Tenerife island, Canary Islands archipelago (Spain). Taxon: Tenerife lizard (Gallotia galloti, Lacertidae). Methods: We integrated data on age structure, thermal and hydric regulatory behaviour and four metabolic and stress-related biomarkers for an insular lizard that inhabits an extreme altitudinal range (sea level to 3700 m a.s.l.), to understand how an ectotherms' age, ecophysiology and metabolism can be affected by extreme environmental variation. Results: We found marked differences in metabolic stress markers associated with altitude (particularly in the abundance of carbonyl metabolites and relative telomere length), but without a linear pattern along the altitudinal cline. Contrary to expectations, longer telomeres and lower carbonyl content were detected at the highest altitude, suggesting reduced stress in these populations. Evaporative water loss differed between populations but did not follow a linear altitudinal gradient. Lizard age structure or thermal physiological performance did not markedly change across different altitudes. Mixed signals in life-history and thermal ecology across populations and altitude suggest complex responses to variable conditions across altitude in this species. Main Conclusions: Our integrative study of multiple functional traits demonstrated that adaptation to highly divergent environmental conditions in this lizard is potentially linked to an interplay between plasticity and local adaptation variably associated with different functional traits. ecophysiology evaporative water loss metabolic activity oxidative stress preferred temperatures relative telomere length skeletochronology ekofiziologija izguba vode metabolna aktivnost oksidativni stres preferenčna temperatura relativna dolžina telomer skeletokronologija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2023-09-18 13:53:31 2023-09-18 13:53:35 2024-08-12 10:21:35 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2023 0 0 str. 2042-2056 Vol. 50 iss. 12 2023 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2023-01-01 59 1365-2699 10.1111/jbi.14711 164393731 RAZ_Guerra_Seren_Nina_2023.pdf RAZ_Guerra_Seren_Nina_2023.pdf 1 15416CFA3122A58A3BAF2E6D475403E7 2974fa93493f790c270e40b69ffd9ebeeb5c5d9d122986f3a045b34b4ee15a2e 8d0f7d20-7fb1-11ee-bf5f-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=177557 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14711 0 0022a695-561a-11ee-9206-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=175052 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0