TY  - JOUR
AU  - Herczeg, Gábor
AU  - Kovács, Tibor
AU  - Hettyey, Attila
AU  - Merila, Juha
TI  - To thermoconform or thermoregulate? An assessment of thermoregulation opportunities for the lizard Zootoca vivipara in the subarctic
JF  - POLAR BIOLOGY
J2  - POLAR BIOL
VL  - 26
PY  - 2003
IS  - 7
SP  - 486
EP  - 490
PG  - 5
SN  - 0722-4060
DO  - 10.1007/s00300-003-0507-y
UR  - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/1880001
ID  - 1880001
N1  - Z9: 10
WC: Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology
AB  - The general model of thermoregulation of ectotherms predicts that thermally challenging environments select for evolution of thermoconformity. Studies of reptilian thermoregulation at climatic extremes are rare and, in the subarctic zone, completely lacking. Thermal characteristics of the habitat of the lizard Zootoca vivipara were studied in the subarctic zone, at the northern margin of its distribution, where lizard density was already extremely low. We found that, during the activity period, the preferred body temperatures of Z. vivipara were not available for a thermoconformer, but available for 7 h for a thermoregulator in an average day. Therefore, thermoconformity is unberieficial and accurate thermoregulation should be the appropriate strategy. We hypothesise that the extremely low lizard abundance at our subarctic study site is caused by the short activity season and the large daily temperature fluctuations, with night temperatures occasionally falling below zero even during the activity period.
LA  - English
DB  - MTMT
ER  -