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Habitat thermal quality for Gopherus evgoodei in tropical deciduous forest and consequences of habitat modification by buffelgrass.
Lara-Reséndiz, Rafael A; Rosen, Philip C; Sinervo, Barry; Miles, Donald B; Méndez-de La Cruz, Fausto R.
Afiliação
  • Lara-Reséndiz RA; Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Centro de Zoología Aplicada and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Córdoba, Argentina; Ecología para la Conservación del Gran Desie
  • Rosen PC; School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
  • Sinervo B; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
  • Miles DB; Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
  • Méndez-de La Cruz FR; Laboratorio de Herpetología, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, A.P. 70515, C.P, 04510, Mexico.
J Therm Biol ; 104: 103192, 2022 Feb.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35180969
Tortoises of the genus Gopherus evolved in North America and have survived major environmental challenges in the past 40 million years. However, this genus now faces multiple anthropogenic threats, such as the introduction of invasive plant species. Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is considered one of the greatest threats to arid and tropical ecosystems, where gopher tortoises inhabit, because the grass displaces native flora and fauna. Modification of the environment as a result of this invasive plant portends an alteration of the available thermal landscape. The aim of this paper is twofold: 1) to evaluate the thermal quality of the primary habitat of Gopherus evgoodei (tropical deciduous forest [TDF], and 2) determine the potential thermal changes due to habitat modification by buffelgrass. First, we obtained data on body temperature of active tortoises in semi-captivity. Second, we measured the operative environmental temperature during 5 years at three sites south of Sonora, Mexico that support G. evgoodei: a) a pristine TDF (Conserved-TDF); b) a forest patch surrounded by introduced buffelgrass pasture (Partial-TDF); and c) an introduced buffelgrass pasture area (Buffel-Pasture). Our results demonstrate that the intact microhabitats within the TDF provide G. evgoodei with high thermal quality at both spatial and temporal scales. However modified habitat by buffelgrass had higher operative temperatures for G. evgoodei than TDF. The thermal quality of the sites disturbed with buffelgrass can exceed the thermal requirements of G. evgoodei by up to 25 °C. Finally, we discussed potential collateral effects of habitat modification by invasion by buffelgrass.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Tartarugas / Ecossistema / Cenchrus Limite: Animals País/Região como assunto: Mexico Idioma: En Revista: J Therm Biol Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article País de publicação: Reino Unido
Texto completo
Adicionar na Minha BVS
Imprimir
XML
PubMed Links
Buscar no Google

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Tartarugas / Ecossistema / Cenchrus Limite: Animals País/Região como assunto: Mexico Idioma: En Revista: J Therm Biol Ano de publicação: 2022 Tipo de documento: Article País de publicação: Reino Unido