RESUMO
Female and male hosts may maximise their fitness by evolving different strategies to compensate for the costs of parasite infections. The resulting sexual dimorphism might be apparent in differential relationships between parasite load and body condition, potentially reflecting differences in energy allocation to anti-parasitic defences. For example, male lacertids with high body condition may produce many offspring while being intensely parasitised. In contrast, female lacertids may show a different outcome of the trade-offs between body condition and immunity, aiming to better protect themselves from the harm of parasites. We predicted that females would have fewer parasites than males and a lower body condition across parasitaemia levels because they would invest resources in parasite defence to mitigate the costs of infection. In contrast, the male strategy to maximise access to females would imply some level of parasite tolerance and, thus, higher parasitaemia. We analysed the relationship between the body condition of lizards and the parasitemias of Karyolysus and Schellackia, two genera of blood parasites with different phylogenetic origins, in 565 females and 899 males belonging to 10 species of the Lacertidae (Squamata). These lizards were sampled over a period of 12 years across 34 sampling sites in southwestern Europe. The results concerning the Karyolysus infections were consistent with the predictions, with males having similar body condition across parasitaemia levels even though they had higher infection intensities than females. On the other hand, females with higher levels of Karyolysus parasitaemia had lower body condition. This is consistent with the prediction that different life strategies of male and female lacertids can explain the infection patterns of Karyolysus. In contrast, the parasitaemia of Schellackia was consistently low in both male and female hosts, with no significant effect on the body condition of lizards. This suggests that lizards of both sexes maintain this parasite below a pathogenic threshold.
Los machos y hembras pueden maximizar su eficacia biológica mediante la evolución diferencial de estrategias que compensen los costes asociados con las infecciones parasitarias. Por ejemplo, los machos con una alta condición corporal pueden producir muchas crías aun estando altamente parasitados. Mientras que es común que las hembras inviertan más energía en protegerse frente a los parásitos, lo que podría comprometer el mantenimiento de su condición corporal. Nuestra hipótesis es que las diferencias sexuales en la asignación de energía pueden quedar de manifiesto al analizar la relación entre la intensidad de infección con la condición corporal. También esperamos que las hembras tengan menos parásitos que los machos y que su condición corporal esté correlacionada negativamente con su carga parasitaria. Por el contrario, esperamos que los machos tengan más parásitos en parte porque su estrategia implicaría cierto nivel de tolerancia si con ello pueden incrementar su inversión reproductiva. Hemos analizado la relación entre la condición corporal y las parasitemias de Schellackia y Karyolysus, dos parásitos sanguíneos, en 565 hembras y 899 machos de 10 especies de la familia Lacertidae (Squamata) durante 12 años en 34 localidades en el suroeste de Europa. El patrón para Karyolysus fue coherente con las predicciones, ya que la condición corporal de los machos no se correlacionó con su parasitemia, a pesar de que estas fueron mayores que en las hembras. Mientras que la relación fue negativa en las hembras. Por lo que el patrón de infección de Karyolysus concuerda con las diferentes estrategias de inversión energética en machos y hembras. Sin embargo, en el caso de Schellackia las parasitemias fueron más bajas en hospedadores de ambos sexos y su parasitemia no se correlacionó con la condición corporal. Este resultado sugiere que Schellackia es mantenido en umbrales subpatogénicos.
RESUMO
Male competition conforms to a cost-benefit model, because while aggression may increase reproductive prospects, it can also increase the risk of injury. We hypothesize that an additional cost in aggressive males would be an increase in parasite load associated with a high energy investment into sexual competition. Some of these infections, in turn, may downmodulate the level of host aggression via energetic trade-offs. We staged dyadic male contests in the lab to investigate the relationships of multiple parasites with the agonistic behavior of lizard hosts, Sceloporus occidentalis. We also included both color and behavioral traits from opponents in the analyses because (1) color patches of lizards may serve as intraspecific signals used by conspecifics to assess the quality of opponents, and (2) contests between male lizards fit classical models of escalated aggression, where lizards increase aggression displays in response to an opponent's behavior. The results conform to our hypothesis because male lizards displayed more pushups when they had more ticks. Moreover, some parasites may modulate the levels of aggression because lizards infected by hematic coccidians performed fewer pushups. Interestingly, lizards also displayed fewer pushups when both the chroma and size of the opponent's blue patch were greater. The results thus also supported the role of the blue patch of S. occidentalis as a sexual armament, because it contributed to the deterrence of aggression from opponent lizards. We revealed that natural parasitic infections in lizard hosts can contribute to their agonistic behavior. We encourage future studies to account for parasites in behavioral tests with lizards.
RESUMO
Aging is the price to pay for acquiring and processing energy through cellular activity and life history productivity. Climate warming can exacerbate the inherent pace of aging, as illustrated by a faster erosion of protective telomere DNA sequences. This biomarker integrates individual pace of life and parental effects through the germline, but whether intra- and intergenerational telomere dynamics underlies population trends remains an open question. Here, we investigated the covariation between life history, telomere length (TL), and extinction risk among three age classes in a cold-adapted ectotherm (Zootoca vivipara) facing warming-induced extirpations in its distribution limits. TL followed the same threshold relationships with population extinction risk at birth, maturity, and adulthood, suggesting intergenerational accumulation of accelerated aging rate in declining populations. In dwindling populations, most neonates inherited already short telomeres, suggesting they were born physiologically old and unlikely to reach recruitment. At adulthood, TL further explained females' reproductive performance, switching from an index of individual quality in stable populations to a biomarker of reproductive costs in those close to extirpation. We compiled these results to propose the aging loop hypothesis and conceptualize how climate-driven telomere shortening in ectotherms may accumulate across generations and generate tipping points before local extirpation.
Assuntos
Envelhecimento , Extinção Biológica , Aquecimento Global , Lagartos , Encurtamento do Telômero , Telômero , Envelhecimento/genética , Animais , Feminino , Lagartos/genética , Dinâmica Populacional , Reprodução , Risco , Telômero/genéticaRESUMO
Male lizards often display multiple pigment-based and structural colour signals which may reflect various quality traits (e.g. performance, parasitism), with testosterone (T) often mediating these relationships. Furthermore, environmental conditions can explain colour signal variation by affecting processes such as signal efficacy, thermoregulation and camouflage. The relationships between colour signals, male quality traits and environmental factors have often been analysed in isolation, but simultaneous analyses are rare. Thus, the response of multiple colour signals to variation in all these factors in an integrative analysis remains to be investigated. Here, we investigated how multiple colour signals relate to their information content, examined the role of T as a potential mediator of these relationships and how environmental factors explain colour signal variation. We performed an integrative study to examine the covariation between three colour signals (melanin-based black, carotenoid-based yellow-orange and structural UV), physiological performance, parasitism, T levels and environmental factors (microclimate, forest cover) in male common lizards Zootoca vivipara from 13 populations. We found that the three colour signals conveyed information on different aspects of male condition, supporting a multiple message hypothesis. T influenced only parasitism, suggesting that T does not directly mediate the relationships between colour signals and their information content. Moreover, colour signals became more saturated in forested habitats, suggesting an adaptation to degraded light conditions, and became generally brighter in mesic conditions, in contradiction with the thermal melanism hypothesis. We show that distinct individual quality traits and environmental factors simultaneously explain variations of multiple colour signals with different production modes. Our study therefore highlights the complexity of colour signal evolution, involving various sets of selective pressures acting at the same time, but in different ways depending on colour production mechanism.
Les lézards mâles arborent souvent plusieurs signaux colorés de nature pigmentaire et structurale qui reflètent de multiples traits de qualité (e.g. performance, parasitisme), et la testostérone (T) joue souvent un rôle de médiateur dans ces relations. En outre, les conditions environnementales peuvent également expliquer les variations des signaux colorés en influençant des aspects tels que l'efficacité des signaux, la thermorégulation ou le camouflage. Les relations entre signaux colorés, traits de qualité individuelle et facteurs environnementaux ont souvent été analysées séparément, mais rarement de manière simultanée. Ainsi, la réponse de ces multiples signaux colorés aux variations de tous ces facteurs reste à explorer dans le contexte d'une étude intégrative. Ici, nous explorons la relation entre ces multiples signaux colorés et leur contenu informatif, nous examinons le rôle de T comme médiateur potentiel de ces relations et nous recherchons si les conditions environnementales expliquent la variation de ces signaux colorés. Nous avons mené une étude intégrative afin d'examiner la covariation entre trois types de signaux colorés (noir produit par la mélanine, jaune-orange produit par les caroténoïdes et UV produit par des éléments structuraux), la performance physiologique, le parasitisme, les niveaux de T et les conditions environnementales (e.g. microclimat, couverture forestière) chez des mâles du lézard vivipare (Zootoca vivipara) provenant de 13 populations. Nos résultats indiquent que les trois signaux colorés transmettent des informations sur différents aspects de la condition des mâles, en accord avec l'hypothèse de « messages multiples ¼. T influence uniquement le parasitisme, suggérant que T n'agit pas en tant que médiateur des relations entre ces signaux colorés et leur contenu informatif. De plus, les signaux colorés sont plus saturés dans les habitats les plus forestiers, ce qui suggère une adaptation à des conditions lumineuses dégradées. Enfin, les signaux colorés sont plus intenses lorsque les conditions sont mésiques, en contradiction avec l'hypothèse du mélanisme thermal. Nous démontrons que différents traits de qualité individuelle et facteurs environnementaux expliquent de manière simultanée les variations de multiples signaux colorés impliquant différents modes de production. Notre étude souligne ainsi la complexité de l'évolution des signaux colorés, qui implique plusieurs types de pressions de sélection agissant en même temps mais dans des directions différentes selon le mode de production.
Assuntos
Lagartos , Animais , Carotenoides/metabolismo , Cor , Lagartos/fisiologia , Masculino , Fenótipo , PigmentaçãoRESUMO
In the past decades, nocturnal temperatures have been playing a disproportionate role in the global warming of the planet. Yet, they remain a neglected factor in studies assessing the impact of global warming on natural populations. Here, we question whether an intense augmentation of nocturnal temperatures is beneficial or deleterious to ectotherms. Physiological performance is influenced by thermal conditions in ectotherms and an increase in temperature by only 2°C is sufficient to induce a disproportionate increase in metabolic expenditure. Warmer nights may expand ectotherms' species thermal niche and open new opportunities for prolonged activities and improve foraging efficiency. However, increased activity may also have deleterious effects on energy balance if exposure to warmer nights reduces resting periods and elevates resting metabolic rate. We assessed whether warmer nights affected an individual's growth, dorsal skin colouration, thermoregulation behaviour, oxidative stress status and parasite load by exposing yearling common lizards (Zootoca vivipara) from four populations to either ambient or high nocturnal temperatures for approximately 5 weeks. Warmer nocturnal temperatures increased the prevalence of ectoparasitic infestation and altered allocation of resources towards structural growth rather than storage. We found no change in markers for oxidative stress. The thermal treatment did not influence thermal preferences, but influenced dorsal skin brightness and luminance, in line with a predicted acclimation response in colder environments to enhance heat gain from solar radiation. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of considering nocturnal warming as an independent factor affecting ectotherms' life history in the context of global climate change. â.
Assuntos
Lagartos , Animais , Regulação da Temperatura Corporal , Mudança Climática , Aquecimento Global , Carga Parasitária , TemperaturaRESUMO
Regulation of body temperature is crucial for optimizing physiological performance in ectotherms but imposes constraints in time and energy. Time and energy spent thermoregulating can be reduced through behavioral (e.g., basking adjustments) or biophysical (e.g., heating rate physiology) means. In a heterogeneous environment, we expect thermoregulation costs to vary according to local, climatic conditions and therefore to drive the evolution of both behavioral and biophysical thermoregulation. To date, there are limited data showing that thermal physiological adjustments have a direct relationship to climatic conditions. In this study, we explored the effect of environmental conditions on heating rates in the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara). We sampled lizards from 10 populations in the Massif Central Mountain range of France and measured whether differences in heating rates of individuals correlated with phenotypic traits (i.e., body condition and dorsal darkness) or abiotic factors (temperature and rainfall). Our results show that heat gain is faster for lizards with a higher body condition, but also for individuals from habitats with higher amount of precipitation. Altogether, they demonstrate that environmentally induced constraints can shape biophysical aspects of thermoregulation.
RESUMO
Parasites generally have a negative influence on the color expression of their hosts. Sexual selection theory predicts resistant high-quality individuals should show intense coloration, whereas susceptible low-quality individuals would show poor coloration. However, intensely colored males of different species of Old and New World lizards were more often infected by hemoparasites. These results suggest that high-quality males, with intense coloration, would suffer higher susceptibility to hemoparasites. This hypothesis remains poorly understood and contradicts general theories on sexual selection. We surveyed a population of Sceloporus occidentalis for parasites and found infections by the parasite genera Lankesterella and Acroeimeria. In this population, both males and females express ventral blue and yellow color patches. Lankesterella was almost exclusively infecting males. The body size of the males significantly predicted the coloration of both blue and yellow patches. Larger males showed darker (lower lightness) blue ventral patches and more saturated yellow patches that were also orange-skewed. Moreover, these males were more often infected by Lankesterella than smaller males. The intestinal parasite Acroeimeria infected both males and females. The infection by intestinal parasites of the genus Acroeimeria was the best predictor for the chroma in the blue patch of the males and for hue in the yellow patch of the females. Those males infected by Acroeimeria expressed blue patches with significantly lower chroma than the uninfected males. However, the hue of the yellow patch was not significantly different between infected and uninfected females. These results suggest a different effect of Lankesterella and Acroeimeria on the lizards. On the one hand, the intense coloration of male lizards infected by Lankesterella suggested high-quality male lizards may tolerate it. On the other hand, the low chroma of the blue coloration of the infected males suggested that this coloration could honestly express the infection by Acroeimeria.
RESUMO
Climate change should lead to massive loss of biodiversity in most taxa, but the detailed physiological mechanisms underlying population extinction remain largely elusive so far. In vertebrates, baseline levels of hormones such as glucocorticoids (GCs) may be indicators of population state as their secretion to chronic stress can impair survival and reproduction. However, the relationship between GC secretion, climate change and population extinction risk remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether levels of baseline corticosterone (the main GCs in reptiles) correlate with environmental conditions and associated extinction risk across wild populations of the common lizard Zootoca vivipara. First, we performed a cross-sectional comparison of baseline corticosterone levels along an altitudinal gradient among 14 populations. Then, we used a longitudinal study in eight populations to examine the changes in corticosterone levels following the exposure to a heatwave period. Unexpectedly, baseline corticosterone decreased with increasing thermal conditions at rest in females and was not correlated with extinction risk. In addition, baseline corticosterone levels decreased after exposure to an extreme heatwave period. This seasonal corticosterone decrease was more pronounced in populations without access to standing water. We suggest that low basal secretion of corticosterone may entail downregulating activity levels and limit exposure to adverse climatic conditions, especially to reduce water loss. These new insights suggest that rapid population decline might be preceded by a downregulation of the corticosterone secretion.