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Walsh MR, Christian A, Feder M, Korte M, Tran K. Are parental condition transfer effects more widespread than is currently appreciated? J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb246094. [PMID: 38449326 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
It has long been recognized that the environment experienced by parents can influence the traits of offspring (i.e. 'parental effects'). Much research has explored whether mothers respond to predictable shifts in environmental signals by modifying offspring phenotypes to best match future conditions. Many organisms experience conditions that theory predicts should favor the evolution of such 'anticipatory parental effects', but such predictions have received limited empirical support. 'Condition transfer effects' are an alternative to anticipatory effects that occur when the environment experienced by parents during development influences offspring fitness. Condition transfer effects occur when parents that experience high-quality conditions produce offspring that exhibit higher fitness irrespective of the environmental conditions in the offspring generation. Condition transfer effects are not driven by external signals but are instead a byproduct of past environmental quality. They are also likely adaptive but have received far less attention than anticipatory effects. Here, we review the generality of condition transfer effects and show that they are much more widespread than is currently appreciated. Condition transfer effects are observed across taxa and are commonly associated with experimental manipulations of resource conditions experienced by parents. Our Review calls for increased research into condition transfer effects when considering the role of parental effects in ecology and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Walsh
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
| | - Anne Christian
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
| | - Mikaela Feder
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
| | - Meghan Korte
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
| | - Kevin Tran
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
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2
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Ding Z, Wang X, Zou T, Hao X, Zhang Q, Sun B, Du W. Climate warming has divergent physiological impacts on sympatric lizards. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:168992. [PMID: 38052387 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Climate warming is expected to affect the vulnerability of sympatric species differentially due to their divergent traits, but the underlying physiological mechanisms of those impacts are poorly understood. We conducted field warming experiments (present climate vs. warm climate) using open-top chambers to determine the effects of climate warming on active body temperature, oxidative damage, immune competence, growth and survival in two sympatric desert-dwelling lizards, Eremias multiocellata and Eremias argus from May 2019 to September 2020. Our climate warming treatment did not affect survival of the two species, but it did increase active body temperatures and growth rate in E. multiocellata compared to E. argus. Climate warming also induced greater oxidative damage (higher malondialdehyde content and catalase activity) in E. multiocellata, but not in E. argus. Further, climate warming increased immune competence in E. multiocellata, but decreased immune competence in E. argus, with regards to white blood cell counts, bacteria killing ability and relative expression of immunoglobulin M. Our results suggest that climate warming enhances body temperature, and thereby oxidative stress, immune competence and growth in E. multiocellata, but decreases immune competence of E. argus, perhaps as a cost of thermoregulation to maintain body temperatures under climate warming. The divergent physiological effects of climate warming on sympatric species may have profound ecological consequences if it eventually leads to changes in reproductive activities, population dynamics and community structure. Our study highlights the importance of considering interspecific differences in physiological traits when we evaluate the impact of climate warming on organisms, even for those closely-related species coexisting within the same geographical area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zihan Ding
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xifeng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Tingting Zou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xin Hao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qiong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Baojun Sun
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Weiguo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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3
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Wang Y, Li SR, Pei MY, Wu DY, Du WG. Population origin, maternal effects, and hydric conditions during incubation determine embryonic and offspring survival in a desert-dwelling lizard. Oecologia 2021; 196:341-352. [PMID: 33966105 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04932-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
While the effects of incubation environment on embryonic development and offspring traits have been extensively studied in oviparous vertebrates, studies into how genetic inheritance (population origin), maternal effects, and incubation environment interact to produce varying phenotypes, are rare. To elucidate the interactive role of those three factors during incubation in shaping offspring phenotypes through hydric conditions, we conducted a fully factorial experiment [arid and semiarid populations × maternal dry and wet treatments (MDT and MWT) × embryonic dry and wet treatments (EDT and EWT)] with a desert-dwelling lacertid lizard (Eremias argus). Female lizards in dry conditions produced larger clutch sizes but smaller eggs. The incubation period and hatching success were significantly affected by embryonic but not by maternal moisture treatments. Eggs in the EDT hatched later than those in the EWT in both arid and semiarid populations. Hatching success was lower in EDT than in EWT in the semiarid population, but not in the arid population. Hatchlings from the EDT had a slower post-hatch increase in body mass than those from the EWT. EDT would decrease the survival rates of hatchlings in the semiarid population only. In addition, structural equation models revealed that population had a stronger effect on embryonic and offspring survival than maternal and embryonic moisture. Our study demonstrates locally adaptive strategies of drought resistance at multiple life-history stages in lizard populations from diverse hydric habitats and highlights the importance of genetic factors in determining embryonic drought resistance in oviparous lizards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- School of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Shu-Ran Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, Zhejiang, China
| | - Meng-Yuan Pei
- School of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Dan-Yang Wu
- School of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050024, China
| | - Wei-Guo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China.
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4
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Hao X, Zou TT, Han XZ, Zhang FS, Du WG. Grow fast but don't die young: Maternal effects mediate life-history trade-offs of lizards under climate warming. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:1550-1559. [PMID: 33713452 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
As postulated by life-history theory, not all life-history traits can be maximized simultaneously. In ectothermic animals, climate warming is predicted to increase growth rates, but at a cost to overall life span. Maternal effects are expected to mediate this life-history trade-off, but such effects have not yet been explicitly elucidated. To understand maternal effects on the life-history responses to climate warming in lizard offspring, we conducted a manipulative field experiment on a desert-dwelling viviparous lacertid lizard Eremias multiocellata, using open-top chambers in a factorial design (maternal warm climate and maternal present climate treatments × offspring warm climate and offspring present climate treatments). We found that the maternal warm climate treatment had little impact on the physiological and life-history traits of adult females (i.e. metabolic rate, reproductive output, growth and survival). However, the offspring warm climate treatment significantly affected offspring growth, and both maternal and offspring warm climate treatments interacted to affect offspring survival. Offspring from the warm climate treatment grew faster than those from the present climate treatment. However, the offspring warm climate treatment significantly decreased the survival rate of offspring from maternal present climate treatment, but not for those from the maternal warm climate treatment. Our study demonstrates that maternal effects mediate the trade-off between growth and survival of offspring lizards, allowing them to grow fast without a concurrent cost of low survival rate (short life span). These findings stress the importance of adaptive maternal effects in buffering the impact of climate warming on organisms, which may help us to accurately predict the vulnerability of populations and species to future warming climates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Hao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ting-Ting Zou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xing-Zhi Han
- College of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Fu-Shun Zhang
- Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Huhhot, China
| | - Wei-Guo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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Singh S, Mishra G, Omkar. Maternal body size and age govern reproduction and offspring phenotype in the zig-zag ladybird beetle ( Menochilus sexmaculatus). CAN J ZOOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2020-0152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Maternal effects are possible channels through which mothers provision their offspring differentially, thereby affecting offspring phenotype. We investigated maternal effects in the zig-zag ladybird beetle (Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius, 1781) = Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius, 1781)) in response to body size (induced by different feeding regimes during larval development) and their age within the reproductive cycle. Different-sized females were permitted to mate and were provided with daily-replenished ad libitum prey. After mating, reproductive output and developmental duration of offspring from different oviposition days were recorded. We hypothesized that small females would lay smaller and fewer eggs than larger females, and that egg mass would also reduce with increased maternal age. In our study, the larger mothers laid more eggs per day. Small and large mothers oviposited maximally at middle age. Maternal age did not influence the egg mass, although it was slightly higher in the case of older, larger females. Offspring from old, small and large mothers developed rapidly. This nimble development could be an adaptive strategy for the use of ephemeral aphid patches. The results of the study are indicative of this ladybird species’ ability to adjust their offspring’s life-history traits, a feature more prominent in larger females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shashwat Singh
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
| | - Geetanjali Mishra
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
| | - Omkar
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
- Ladybird Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India
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6
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Baxter-Gilbert J, Riley JL, Frère CH, Whiting MJ. Shrinking into the big city: influence of genetic and environmental factors on urban dragon lizard morphology and performance capacity. Urban Ecosyst 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-020-01065-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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7
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Low food availability during gestation enhances offspring post-natal growth, but reduces survival, in a viviparous lizard. Oecologia 2019; 189:611-620. [PMID: 30725369 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04349-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The environment experienced by a mother can have profound effects on the fitness of her offspring (i.e., maternal effects). Maternal effects can be adaptive when the developmental environments experienced by offspring promote phenotypes that provide fitness benefits either via matching offspring phenotype to the post-developmental environment (also known as anticipatory maternal effects) or through direct effects on offspring growth and survival. We tested these hypotheses in a viviparous lizard using a factorial experimental design in which mothers received either high or low amounts of food during gestation, and resultant offspring were raised on either high or low amounts of food post-birth. We found no effect of food availability during gestation on reproductive traits of mothers or offspring traits at birth. However, offspring from mothers who received low food during gestation exhibited a greater increase in condition in the post-birth period, suggesting some form of priming of offspring by mothers to cope with an anticipated poor environment after birth. Offspring that received low food during gestation were also more likely to die, suggesting a trade-off for this accelerated growth. There were also significant effects of post-birth food availability on offspring snout-vent length and body condition growth, with offspring with high food availability post birth doing better. However, the effects of the pre- and post-natal resource evnironment on offspring growth were independent on one another, therefore, providing no support for the presence of anticipatory maternal effects in the traditional sense.
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Sun BJ, Wang Y, Wang Y, Lu HL, Du WG. Anticipatory parental effects in a subtropical lizard in response to experimental warming. Front Zool 2018; 15:51. [PMID: 30534186 PMCID: PMC6282349 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-018-0296-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Parental effects may produce adaptive or maladaptive plasticity that either facilitates persistence or increases the extinction risk of species and populations in a changing climate. However, empirical evidence of transgenerational adaptive plastic responses to climate change is still scarce. Here we conducted thermal manipulation experiments with a factorial design in a Chinese lacertid lizard (Takydromus septentrionalis) to identify the fitness consequences of parental effects in response to climate warming. Compared to present climate conditions, a simulated warming climate significantly advanced the timing of oviposition, depressed the immune capability of post-partum females, and decreased the hatching success of embryos, but did not affect female reproductive output (clutch size and egg mass). These results indicate that maternal warming negatively affects female health, and embryonic hatchability. More interestingly, we found that offspring from parents exposed to warming environments survived well under a simulated warming climate, but not under a present climate scenario. Accordingly, our study demonstrates anticipatory parental effects in response to a warming climate in an ectothermic vertebrate. However, the fitness consequences of this parental effect will depend on future climate change scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bao-Jun Sun
- 1Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 People's Republic of China
| | - Yang Wang
- 2School of Biological Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Yong Wang
- 1Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 People's Republic of China.,3Hangzhou Key Laboratory of Animal Adaptation and Evolution, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036 China
| | - Hong-Liang Lu
- 3Hangzhou Key Laboratory of Animal Adaptation and Evolution, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036 China
| | - Wei-Guo Du
- 1Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 People's Republic of China.,4Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223 China
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Sun B, Ma L, Li S, Williams CM, Wang Y, Hao X, Du W. Phenology and the physiological niche are co‐adapted in a desert‐dwelling lizard. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Bao‐Jun Sun
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- Department of Integrative Biology University of California Berkeley California
| | - Liang Ma
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Shu‐Ran Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | | | - Yang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Xin Hao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Wei‐Guo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming China
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Warner DA, Du WG, Georges A. Introduction to the special issue-Developmental plasticity in reptiles: Physiological mechanisms and ecological consequences. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2018; 329:153-161. [PMID: 29956505 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Scientific interest in developmental plasticity spans many disciplines, and research on reptiles has provided many insights into this field. We highlight these contributions, review the field's history, and introduce the special issue on this topic .
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Warner
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Wei-Guo Du
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Arthur Georges
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
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Van Dyke JU, Griffith OW. Mechanisms of reproductive allocation as drivers of developmental plasticity in reptiles. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2018; 329:275-286. [PMID: 29733527 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Developmental plasticity in offspring phenotype occurs as a result of the environmental conditions embryos experience during development. The nutritional environment provided to a fetus is an important source of developmental plasticity. Reptiles are a particularly interesting system to study this plasticity because of their varied routes of maternal nutrient allocation to reproduction. Most reptiles provide their offspring with all or most of the nutrients they require in egg yolk (lecithotrophy) while viviparous reptiles also provide their offspring with nutrients via a placenta (placentotrophy). We review the ways in which both lecithotrophy and placentotrophy can lead to differences in the nutrients embryonic reptiles receive, and discuss how these differences lead to developmental plasticity in offspring phenotype. We finish by reviewing the ecological and conservation consequences of nutritional-driven developmental plasticity in reptiles. If nutritional-driven developmental plasticity has fitness consequences, then understanding the basis of this plasticity has exciting potential to identify how reptile recruitment is affected by environmental changes in food supply. Such knowledge is critical to our ability to protect taxa threatened by environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- James U Van Dyke
- School of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Land, Water & Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia
| | - Oliver W Griffith
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.,Yale Systems Biology Institute, Yale University, West Haven, Connecticut
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