The effects of altitude-related hypoxia on the ability of organisms to colonize and adapt to these altitudes during warming have, to our knowledge, not received broad scientific interest. The work of project PODARCIS has provided empirical data to fill this gap and extend these results to broader applications.
Broad Objectives:
1. Assess the multivariate acclimation responses (i.e. plasticity) in embryos and adult lizards from low to high altitude using common garden and reciprocal transplant experiments. This will enable us to assess (i) if plastic responses are sufficient to enable colonization of high altitudes, and (ii) if changes in the degree of plasticity across the altitudinal gradient are consistent with theoretical expectations.
2. Predict the dynamics of colonization in wall lizards by integrating data on physiological plasticity, reproductive output and dispersal; and thereby generate a general framework applicable to all mountainous environments affected by climate change.
To achieve these results, this project conducted a number of transplant experiments with the lizard species Podarcis muralis. These experiments employed a range of techniques including measures of whole-organisms performance and behaviour (thermal preference trials, sprint speed, thermal maxima and minima); measures of whole-organism physiology (resting and maximal metabolic rates); blood biochemistry (haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration, reactive oxygen metabolite production); reproductive output (clutch size, relative clutch mass); and development (development time, embryonic heart rate, embryonic metabolic rate). We also included measurements of morphology on adult, embryonic, and hatching lizards. Taken together, this series of experiments provides empirical tests of the theory underlying our Hierarchical Mechanisms of Thermal Limitations hypothesis and informs our understanding of how this cosmopolitan and range-expanding species will likely respond to future warming environments in mountainous habitats.
The work conducted for Project PODARCIS represents a true collaboration between the hosting scientist (Fabien Aubret) and the fellow (Eric Gangloff). Within the study system established by Aubret, Gangloff designed and implemented this series of experiments. The hosting scientist and fellow regularly exchanged ideas through meetings, informal conversations, and electronic discussions. The project benefited greatly by combining the expertise in phenotypic plasticity and evolution from the hosting scientist and the physiological training of the fellow, resulting in the development of new theory and a set of empirical experiments to test this theory. In addition to the exchange between the hosting scientist and the fellow, the projects here were conducted in collaboration with a number of scientists from Europe and North America, including G. Antonio Cordero (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany), Rory Telemeco (California State University, Fresno, USA), Brooke Bodensteiner (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA), Essie Rodgers (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), and Andréaz Dupoué (Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia). Additionally, we mentored two graduate-level interns: Mahaut Sorlin (research engineer; July-November 2017) and Laura Kouyoumdjian (Master’s II Intern; February-September 2018) and provided support for their next career steps. Mahaut is currently a PhD student at the University of New Orleans, USA and Laura is applying for PhD programs in Europe and Australia.
Thanks to the research and career progress made during this fellowship, Eric Gangloff will begin a permanent, tenure-track position at Ohio Wesleyan University beginning August 2019. Furthermore, Gangloff and Aubret will continue collaborations in this system, with funding pending from European INTERREG POCTEFA (Programme Opérationnel de Coopération transfrontalière Espagne-France-Andorre) program to continue experiments in 2020 and 2021.
