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Adaptive responses to cool climate promotes persistence of a non-native lizard.

While, Geoffrey M ; Williamson, Joseph ; Prescott, Graham ; Horváthová, Terézia ; Fresnillo, Belén ; Beeton, Nicholas J ; Halliwell, Ben ; Michaelides, Sozos and Uller, Tobias LU (2015) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 282(1803).
Abstract
Successful establishment and range expansion of non-native species often require rapid accommodation of novel environments. Here, we use common-garden experiments to demonstrate parallel adaptive evolutionary response to a cool climate in populations of wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) introduced from southern Europe into England. Low soil temperatures in the introduced range delay hatching, which generates directional selection for a shorter incubation period. Non-native lizards from two separate lineages have responded to this selection by retaining their embryos for longer before oviposition-hence reducing the time needed to complete embryogenesis in the nest-and by an increased developmental rate at low temperatures. This divergence... (More)
Successful establishment and range expansion of non-native species often require rapid accommodation of novel environments. Here, we use common-garden experiments to demonstrate parallel adaptive evolutionary response to a cool climate in populations of wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) introduced from southern Europe into England. Low soil temperatures in the introduced range delay hatching, which generates directional selection for a shorter incubation period. Non-native lizards from two separate lineages have responded to this selection by retaining their embryos for longer before oviposition-hence reducing the time needed to complete embryogenesis in the nest-and by an increased developmental rate at low temperatures. This divergence mirrors local adaptation across latitudes and altitudes within widely distributed species and suggests that evolutionary responses to climate can be very rapid. When extrapolated to soil temperatures encountered in nests within the introduced range, embryo retention and faster developmental rate result in one to several weeks earlier emergence compared with the ancestral state. We show that this difference translates into substantial survival benefits for offspring. This should promote short- and long-term persistence of non-native populations, and ultimately enable expansion into areas that would be unattainable with incubation duration representative of the native range. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
volume
282
issue
1803
article number
20142638
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • pmid:25694617
  • wos:000350349100010
  • scopus:84923170150
  • pmid:25694617
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2014.2638
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4e5e69a4-d83a-4af3-8a9f-34c83384e30f (old id 5143354)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:52:14
date last changed
2022-04-04 22:08:22
@article{4e5e69a4-d83a-4af3-8a9f-34c83384e30f,
  abstract     = {{Successful establishment and range expansion of non-native species often require rapid accommodation of novel environments. Here, we use common-garden experiments to demonstrate parallel adaptive evolutionary response to a cool climate in populations of wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) introduced from southern Europe into England. Low soil temperatures in the introduced range delay hatching, which generates directional selection for a shorter incubation period. Non-native lizards from two separate lineages have responded to this selection by retaining their embryos for longer before oviposition-hence reducing the time needed to complete embryogenesis in the nest-and by an increased developmental rate at low temperatures. This divergence mirrors local adaptation across latitudes and altitudes within widely distributed species and suggests that evolutionary responses to climate can be very rapid. When extrapolated to soil temperatures encountered in nests within the introduced range, embryo retention and faster developmental rate result in one to several weeks earlier emergence compared with the ancestral state. We show that this difference translates into substantial survival benefits for offspring. This should promote short- and long-term persistence of non-native populations, and ultimately enable expansion into areas that would be unattainable with incubation duration representative of the native range.}},
  author       = {{While, Geoffrey M and Williamson, Joseph and Prescott, Graham and Horváthová, Terézia and Fresnillo, Belén and Beeton, Nicholas J and Halliwell, Ben and Michaelides, Sozos and Uller, Tobias}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1803}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Adaptive responses to cool climate promotes persistence of a non-native lizard.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2638}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rspb.2014.2638}},
  volume       = {{282}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}