Altitudinal variation in life-history features of a Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau lizard  

作　　者：Wei Yu Zeyu Zhu Xiaolong Zhao Shuang Cui Zhensheng Liu Zhigao Zeng 

机构地区：[1]Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology,Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China [2]College of Wildlife Resources,Northeast Forestry University,Harbin 150040,China [3]The Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Application,School of Life Science,Institute of Life Science and Green Development HebeiUniversity,Baoding 071002,Hebei,China [4]Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology,State Forestry Administration,Harbin 150040,China

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2023年第3期284-293,共10页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：Thiswork was supported,by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA20050201);the National Natural Science Fund of China(31861143023).

摘　　要：Environmental changes along an altitudinal gradient can facilitate the differentiation of life-history features in ectothermic species,but little attention has been devoted to the reciprocal influence of altitude and alpine slope directionality on life-history variation.According to life-history theory,increased environmental stress causes a change in reproductive allocation from number to quality of offspring,as well as a stronger trade-off between size and number of offspring.To clarify the influence of environmental pressures on the life-history features of the Qinghai toad-headed lizard Phrynocephalus vlangalii along an altitudinal cline,we surveyed late pregnant females from 3 populations of low(2,600 m),middle(3,400 m),and high(3,600 m)elevations in the Dangjin Mountain of Gansu,China from July to October 2019,and compared their inter-population differences in maternal body size,reproductive characteristics,offspring growth,and locomotor performance.Because of lower temperatures,higher humidity,and lower light intensity caused by slope aspect and altitude,the middle-altitude region experienced stronger environmental stress than the high-and low-altitude regions.Our results showed that females were larger at middle-and high-altitude sites and smaller at the low-altitude site,following Bergmann’s rule.We also found that females from low-altitude population gave birth earlier than those from the middle and high altitudes.Our results showed a shift in the offspring size-number trade-off of P.vlangalii in response to colder and harsher environments,with lizards from the alpine steppe(i.e.the middle-and high-altitude habitats)producing fewer but larger offspring than those from the warm steppe(i.e.the low-altitude habitat).Low-altitude juveniles grew faster than high-altitude ones,but at the same rates as middle-altitude juveniles.This result demonstrates that the growth of P.vlangalii was associated with temperature and light intensity.Our findings contribute to enhancing our understanding of the altitudinal v

关 键 词：altitudinal gradient growth life-history Phrynocephalus vlangali plateau lizard trade-off 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]