The Influence Of Environmental Warming On Maternal Reproduction And Hatchling Phenotypes Of North Grass Lizard,Takydromus Seytentrionalis

In recent years, climate warming has imposed significant influence on biodiversity. We implemented experiments to inspect the effects of temperature increase on the thermoregulation behavior, reproductive life history, embryonic development and hatchling traits of the northern grass lizard(Takydromus septentrionalis, Lacertidae).The main results are as following:(1) The effect of warming on thermoregulation behaviorThere was a remarkable difference of temperature between the warming treatment and control. The warming group lizards had higher body temperatures(Tb) than control group lizards in autumn, but not in summer.The time spent on thermoregulation in the two groups did not differ in summer, or in autumn. In summer, there were more control lizards that performed thermoregulation behavior than warming lizards; however, more warming lizards performed thermoregulation behavior in autumn than control lizards.(2) The influence of warming on reproductionWarmer the environment was, earlier the lizards laid their eggs. The total reproductive output was not affected by with the treatment, either in short-term warming(STW) or long-term warming(LTW) treatments.. Both in STW and LTW, there were significant differences in reproductive characteristics between the warming treatment and control. In STW, warming lizards laid less and larger eggs than control lizards; In LTW, warming lizards laid more eggs than control lizards.(3) The effect of warming on embryonic development and hatchling traitsEggs from warming lizards had lower incubation success than control lizards, but incubation duration did not differ between the treatments. In STW, hatchlings from warming treatments had better performance than those from the control; but this difference was not been found in LTW.(4) The effect of warming on hatchling growth Hatchling survival was not influenced significantly by warming treatments. In LTW, hatchlings growth was not significantly influenced by maternal thermal environment (warming effects); In STW, maternal thermal environment significantly influenced hatchlings growth; hatchlings from warming treatments grew faster than those from the control.