Has contemporary climate change played a role in population declines of the lizard Ctenophorus decresii from semi-arid Australia?

Samantha Walker; Devi Stuart-Fox; Michael R Kearney

Journal article

Has contemporary climate change played a role in population declines of the lizard Ctenophorus decresii from semi-arid Australia?

Samantha Walker, Devi Stuart-Fox, Michael R Kearney

Journal of Thermal Biology | Elsevier | Published : 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2014.12.001

Abstract

Whilst contemporary climatic changes are small in magnitude compared to those predicted for the coming decades, they have already been linked to species range shifts and local extinctions. Elucidating the drivers behind species' responses to contemporary climate change will better inform management strategies for vulnerable and pest species alike. A recent proposal to explain worldwide local extinctions in lizards is that increasing maximum temperatures have constrained lizard activity time in the breeding season beyond extinction thresholds. Here we document a significant population decline and potential local extinction at the warm (northern) range margin of the tawny dragon, Ctenophorus d..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Devi Stuart-Fox Author

Michael Kearney Author

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Grants

Awarded by Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI)

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was performed under the University of Melbourne's Animal Ethics Committee permit number 1011760 and under South Australian Wildlife Ethics permit number 35/2013. This research was supported by a Discovery Grant (DSF) and an Australian Research Fellowship (MRK) from the Australian Research Council, and a Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative (VLSCI) grant number VR0212 (MRK) on its Peak Computing Facility at the University of Melbourne, an initiative of the Victorian Government, Australia.