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. 2024 Feb 15;14(2):e10902.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.10902. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Effects of microhabitat features on the intraspecific variability of the distribution and functional traits in a highest elevational distributed lizard

Da Kang  1   2   3   4 , Chunlin Zhao  5 , Zijian Sun  1 , Guozhu Chen  2 , Jianyi Feng  3 , Wenbo Zhu  3 , Yan Huang  4 , Tian Zhao  1   2   3
Affiliations

Effects of microhabitat features on the intraspecific variability of the distribution and functional traits in a highest elevational distributed lizard

Da Kang et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

Exploring the microhabitat determinants of organisms distribution and functional traits differences can help us better understand the importance of intraspecific variations in ecological niches. Investigations on animals functional niche primarily focused on differences among species and tended to neglect the potential variability within species, despite the fact that the ecological and evolutionary importance of intraspecific variations was widely recognized. In this study, we examined the influence of microhabitat features on the intraspecific variability of the distribution and functional traits of a highest elevational distributed lizard species Phrynocephalus erythrurus. To do so, field work was conducted between July and August, 2020 and August and September, 2021 in Namtso watershed in central Xizang, China. Specifically, 11 transects were sampled for P. erythrurus individuals, which were measured for a set of 10 morphological traits. Moreover, 11 microhabitat variables that potentially affect the distribution of lizards were also measured for each transect. Our results indicated that juveniles, males, and females exhibited different functional traits, allowing them to occupy distinct functional space. The distribution of juveniles, males, and females was determined by different microhabitat variables such as illuminance and air temperature. More importantly, these variables also determined the intraspecific functional traits variability in this lizard species. All of these results supported previous claims that intraspecific traits variation should be incorporated into functional ecological studies, and diverse microhabitat features should be conserved to maintain high intraspecific diversity. Future studies can focus on the food analysis to explore the linkage between functional traits and resources utilization within animal populations.

Keywords: functional morphology; functional niche overlap; functional richness; intraspecific variability; microhabitat variables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing or conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Maps of the study area. (a) The geographical location of Namtso; (b) Overview of the vegetation cover and the lizard distribution area in Namtso watershed (indicated by boxes with dotted black lines).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Distribution of different lizard groups (red: female, green: juvenile, blue: male) in the functional spaces. (a) PC1 and PC2 of the functional space; (b) PC3 and PC4 of the functional space. Colored polygons represent the functional richness (convex hull area) of each group.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Results of hierarchical partitioning analyses showing the independent contributions of selected microhabitat variables to the distribution of different lizard groups. Details of the abbreviations are in Table 4.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Redundancy analysis triplot showing the relationships between lizards functional traits and microhabitat variables. The RDA triplot only retains the significant microhabitat variables (p < .05) which are represented by blue lines. Red lines indicate the functional traits. Red circles, green squares, and blue rhombus represent the location of different lizard groups in the functional space, respectively. Details of the abbreviations are in Table 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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