About This Project

The decision of where to nest is perhaps the greatest one a lizard can make for her offspring. Many lizards dig nests in open, sunny spots because warm temperatures help lizard embryos grow and survive. However, climate warming is raising temperatures at those nest sites to the point they may soon become harmful and even lethal to lizard embryos. This project investigates whether lizards can choose shadier, cooler places to nest, which could buffer offspring from effects of climate change.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

This project investigates whether lizards can respond to climate warming via nesting behavior. Where a lizard nests determines what her offspring experience during development. We are using the Eastern fence lizard for this study because it has a wide geographic range, and much of its behavior and thermal biology have been well studied. Research has shown fence lizards will explore far across their habitat to nest in open, sunny spots. However, it is not clear if they are searching the environment for warm nest sites, or if something else is driving them to those locations. This is an important question because the answer will tell us whether they have the capacity to modify their nesting behavior in response to changes in the environment, such as those brought on by rapid climate change.

What is the significance of this project?

The embryonic environment has long-lasting effects through the life cycle. Basically, as an embryo you are dealt the cards that you can play as needed through the rest of your life. Unfortunately, not enough research has examined how the impacts of climate warming on embryos will affect the way organisms function and survive. Most predictions of the impacts of climate change on species have been made based on information about later life stages (juveniles and adults that can move and respond to their environment). But embryos are very sensitive to change, so the effects of climate warming on embryo development and survival could have big implications for species in coming years. The information from this work will help to make better informed predictions of the impacts of climate change.

What are the goals of the project?

Funds will be used to pay a student to help with field research, data analysis, and dissemination of results (presentations and a published manuscript).

The ability to alter nesting behavior depends whether lizards choose where to nest based on the quality of sites found in their habitat, or if they are driven by something else (e.g., “philopatry” = nest where you were born; sea turtles are a popular example). Nesting that is limited by something like philopatry could prevent lizards from responding to climate change. So, it would be beneficial if they could choose the best sites available. We will radio-track Eastern fence lizards in South Carolina this summer to analyze nesting behavior, and to compare the quality of nest sites they choose to those available in the surrounding habitat.