A combination of deforestation and climate change could put most of North America’s lizard species at risk for health problems and population decline, a recent analysis found.
The study, in Nature Climate Change, highlights the importance of trees as a habitat for the reptiles.
Like other reptiles, lizards are coldblooded and rely on the sun to help regulate their body temperatures, taking advantage of “thermal opportunity” as they bask on the sunny side of trees, then cool themselves in their shade.
But tree cover is predicted to decline in the coming years in part because of the warmer, drier conditions of Earth’s changing climate, and deforestation for industrial purposes is on the rise worldwide.
Researchers used computer models to simulate how lizards would respond to these pressures. For some species, a warming climate was a benefit, especially in cold locations where warmer temperatures would give the lizards more time to bask, regulate their body temperatures, eat and reproduce.
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But when deforestation was combined with climate change, the simulated picture looked different — and more dire. Deforestation will reduce lizards’ activity time and shorten their reproductive seasons, the researchers predict, putting lizards in cooler locations at particular risk. Loss of trees was associated with a predicted 50 percent decrease in activity in cooler locations and an average decline of 34 percent of activity time overall.
Tree loss would probably outweigh any climate-change-related benefit to 66 percent of lizard populations, the researchers concluded, and will cause population declines for 18.2 percent of lizard populations, mostly from the warmest locations, which will become too hot for lizard activity over time.
“The decline in lizards can lead to a cascading effect as they are an important part of almost every ecological system,” Ofir Levy, a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and a co-author of the paper, said in a news release.
There is a solution, the researchers conclude: Make sure a higher percentage of lizards can access trees over time, especially in warmer locations. The researchers call for proactive tree planting, reforestation and conservation programs to prevent tree loss.
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