Climatic change and the effects of temperature on future respiration and reproductive success of the forest-dwelling southern angle-headed dragon, Lophosaurus spinipes. See associated 'Explanation of datasets.txt' file for description of each .csv/.xlsx file.

Full description

The effects of climatic change on both plants and animals are the focus of much attention in the scientific community. Much has been gleaned from research into modelling future outcomes, but this relies heavily upon basic data on species, their populations, and their biology. The fact that many species around the world have little to no available data in the literature is of concern as their reported level of vulnerability often is based on data from similar species. Although this can produce reliable outcomes in some instances, the differences in the responses at Class, Genus, and species levels warrant careful consideration. This thesis was aimed at investigating some aspects of the biology of an endemic Australian lizard in the family Agamidae, specifically their responses to rises in temperature. The Southern Angle-headed Dragon, Lophosaurus spinipes, is a warm-temperate to sub-tropical rainforest specialist dwelling in disparate patches of such forest-type along Australia’s eastern coast. The thesis consists of three main sections focusing on the species. First, a systematic review highlights the dearth of literature available on the species apart from general information available in field guides. Second, an experimental procedure to look at the effects of heatwaves on the eggs and developing embryos of L. spinipes. These procedures demonstrated that although heatwaves (35°C) of short duration, do decrease the overall duration of incubation, they seem to have little impact upon the success of hatching, or upon hatchling’s health and survival for the first 30 days. Finally, measures of resting metabolic rates and evaporative loss of water were taken over a range of ramping temperatures. There was a notable increase both in metabolic rates and in the rates of evaporative loss of water between 20°C and 38°C (4.5-fold and 6.5-fold respectively). It is possible that higher temperatures, and changes in the availability of water expected from climatic change, will see increases in resources (food and water) for this species. These increases may not pose difficulties for the species, but it is also likely that increased temperatures will require a shift or reduction in suitable daily activity times. This, along with the increased risk of predation while obtaining the resources necessary, may see a mismatch between the needs and the possible acquisition of these needs.