干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) thermal ecology and reproductive success along a rainfall cline

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	Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) thermal ecology and reproductive success along a rainfall cline
	Sieg Annette E; Gambone Megan M; Wallace Bryan P; Clusellatrullas Susana; Spotila James R; Avery Harold W
来源期刊	Integrative Zoology
ISSN	1749-4869
出版年	2015
卷号	10 期号:3 页码:282-294
英文摘要	Desert resource environments (e.g. microclimates, food) are tied to limited, highly localized rainfall regimes which generate microgeographic variation in the life histories of inhabitants. Typically, enhanced growth rates, reproduction and survivorship are observed in response to increased resource availability in a variety of desert plants and short-lived animals. We examined the thermal ecology and reproduction of US federally threatened Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii), long-lived and large-bodied ectotherms, at opposite ends of a 250-m elevation-related rainfall cline within Ivanpah Valley in the eastern Mojave Desert, California, USA. Biophysical operative environments in both the upper-elevation, Cima, and the lower-elevation, Pumphouse, plots corresponded with daily and seasonal patterns of incident solar radiation. Cima received 22% more rainfall and contained greater perennial vegetative cover, which conferred 5℃-cooler daytime shaded temperatures. In a monitored average rainfall year, Cima tortoises had longer potential activity periods by up to several hours and greater ephemeral forage. Enhanced resource availability in Cima was associated with larger-bodied females producing larger eggs, while still producing the same number of eggs as Pumphouse females. However, reproductive success was lower in Cima because 90% of eggs were depredated versus 11% in Pumphouse, indicating that predatory interactions produced counter-gradient variation in reproductive success across the rainfall cline. Land-use impacts on deserts (e.g. solar energy generation) are increasing rapidly, and conservation strategies designed to protect and recover threatened desert inhabitants, such as desert tortoises, should incorporate these strong ecosystem-level responses to regional resource variation in assessments of habitat for prospective development and mitigation efforts.
英文关键词	Gopherus agassizii operative environments reproductive ecology resource gradient
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Green Published
收录类别	CSCD
WOS研究方向	Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
CSCD记录号	CSCD:5609692
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/335586
作者单位	Sieg Annette E, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan, USA.; Gambone Megan M, HDR, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, USA.; Wallace Bryan P, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Marine Laboratory, North Carolina, USA.; Clusellatrullas Susana, Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.; Spotila James R, Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA.; Avery Harold W, Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, New Jersey, USA.
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Sieg Annette E,Gambone Megan M,Wallace Bryan P,et al. Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) thermal ecology and reproductive success along a rainfall cline[J],2015,10(3):282-294.
APA	Sieg Annette E,Gambone Megan M,Wallace Bryan P,Clusellatrullas Susana,Spotila James R,&Avery Harold W.(2015).Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) thermal ecology and reproductive success along a rainfall cline.Integrative Zoology,10(3),282-294.
MLA	Sieg Annette E,et al."Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) thermal ecology and reproductive success along a rainfall cline".Integrative Zoology 10.3(2015):282-294.