Life history changes in the eastern collared lizard in response to varying demographic phases and management policies

Alan R. Templeton; Jennifer L. Neuwald; Amy K. Conley

doi:10.1002/1438-390x.12162

Life history changes in the eastern collared lizard in response to varying demographic phases and management policies

Alan R. Templeton, Jennifer L. Neuwald, Amy K. Conley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

By 1980 eastern collared lizards (Crotaphutus collaris collaris) had experienced massive local extinction on glades (open, rocky areas imbedded in a woodland matrix) in the Ozarks, a highland region in central North America. Lizards were translocated to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Missouri on three restored glades starting in 1984, and went through three demographic phases: (1) an isolate phase with initial growth followed by decline in population size and no colonization of nearby glades; (2) a colonizing phase of high dispersal and population growth that started with the onset of prescribed woodland burning, and (3) a stable metapopulation phase. We used mark/recapture information on over 1500 lizards with high sample coverage to estimate life history parameters. Life history was homogeneous within each phase, but differed significantly between phases. Changes occurred in less than a generation, indicating plasticity in life history. The isolate phase was characterized by low juvenile survivorship, high adult survivorship, long generation times, an old age structure, and almost no dispersal. The colonization phase had increased yearling survival, decreased adult survival, shorter generation times, a younger age structure, and much dispersal. The stable metapopulation phase was intermediate between these two extremes. These transitions indicated trade-offs among different life history parameters. These plastic life history attributes show that species cannot be regarded as static units, resulting in not a life history, but rather a set of feasible life histories. Ignoring this set of feasible life histories can result in poor conservation decisions.

Original language	English
Journal	Population Ecology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390x.12162
State	Accepted/In press - 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by NSF grant DEB‐9610219 and REU supplements to Alan R. Templeton. A Canon National Parks Science Scholars Fellowship helped support Jennifer L. Neuwald. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship helped support Amy K. Conley. We also greatly appreciate cooperation and logistical support from the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Missouri, the National Parks Service, and The Nature Conservancy of Missouri. We would also like to thank the many people who helped in capturing collared lizards for this work, including Hilary Brazeal, R. James Robertson, Delbert Hutchison and family, Eric Routman, Christopher Phillips, L. Susan Pletscher, Ted Townsend, Jon Hess, Jennifer Brisson, Jared Strasburg, Rosie Koch, Rebecca Reichert, Aaron Hames, Erin Marnocha, Margaret Lutz, Jeffrey Templeton, Kenneth Weiner, Greg Stimpson, Ayse Koca, Sana Khan, and Lawrence Wiseman. We also wish to thank an anonymous reviewer for many excellent suggestions on an earlier version of this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Society of Population Ecology.

Keywords

life history
plasticity
prescribed burns
trade-offs
translocation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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10.1002/1438-390x.12162

Cite this

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title = "Life history changes in the eastern collared lizard in response to varying demographic phases and management policies",

abstract = "By 1980 eastern collared lizards (Crotaphutus collaris collaris) had experienced massive local extinction on glades (open, rocky areas imbedded in a woodland matrix) in the Ozarks, a highland region in central North America. Lizards were translocated to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Missouri on three restored glades starting in 1984, and went through three demographic phases: (1) an isolate phase with initial growth followed by decline in population size and no colonization of nearby glades; (2) a colonizing phase of high dispersal and population growth that started with the onset of prescribed woodland burning, and (3) a stable metapopulation phase. We used mark/recapture information on over 1500 lizards with high sample coverage to estimate life history parameters. Life history was homogeneous within each phase, but differed significantly between phases. Changes occurred in less than a generation, indicating plasticity in life history. The isolate phase was characterized by low juvenile survivorship, high adult survivorship, long generation times, an old age structure, and almost no dispersal. The colonization phase had increased yearling survival, decreased adult survival, shorter generation times, a younger age structure, and much dispersal. The stable metapopulation phase was intermediate between these two extremes. These transitions indicated trade-offs among different life history parameters. These plastic life history attributes show that species cannot be regarded as static units, resulting in not a life history, but rather a set of feasible life histories. Ignoring this set of feasible life histories can result in poor conservation decisions.",

keywords = "life history, plasticity, prescribed burns, trade-offs, translocation",

author = "Templeton, {Alan R.} and Neuwald, {Jennifer L.} and Conley, {Amy K.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by NSF grant DEB‐9610219 and REU supplements to Alan R. Templeton. A Canon National Parks Science Scholars Fellowship helped support Jennifer L. Neuwald. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship helped support Amy K. Conley. We also greatly appreciate cooperation and logistical support from the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Missouri, the National Parks Service, and The Nature Conservancy of Missouri. We would also like to thank the many people who helped in capturing collared lizards for this work, including Hilary Brazeal, R. James Robertson, Delbert Hutchison and family, Eric Routman, Christopher Phillips, L. Susan Pletscher, Ted Townsend, Jon Hess, Jennifer Brisson, Jared Strasburg, Rosie Koch, Rebecca Reichert, Aaron Hames, Erin Marnocha, Margaret Lutz, Jeffrey Templeton, Kenneth Weiner, Greg Stimpson, Ayse Koca, Sana Khan, and Lawrence Wiseman. We also wish to thank an anonymous reviewer for many excellent suggestions on an earlier version of this article. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Society of Population Ecology.",

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doi = "10.1002/1438-390x.12162",

language = "English",

journal = "Population Ecology",

issn = "1438-3896",

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AU - Neuwald, Jennifer L.

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PY - 2023

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N2 - By 1980 eastern collared lizards (Crotaphutus collaris collaris) had experienced massive local extinction on glades (open, rocky areas imbedded in a woodland matrix) in the Ozarks, a highland region in central North America. Lizards were translocated to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Missouri on three restored glades starting in 1984, and went through three demographic phases: (1) an isolate phase with initial growth followed by decline in population size and no colonization of nearby glades; (2) a colonizing phase of high dispersal and population growth that started with the onset of prescribed woodland burning, and (3) a stable metapopulation phase. We used mark/recapture information on over 1500 lizards with high sample coverage to estimate life history parameters. Life history was homogeneous within each phase, but differed significantly between phases. Changes occurred in less than a generation, indicating plasticity in life history. The isolate phase was characterized by low juvenile survivorship, high adult survivorship, long generation times, an old age structure, and almost no dispersal. The colonization phase had increased yearling survival, decreased adult survival, shorter generation times, a younger age structure, and much dispersal. The stable metapopulation phase was intermediate between these two extremes. These transitions indicated trade-offs among different life history parameters. These plastic life history attributes show that species cannot be regarded as static units, resulting in not a life history, but rather a set of feasible life histories. Ignoring this set of feasible life histories can result in poor conservation decisions.

AB - By 1980 eastern collared lizards (Crotaphutus collaris collaris) had experienced massive local extinction on glades (open, rocky areas imbedded in a woodland matrix) in the Ozarks, a highland region in central North America. Lizards were translocated to the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Missouri on three restored glades starting in 1984, and went through three demographic phases: (1) an isolate phase with initial growth followed by decline in population size and no colonization of nearby glades; (2) a colonizing phase of high dispersal and population growth that started with the onset of prescribed woodland burning, and (3) a stable metapopulation phase. We used mark/recapture information on over 1500 lizards with high sample coverage to estimate life history parameters. Life history was homogeneous within each phase, but differed significantly between phases. Changes occurred in less than a generation, indicating plasticity in life history. The isolate phase was characterized by low juvenile survivorship, high adult survivorship, long generation times, an old age structure, and almost no dispersal. The colonization phase had increased yearling survival, decreased adult survival, shorter generation times, a younger age structure, and much dispersal. The stable metapopulation phase was intermediate between these two extremes. These transitions indicated trade-offs among different life history parameters. These plastic life history attributes show that species cannot be regarded as static units, resulting in not a life history, but rather a set of feasible life histories. Ignoring this set of feasible life histories can result in poor conservation decisions.

KW - life history

KW - plasticity

KW - prescribed burns

KW - trade-offs

KW - translocation

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U2 - 10.1002/1438-390x.12162

DO - 10.1002/1438-390x.12162

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85165348101

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JO - Population Ecology

JF - Population Ecology

ER -

Life history changes in the eastern collared lizard in response to varying demographic phases and management policies

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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