Temperatures in Brown Anole (Anolis Sagrei), curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus) and its effect on their habitat

Temperatures in Brown Anole (Anolis Sagrei), curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus) and its effect on their habitat

Abstract

Climate change is one of the global phenomena that affect the functioning of organisms and their habitat worldwide. Some organisms are affected significantly by climate change, while in others the climate change doesn’t have any significant effect on their functioning. Some of the species extremely affected by climate change are the brown anole (Anolis Sagrei) and the curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus Carinatus). Climate changes lead to the risk of extinction of the species that are significantly affected by Climate change. The brown anole and the curly tail lizard are affected by temperature changes in their surroundings. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of temperature changes on brown anoles and curly-tailed lizards and their habitats. In this experiment, the number of brown anoles and the curly tail lizard was recorded while I was standing still for 10 minutes before moving to the next direction. The recording was done in three locations that are the Lantana beach, Okeheelee park nature center, and John Prince Park. This survey was carried out on three days, which is Monday 6^th, Wednesday 8^th, and Friday, April 10, 2020. More brown anole and curly-tailed lizards were found during the early hours of the afternoon that is between 11-12 pm than during the sunset that is between 5-6 pm. I found that temperature changes affect the functioning of this brown anole and the curly tail lizard. I also found out that the brown anole and the curly tail lizard live comfortably under average temperatures.

Introduction

Organisms across the world are affected by climate change. There are two species of lizards, namely the brown anole (Anolis Sagrei) and the curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus Carinatus), which are one of the organisms extremely affected by climate change. Some species cannot respond to rapid changes in the environment over an “ecological time scale.” This climate change increases the risk of extinction of these species. A species failure to adapt to its environment causes it to go extinct (Manuel, et al., 2012). This study uses the brown anole and the curly-tailed lizards as the ectotherms to study the impact of such ecological issues.

The curly-tailed lizards have a habitat in coastal Florida in open, sandy-rubble strewn areas. The curly-tailed lizards can also be found in habitats corrupted by human beings such as parking lots, buildings, and roads.  In 1982, the northern curly-tailed lizard was reported by scientist Callahan to be active for some time and then go inactive. The northern curly-tailed lizard is active up to early afternoon, after which it goes for refugia for 30-90 minutes and then becomes active for 30 minutes before or after sunset. Basking periods for these ectotherms depends on the temperatures. The basking period can range from several minutes to two hours on warm(>26^oC) days, and cold (0-10^oC) days respectively (Manuel, et al., 2012) The grasshoppers and isopods are the typical food for the curly-tailed lizards in the Palm Beach County. Callahan also made the observations that two captures of brown anoles by the northern curly-tailed lizards and summed they were consumed. In coastal Florida, the falcons and hawks are the potential predators of curly-tailed lizards.

The brown anole lizards originated from Cuba and the Bahamas before invading Florida. The brown anole lizard’s habitat is in areas with open vegetation, and its territories are in shrubs, vines, fences, and trees. They live comfortably under temperatures of 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit (23.8-26.6^oC). Previous studies have shown that brown anoles are adaptive creatures. The brown anoles have high sensitivity to temperatures due to the ability of their thermal environment to regulate vital physiological processes hence increasing their susceptibility to temperature.

As the temperature of the environment around ectotherms changes, the body temperatures of these ectotherms rises and fall concerning their external temperature (Smith, and Engeman, 2004). Hence they did not maintain a constant internal temperature. When the temperature is to low, the cell membrane of the ectotherm is at risk of being denatured while the enzymes and proteins in their bodies can be denatured if the temperatures are too high (Wenyun et al., 2000). This places the ectotherms at risk. Environmental temperatures vary with the body of ectotherms, and the rates at which the majority of biochemical reactions and biological processes increases with an increase in temperature. (Pearson and Warner, 2016). An organism’s physiology is affected by the changes in ambient temperature which in turn affects the organism’s performance and fitness (Kern et al., 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of temperature changes on brown anoles and curly-tailed lizards and their habitats. Based on my observations, I predict that both the Anolis Sagrei and the Leiocephalus carinatus will be living in large numbers in areas with average temperature, and fewer numbers of this species will be living in areas with extreme temperature.

Methods

I studied both the brown anole (Anolis Sagrei) and the curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalus carinatum). I recorded the number of brown anoles and curly-tailed lizards I sighted. I did the recording for 10 minutes while standing still and then moved to the next direction. This experiment was conducted in between specific times of the day that is between the 5-6 pm and 11 am-12 pm. The survey was done on Monday, April 6 2020, Wednesday, April 8, 2020, and Friday, April 10 2020. The study was done in three locations that are the Lantana beach, Okeheelee park nature center, and John Prince Park.

Making the recordings for 10 minutes while in a standstill position ensured that the lizards’ behavior was captured for those 10 minutes in that particular position. Conducting the surveys at different times of the day that is 5-6 pm and 11 am-12 pm allowed for determining the different effect temperatures have on the behavior of the lizards. At 5-6 pm, the temperatures are relatively low, while between 11 am-12 pm, the temperatures are relatively high. Thus this allowed for the determination of the effect of low and high temperatures on the organisms. Surveying three different locations was essential as the temperature ranges in those three locations vary, and their climatic conditions are not the same.

Results

On Monday, April 6, 2020, at 11-12 pm I found that there were four brown anoles at the Lantana Beach, 24 at Okeheelee park nature center, and ten at the John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, I found that there were six brown anoles at Lantana Beach, 19 at Okeheelee park nature center, and 12 at John Prince Park. On the same day at 11-12 pm, I found that there were 16 curly tail lizards at the Lantana beach, four at Okeheelee park nature center, and seven at John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, there were 12 curly tail lizards at Lantana Beach, zero at Okeheelee park nature center, and four at John Prince park (Table 1).

On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, at 11-12 pm I found that there were five brown anoles at the Lantana Beach, 21 at Okeheelee park nature center, and 14 at the John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, I found that there were two brown anoles at Lantana Beach, 18 at Okeheelee park nature center, and ten at John Prince Park. On the same day at 11-12 pm, I found that there were 13 curly tail lizards at the Lantana beach, six at Okeheelee park nature center, and eight at John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, there were 14 curly tail lizards at Lantana Beach, three at Okeheelee park nature center, and six at John Prince park (Table 2).

On Friday, April 10, 2020, at 11-12 pm I found that there were six brown anoles at the Lantana Beach, 16 at Okeheelee park nature center, and 15 at the John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, I found that there were no brown anoles at Lantana Beach, two at Okeheelee park nature center, and four at John Prince Park. On the same day at 11-12 pm, I found that there were 12 curly tail lizards at the Lantana beach, two at Okeheelee park nature center, and seven at John Prince Park. At 5-6 pm, there were four curly tail lizards at Lantana Beach, two at Okeheelee park nature center, and one at John Prince park (Table 3).

Discussion

Previous research shows that Brown anole lives comfortably under temperatures of 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit (23.8-26.6^oC). The findings of this research are in line with earlier reports since more brown anoles were found between 11-12 pm when temperatures were ranging between 23.8-26.6^oC than between 5-6 pm when the temperatures would fall. However, on Monday, April 4, 2020, there were more brown anoles at 5-6 pm (6) than at 11-12 pm (4).

Previous studies show that the northern curly-tailed lizard is active up to early afternoon, after which it goes for refugia for 30-90 minutes and then becomes active for 30 minutes before or after sunset. My findings on the behavior of the brown anole and the curly tail lizard relate closely with previous studies. At 11-12 pm, there were many curly tail lizards found loitering around than those found between 5-6 pm. However, on Friday, April 10, 2020, the number of the curly tail lizard found during early afternoon hours and at sunset were the same (2).

In conclusion, temperature changes around the surroundings of the brown anole and curly tail tilapia affect their functioning and their habitats.  The findings of this research support this, since the number of the organisms found loitering around during the study times, were varying. Finally, both the brown anole and the curly tail lizard prefer living under average temperatures.

Literature Cited

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Table 1 Statistical data on the number of brown anoles and curly tail lizards in Lantana Beach, Okeheelee park nature centre and John Prince park on Monday April 6 2020.

Table 2 Statistical data on the number of brown anoles and curly tail lizards in Lantana Beach, Okeheelee park nature centre and John Prince park on Wednesday April 8 2020.

Table 3 Statistical data on the number of brown anoles and curly tail lizards in Lantana Beach, Okeheelee park nature centre and John Prince park on Friday April 10 2020.