Effects of salinity on brown anole lizards nesting behavior

• Grant number: 23/06045-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: November 04, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: José Eduardo de Carvalho
• Grantee: Thayna Medeiros de Andrade
• Supervisor: Daniel Augustus Warner
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Auburn University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/06306-0 - The importance of maternal effects during the occupation of open and forested areas by Tropidurinae species of lizards, BP.MS

Abstract

Females in all species use their phenotypes and environmental cues to influence offspring phenotype. These maternal effects can have adaptive advantages, increasing the fitness of both the mother and her offspring. One aspect of maternal effects is selection of nest sites. In oviparous species that lack parental care, nest sites have a major impact in hatching survival. Severe environmental conditions can affect nesting behavior, ultimately leading to egg retention until adequate conditions are encountered. This proposal aims to understand how abiotic factors influence maternal behavior. Especificaly, we hypothesize that saline environments lead to egg retention, and, consequently, females will avoid oviposition in this type of substrate. To test these hypotheses we will compare egg presence\absence in freshwater and saline substrate, and the inter-egg interval in these conditions. (AU)