Meeting Abstract
Urbanization is one of the most dramatic and pertinent forms of environmental change facing wildlife. In addition to altering the survival and, ultimately, persistence of wild populations, urbanized landscapes can affect the internal processes of animals. Here we present findings of four years of physiological data on the side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana), between 2010 and 2014. Circulating corticosterone and stress reactivity were measured, as well as reactive oxygen metabolites and antioxidant barrier in attempt to differentiate stress between animals from three urban and three rural sites in southern Utah. Along with these measures of stress, innate immunity and reproductive investment were quantified in females to determine which crucial processes (immediate reproductive fitness or longer-term self-maintenance) were more important for urban and rural animals. Self-maintenance and reproductive investment contribute directly to population dynamics and demography, so we constructed populations models for these animals as well. Overall we found that the effects of urbanization on the physiology and ecology of side-blotched lizards are variable and dynamic, and the long-term nature of this project has allowed us to explore and relate themes integral to ecoimmunology, life history theory, and conservation biology.
