Meeting Abstract
The planet is projected to warm through the end of the century and beyond. Ectothermic organisms in tropical rainforests, which were historically thermally stable, are particularly sensitive to the effects of warming. In order to understand and accurately predict how these organisms will respond, researchers are increasingly focusing on animals as meta-organisms, taking into account the microbial communities that reside in and on these species. The interactions between the genes of organisms and the genes of their microbial symbionts may mitigate or exacerbate vulnerability to climate warming. We combined a controlled greenhouse experiment with a large-scale field-transplant experiment to determine how the gut microbiome of a tropical lizard responds to habitat change and warming. For the greenhouse experiment, we collected 40 lizards from a mainland site in Panama. Lizards were then maintained in either control or warm temperatures (+2°C) for 28 days. For the field experiment, 70 lizards were transplanted to two islands in Gatun Lake (Panama Canal) that are 2°C hotter than the mainland, on average, and allowed to evolve for three generations. Lizards were dissected following each experiment and their intestines removed for sequencing of the bacterial 16S V4 region. Using QIIME2, sequences will be analyzed to determine changes to bacterial community richness, evenness, beta diversity, and composition in the gut microbial communities of these lizards. Our results will help inform projections of how climate warming will impact the fitness and performance of organisms by providing insight into stability and adaptability of symbiotic microbial communities.
