International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity 2024, Vol.14, No.5, 252-262 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmeb 257 Figure 1 Natural habitats of (A) and thermal environments (B) for sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) from Burqin population (Adopted from Cui et al., 2022) Image caption: (A) The photographs indicate the natural habitats and demographic photographs for Lacerta agilis. (B) The blue solid, green long dash and red short dash lines indicate the temperatures of nest at depth of 5 cm underground, surface and air. The shade column indicates the reproductive season mainly for embryonic development. The data of temperatures were from China Meteorological Data Service Centre (Adopted from Cui et al., 2022) 6.3 Implications of the Case Study The case study of Lacerta agilis provides valuable insights into the broader mechanisms of reptile adaptation to climate change. The observed phenotypic plasticity and potential for evolutionary adaptation highlight the importance of both short-term and long-term responses in mitigating the impacts of climate change. Phenotypic plasticity allows for immediate adjustments to changing environmental conditions, while genetic variation and evolutionary processes enable populations to track and adapt to these changes over longer timescales (Urban et al., 2013; Ljungström et al., 2015). Moreover, the findings from Lacerta agilis underscore the significance of maintaining genetic diversity within populations to enhance their adaptive potential. The high level of observed heterozygosity in Swedish populations, despite historical bottlenecks, suggests that even small, isolated populations can retain the genetic resources necessary for adaptation. This has important implications for conservation strategies, emphasizing the need to preserve genetic diversity and facilitate gene flow between fragmented populations (Schlindwein et al., 2022; Bestion et al., 2023).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==