GCRESPONSE- A reptile model and 3600 m of altitudinal gradient to infer the ectotherm responses to global change in Portugal

The aim is assessing ectotherm responses to Global Change (GC) integrating physiological (metabolic activity, preferred temperatures, water loss), life-history (growth, size, life span) and genomic (whole-genome sequencing) evidence. A reptile occupying >3600m elevation will be used to evaluate this multidisciplinary scheme while species in Portugal with variate environmental niches/ranges will be used for generalisation. The main prediction is that species with less spatio-temporal variation in phenotype, mediated by adaptation and/or phenotypic plasticity, will be more vulnerable to GC and more prone to extinction. The magnitude of variation in phenotypic and adaptive genes will shed light on the repercussions of GC on other non-target organisms. Patterns recovered will provide a measure of GC response in terms of plasticity/adaptation generalizable to other groups. The project will be developed by a cohesive team with competence in these fields working in a well-equipped centre.

Dates: 01 jun 2018 – 31 mar 2022 

Total funding: 238 620,38 €

FEDER support: 202 827,32€

National Funding: 35 793,06€