Data from: A few meters matter: local habitats drive reproductive cycles in a tropical lizard

Reproductive phenology often varies geographically within species, driven by environmental gradients that alter growth and reproduction. However, environments can differ between adjacent habitats at single localities. In lowland Puerto Rico, both open (sunny, warm) and forested (shady, cool) habitats may be only meters apart. The lizard Anolis cristatellus lives in both habitats: it thermoregulates carefully in the open but is a thermoconformer in the forest. To determine whether reproduction differs between habitats, we compared reproductive cycles of females in open versus forest habitats at two localities for over 2 years. Open females were more likely than forest females to be reproductive throughout the year, probably because open females were able to bask and thereby achieve warmer body temperatures. These between-habitat differences in reproduction were especially marked in cool months and are equivalent in magnitude to those between populations separated by elevation. Thus, environmental differences (even on a microlandscape scale) matter to reproduction and probably to demography.

同一物种种内的繁殖物候（reproductive phenology）常存在地理变异，其驱动因子为改变生长与繁殖进程的环境梯度。然而，在单个采样点内，相邻生境间的环境条件也可能存在差异。在波多黎各低地地区，开阔（向阳、温暖）与森林（遮阴、凉爽）两类生境的空间间距往往仅为数米。安乐蜥（Anolis cristatellus）同时栖息于这两类生境中：它们在开阔生境中会进行精细的体温调节，而在森林生境中则为体温顺应者（thermoconformer）。为明确两类生境间的繁殖模式是否存在差异，我们于两个采样点对两类生境中的雌性个体开展了为期2年以上的繁殖周期对比研究。相较于森林生境中的雌性个体，开阔生境中的雌性全年繁殖概率更高，这可能是因为开阔生境的个体可通过晒太阳获得更高的体温。这类生境间的繁殖差异在凉爽月份尤为显著，其差异幅度与海拔梯度分隔的种群间的繁殖差异相当。由此可见，即使是微景观尺度上的环境差异，也会对物种的繁殖乃至种群动态（demography）产生重要影响。