As we have seen on numerous occasions, climate change has global repercussions in almost every aspect that we know of. We are talking about a change in the climate that regulates all the characteristics that make ecosystems what they are, which make living beings live as they do and as they have adapted and evolved throughout history.
This time I come to talk to you about the effect of climate change to reptiles and their bacterial flora. What does the change in climate have to do with the bacterial flora of reptiles?
Nature's Connections and Climate Change
Something that people fail to conceive of is how in nature everything is related and connected. How nature has endless connected networks that have a balance, in its majority of times fragile, and that this balance can be diminished due to external agents such as climate change. For example, how a simple increase in ocean temperatures can cause the death of many species of fish that live thanks to corals.
As we have spoken on many occasions here at Meteorología en Red, corals are very vulnerable to changes in water temperatures caused by global warming. Thanks to corals, a series of species live since they have a refuge and some species of algae can also survive by interacting in that same ecosystem. Well, if corals suffer from an increase in temperatures, all living beings that depend on corals to survive will also be affected, although they are directly affected by the increase in water temperatures.
In this case, I am here to talk about reptiles and their bacterial flora. For you to better understand how a change in climate can affect the bacterial flora of reptiles, you must remember that everything is related in nature and that everything has to do with it.
Reptiles are being affected by climate change
How can climate change affect the bacterial flora of reptiles? Well, in a quite conditioning way: by reducing the number of bacteria that live in your gut. This can lead to a reduction in your chances of survival.
A study published in the journal Nature reveals that a global warming that leads to an increase of 2 to 3 degrees can mean reduction by 34% of the diversity of microorganisms in the intestines of the peat bog lizard (zootoca vivipara), with which the study was made. The most worrying thing is that an increase of 2 to 3 degrees in global average temperatures is what is predicted by current climate change models.
In order to check and study the effect of temperatures on the lizards, the scientists placed them in a closed place with a controlled temperature. They analyzed samples of their gut bacteria to see what kind of bacteria they had in their intestines. By studying lizards that were in different temperature conditions, they discovered that the diversity of gut bacteria was much lower in those lizards that lived in warmer conditions. Furthermore, they were able to conclude that this circumstance had a serious impact on their chances of survival.
Although a relative increase in temperatures has been seen to affect bacterial flora and thus their chances of survival, further evidence is still needed to make it more tangible. He also considered very likely that the same effects are observed in other cold-blooded animals such as reptiles and amphibians that depend on external sources for body heat.
It must be borne in mind that the presence of bacteria in the digestion of is vital for it to be carried out well. Therefore, new studies must be carried out that consider this effect of climate change on other living beings.