1. Body size affects the body temperature of an ectotherm by altering both heating rates and the microclimate experienced. These joint effects are rarely considered in the analyses of climatic constraints on ectotherms but nonetheless influence body temperatures and thus activity periods and foraging opportunities.
2. Here we develop and test transient heat‐budget models that use height‐specific microclimatic forcing to compute the dynamics of size‐dependent body temperatures of ectotherms in sun and in shade. We incorporate a model of behavioural thermoregulation and use it to compute potential body temperatures and then to map these to ecologically relevant indices, including foraging opportunities and thermal constraints. To illustrate potential applications, we combine a microclimate model driven by a global climate database with the transient behavioural algorithm developed for lizards to explore how body size (10 and 1,000 g) and size‐specific microclimate (at natural heights of 1 and 7.5 cm, respectively) interactively influence body temperatures and ecological indices at a warm, arid location in Australia in both spring and summer. To explore microclimatic effects, we contrast temperatures and indices for animals positioned at their natural versus reciprocal heights above the ground.
3. Our simulations show that the behavioural and ecological consequences of size can be strongly biased when joint effects of body size and size‐imposed microclimate are ignored. For example, the two body sizes did not differ in total foraging time when compared at their natural heights, but did differ if compared at the same height, the direction of this difference reversing with the height at which they were compared. We show how computed foraging times can be translated to potential foraging radii from a central place (burrow or shade‐providing bush), thereby illustrating how body size can be physiologically translated into habitat connectivity as a function of different shade configurations, for example, as modified by fire regimes or shrub dieback.
4. All functions are now integrated into the biophysical modelling r package NicheMapR and as a Shiny app, which should provide new insights and avenues for investigation into functional interactions between body size and habitat structure for ectotherms.

中文翻译：

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模拟体型和小气候对热量收支和外热觅食机会的联合影响

1. 体型通过改变加热速率和所经历的微气候而影响到等温线的体温。在分析对等温线的气候约束时很少考虑这些共同作用，但仍会影响体温，进而影响活动时间和觅食机会。
2. 在这里，我们开发和测试瞬态热预算模型，该模型使用特定于高度的微气候强迫来计算太阳和阴凉时等温线体温的大小依赖性。我们将行为温度调节模型纳入模型，并使用它来计算潜在的体温，然后将其映射到与生态相关的指数，包括觅食机会和热量限制。为了说明潜在的应用，我们将由全球气候数据库驱动的微气候模型与为蜥蜴开发的瞬态行为算法相结合，以探索人体大小（10和1,000 g）和特定大小的微气候（自然高度为1和7.5 cm，分别在春季和夏季，在澳大利亚温暖，干旱的地区以交互方式影响人体温度和生态指数。
3. 我们的模拟结果表明，如果忽略了身体大小和大小引起的小气候的共同影响，则大小的行为和生态后果会受到严重偏见。例如，在自然高度下比较，两种体型的总觅食时间没有差异，但在相同高度下进行比较，两者的差异不大，这种差异的方向与它们进行比较时的高度相反。我们展示了如何将计算的觅食时间转换为来自中心位置（洞穴或提供阴影的灌木丛）的潜在觅食半径，从而说明了如何根据不同的阴影配置将人体大小生理转换为栖息地连通性，例如受到火灾或灌木枯死的影响而被修改。
4. 所有功能现在集成到生物物理建模ř包Ñ iche中号AP R和作为有光泽的应用程序，该应调查体型和栖息地结构外温动物之间功能性相互作用提供新的见解和途径。