Abstract Context. Understanding how organismal attributes influence sensitivity to environmental perturbations is a central theme in ecology and conservation. Certain traits, such as body size, habitat use, dietary preference and reproductive output are considered important determinants of animal species’ responses to the impacts of ecological disturbances. However, the general relationships between functional traits and post-disturbance responses by animals are not fully understood. Aims. Our primary aim was to use a meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of species traits on variation in population abundances of squamate reptiles (i.e. lizards and snakes). Methods. We extracted data from 107 original published studies, from which 1027 mean effect sizes of post-disturbance responses by 298 species were estimated. We examined short-term responses only (i.e. within 3 years since the most recent disturbance). A comprehensive range of disturbances was examined, such as habitat destruction, fragmentation, fire, and exotic-species invasions. We used Bayesian linear mixed-effect modelling (BLMM), utilising the Markov-chain Monte Carlo algorithm (MCMC) for the meta-regression. Specifically, we tested the influence of eight species traits (body size, diet, temporal activity pattern, sociality, reproductive mode, clutch size, habitat selection, and mean body temperature), along with disturbance type, in explaining variation in species-specific abundance responses of squamate reptiles post-disturbance. Key results. Post-disturbance abundance responses of squamate species were significantly influenced by two parameters, namely, mean body temperature and clutch size. In general, significant positive responses post-disturbance were observed for species with higher mean body temperatures and a greater clutch size. The type of disturbance had no detectable influence on squamate abundances. The influence of random effects (heterogeneity among studies and species, and broad taxonomic identity) accounted for more of the model variation than did the fixed effects (species traits and disturbance type). Conclusions. Certain species traits exerted some influence on the sensitivities of lizards and snakes to ecological disturbances, although the influence of random effects was very strong. Our findings are likely to be a result of the complexity and idiosyncratic nature of natural abundance patterns among animal species, in addition to the potential confounding effect of methodological differences among studies. Implications. The present study is the first major quantitative synthesis of how species traits influence population-level responses of squamate reptiles to ecological disturbances. The findings can be used to guide conservation efforts and ecological management, such as by prioritising the efforts of mitigation on species that reproduce more slowly, and those with lower body temperatures.

中文翻译：

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有鳞爬行动物特征在解释种群对环境干扰的反应方面有多大影响？

摘要上下文。了解有机体属性如何影响对环境扰动的敏感性是生态学和保护的中心主题。某些特征，例如体型大小、栖息地使用、饮食偏好和生殖产出，被认为是动物物种对生态干扰影响的反应的重要决定因素。然而，功能特征与动物扰乱后反应之间的一般关系尚不完全清楚。目标。我们的主要目的是使用荟萃分析来评估物种特征对有鳞爬行动物（即蜥蜴和蛇）种群丰度变化的影响。方法。我们从 107 项原始发表的研究中提取数据，从中估计了 298 个物种的干扰后反应的 1027 个平均效应大小。我们只检查了短期反应（即在最近一次干扰后的 3 年内）。检查了一系列全面的干扰，例如栖息地破坏、破碎、火灾和外来物种入侵。我们使用贝叶斯线性混合效应建模 (BLMM)，利用马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗算法 (MCMC) 进行元回归。具体而言，我们测试了八种物种特征（体型、饮食、时间活动模式、社会性、繁殖方式、离合器大小、栖息地选择和平均体温）以及干扰类型对解释物种特定丰度变化的影响有鳞爬行动物扰乱后的反应。关键结果。有鳞物种的扰乱后丰度响应受两个参数的显着影响，即平均体温和离合器大小。一般来说，对于平均体温较高和离合器尺寸较大的物种，在扰动后观察到显着的积极反应。干扰的类型对有鳞动物的丰度没有可检测的影响。随机效应的影响（研究和物种之间的异质性，以及广泛的分类学同一性）比固定效应（物种特征和干扰类型）对模型变异的影响更大。结论。某些物种性状对蜥蜴和蛇对生态干扰的敏感性产生了一些影响，尽管随机效应的影响非常强。我们的发现很可能是由于动物物种之间自然丰度模式的复杂性和特殊性，以及研究之间方法学差异的潜在混杂效应。影响。本研究是物种特征如何影响有鳞爬行动物对生态干扰的种群水平反应的第一个主要定量综合。研究结果可用于指导保护工作和生态管理，例如优先考虑对繁殖较慢和体温较低的物种采取缓解措施。