Thermal landscapes

Thermal landscapes can be of high or low quality, depending on number of basking sites, food type, availability and distance from other essential environmental elements.

Predicted values from a virtual experiment that simulated body temperature and energy expenditure of a lizard that either thermoregulates optimally or thermoconforms in a landscape of either low or high quality (one or four basking sites, respectively) were compared with the observed values for real lizards in experimental arenas.

Results suggest that non‐energetic benefits drive thermoregulatory behaviour in costly environments, despite the missed opportunities arising from thermoregulation.

Real lizards thermoregulated more accurately in the high‐quality landscape than they did on the low‐quality landscape, however, they spent similar amounts of energy in these landscapes. Basking, rather than shuttling between heat sources, accounted for the majority of the energy consumed in both landscapes.

In contrast with the model predictions, in the low‐quality landscape, real lizards thermoregulated intensely despite the potential to save energy by thermoconforming. In the high‐quality landscape, lizards moved more than expected, suggesting that lizards explored their surroundings despite being able to thermoregulate without doing so.