1. Substantial plastic variation in phenology in response to environmental heterogeneity through time in the same population has been uncovered in many species. However, our understanding of differences in reaction norms of phenology among populations from a given species remains limited. 2. Since the plasticity of phenological traits is often influenced by local thermal conditions, we expect local temperature to generate variation in the reaction norms between populations. 3. Here, we explored temporal variation in parturition date across 11 populations of the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) from four mountain chains as a function of air temperatures during mid-gestation. We characterized among-population variation to assess how local weather conditions (mean and variance of ambient temperatures during mid-gestation) and habitat openness (an index of anthropogenic disturbance) influence the thermal reaction norms of the parturition date. 4. Our results provide evidence of interactive effects of anthropogenic disturbance and thermal conditions, with earlier parturition dates in warmer years on average especially in closed habitats. 5. Variation in the reaction norms for parturition date was correlated with mean local thermal conditions at a broad geographical scale. However populations exposed to variable thermal conditions had flatter thermal reaction norms. 6. Assessing whether environmental heterogeneity drives differentiation among reaction norms is crucial to estimate the capacity of different populations to contend with projected climatic and anthropogenic challenges.

Phenotypic selection is widely accepted as the primary cause of adaptive evolution in natural populations, but selection on complex functional properties linking physiology, behavior, and morphology has been rarely quantified. In ectotherms, correlational selection on thermal physiology, thermoregulatory behavior, and energy metabolism is of special interest because of their potential coadaptation. We quantified phenotypic selection on thermal sensitivity of locomotor performance (sprint speed), thermal preferences, and resting metabolic rate in captive populations of an ectothermic vertebrate, the common lizard, Zootoca vivipara. No correlational selection between thermal sensitivity of performance, thermoregulatory behavior, and energy metabolism was found. A combination of high body mass and resting metabolic rate was positively correlated with survival and negatively correlated with fecundity. Thus, different mechanisms underlie selection on metabolism in lizards with small body mass than in lizards with high body mass. In addition, lizards that selected the near average preferred body temperature grew faster that their congeners. This is one of the few studies that quantifies significant correlational selection on a proxy of energy expenditure and stabilizing selection on thermoregulatory behavior.

A good understanding of mammalian societies requires measuring patterns and comprehending processes of dispersal in each sex. We investigated dispersal behaviour in arvicoline rodents, a sub-family of mammals widespread in northern temperate environments and characterised by a multivoltine life cycle. In arvicoline rodents, variation in life history strategies occurs along a continuum from precocial to delayed maturation that reflects seasonal and ecological fluctuations. We compared dispersal across and within species focusing on the effects of external (condition-dependence) and internal factors (phenotype-dependence). Our data revealed substantial, unexplained variation between species for dispersal distances and a strong variation within species for both dispersal distance and fraction. Some methodological aspects explained variation across studies, which cautions against comparisons that do not control for them. Overall, the species under consideration display frequent short-distance dispersal events and extremely flexible dispersal strategies, but they also have hitherto unexpected capacity to disperse long distances. Female arvicolines are predominantly philopatric relative to males, but we found no clear association between the mating system and the degree of sex-bias in dispersal across species. Dispersal is a response to both various proximate and ultimate factors, including competition, inbreeding avoidance, mate searching, and habitat quality. In particular, our review suggests that costs and benefits experienced during transience and settlement are prime determinants of condition-dependence. Patterns of phenotype-dependent dispersal are idiosyncratic, except for a widespread association between an exploration/activity syndrome and natal dispersal. Consequences for population dynamics and genetic structures are discussed.