
Joshua Matthew HallTennessee Technological University | TTU · Department of Biology
Joshua Matthew Hall
Doctor of Philosophy
Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Physiology
About
52
Publications
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Introduction
I study the ecophysiology of development using reptiles and amphibians as model systems.
Additional affiliations
August 2020 - present
August 2019 - present
August 2015 - present
Education
August 2015 - August 2020
August 2013 - August 2015
August 2010 - May 2012
Publications
Publications (52)
Water availability has critical impacts on numerous physiological functions in all organisms and can have different effects across life stages. For example, water available to reproductive females can influence offspring production, and has the potential to influence how early‐stage offspring (e.g., embryos) respond to moisture in their development...
Developmental plasticity is the capacity of a single genotype to express multiple phenotypes in response to different early‐life environments. Such responses are defined by reaction norms, which may vary among individuals or populations. Variation in developmental reaction norms allows natural selection to operate on plasticity and is rarely examin...
Convergence is considered powerful evidence for adaptation to similar natural selection pressures. However, for many ecologically and morphologically convergent species, it remains unclear whether convergence extends to reproductive strategies, which are particularly important because of their tight connection to fitness. Here, by measuring key lif...
Survival of the immobile embryo in response to rising temperature is important to determine a species’ vulnerability to climate change. However, the collective effects of 2 key thermal characteristics associated with climate change (i.e., rising average temperature and acute heat events) on embryonic survival remain largely unexplored. We used empi...
Maternal nesting behavior in oviparous species strongly influences the environmental conditions their embryos experience during development. In turn, these early-life conditions have consequences for offspring phenotypes and many fitness components across an individual’s lifespan. Thus, identifying the evolutionary and ecological causes and effects...
Current models predict that the intensity of extreme weather will increase as climate change
progresses. Indeed, 2020 brought a record number of tropical storms to the Southeastern U.S. The
effect of these storms is a conservation concern for amphibians because they depend on aquatic habitats
for reproduction. I studied the effect of three subseque...
The discovery of inconspicuous nests of secretive species
not only expands knowledge but can reveal previously unknown
behaviors and ecological consequences of those behaviors. Ambystoma
opacum exhibits the nesting strategy of laying their eggs
terrestrially under cover. Here, we report multiple occurrences of
A. opacum nesting inside logs, which m...
Invasive species often use habitat differently than native species and can benefit by occupying underutilized habitats during the invasion process. The Peter’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda)—native to savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa—is successfully invading urban habitats in Florida, USA. During a field trip in urban southern Florida, we observed ap...
Vertebrate embryos require access to water; however, many species nest in terrestrial habitats that vary considerably in moisture content. Oviparous, non‐avian reptiles have served as models to understand how environmental factors, like moisture availability, influence development because eggs are often exposed to prevailing environments in the abs...
Human activity causes major changes in natural landscapes via introduction of non-native species, development on natural habitat, and alteration of local weather patterns. These factors contribute to global change and may interact to affect local populations of plants and animals. We studied a viable, non-native lizard population (Anolis sagrei) in...
Published in Herpetoculture Magazine
Natural thermal environments are notably complex and challenging to mimic in controlled studies. Consequently, our understanding of the ecological relevance and underlying mechanisms of organismal responses to thermal environments is often limited. For example, studies of thermal developmental plasticity have provided key insights into the ecologic...
Aspects of global change result in warming temperatures that threaten biodiversity across the planet. Eggs of non‐avian, oviparous reptiles (henceforth “reptiles”) are particularly vulnerable to warming due to a lack of parental care during incubation and limited ability to behaviorally thermoregulate. Because warming temperatures will cause increa...
Research on the thermal ecology and physiology of free‐living organisms is accelerating as scientists and managers recognize the urgency of the global biodiversity crisis brought on by climate change. As ectotherms, temperature fundamentally affects most aspects of the lives of amphibians and reptiles, making them excellent models for studying how...
http://hdl.handle.net/10415/7268
Natural thermal environments are notably complex and challenging to mimic in controlled studies. Consequently, our understanding of the ecological relevance and underlying mechanisms of organismal responses to thermal environments is often limited. For example, studies of thermal developmental plasticity have provided key insights into the ecologic...
Human-modified habitats often harbor non-native populations and may facilitate the transport and establishment of invasive species. Disturbed areas are typically warmer than adjacent natural habitats (e.g. urban heat island effect), and thus, ectotherms may benefit from landscape modifications. Although much research has considered how urban areas...
Communal nesting is a behaviour that involves multiple females laying eggs in the same nest or nesting site. This behaviour may be a consequence of a shortage of preferable nest sites (constraint hypothesis) or an adaptation generated by fitness benefits associated with egg aggregation (adaptive hypothesis). Experimental tests of these hypotheses r...
Aspects of global change create stressful thermal environments that threaten biodiversity. Oviparous, non-avian reptiles have received considerable attention because eggs are left to develop under prevailing conditions, leaving developing embryos vulnerable to increases in temperature. Though many studies assess embryo responses to long-term (i.e.,...
Seasonal changes in reproduction have been described for many taxa. As reproductive seasons progress, females often shift from greater energetic investment in many small offspring towards investing less total energy into fewer, better provisioned (i.e. larger) offspring. The underlying causes of this pattern have not been assessed in many systems....
Urbanization transforms many aspects of natural landscapes and poses many new challenges for individual survival and population persistence. Thus, urbanization provides an opportunity to examine how organisms deal with novel environmental change. Many studies provide evidence of phenotypic adaptation to urban environments, but few focus on response...
Unusual color pattern of Ambystoma opacum published in the Tennessee Journal of Herpetology
Aspects of global change (e.g. urbanization, climate change) result in novel, stressful thermal environments that threaten biodiversity. Though much research quantifies the thermal sensitivity of adult organisms, effects of global change on developing offspring (e.g. embryos) are also important. Oviparous, non-avian reptiles have received considera...
Most studies of thermal tolerance use adults, but early-life stages (e.g. embryos) are often more sensitive to thermal agitation. Studies that examine effects on embryos rarely assess the potential for thermal tolerance to change with ontogeny or how effects differ among sympatric species, and often utilize unrealistic temperature treatments. We us...
Nesting success is critical for oviparous species to maintain viable populations. Many species often do not provide parental care (e.g. oviparous reptiles), so embryos are left to develop in the prevailing conditions of the nest. For species that occupy diverse habitats, embryos must be able to complete development across a broad range of environme...
Most studies of thermal tolerance use adults, but early-life stages
(e.g. embryos) are often more sensitive to thermal agitation. Studies
that examine effects on embryos rarely assess the potential for
thermal tolerance to change with ontogeny or how effects differ
among sympatric species, and often utilize unrealistic temperature
treatments. We us...
The evolution of reproductive strategies depends on local environmental conditions. When environments are seasonal, selection favors individuals that align changes in key reproductive traits with seasonal shifts in habitat quality. Offspring habitat quality can decline through the season, and increased maternal provisioning to late-produced offspri...
Effects of global change (i.e. urbanization, climate change) on adult organisms are readily used to predict the persistence of populations. However, effects on embryo survival and patterns of development are less studied, even though embryos are particularly sensitive to abiotic conditions that are altered by global change (e.g. temperature). In re...
The timing of reproduction strongly influences reproductive success in many organisms. For species with extended reproductive seasons, the quality of the environment may change throughout the season in ways that impact offspring survival, and, accordingly, aspects of reproductive strategies may shift to maximize fitness. Life-history theory predict...
Growth and body size are influenced by the environment and each have consequences for reproduction and, thus, fitness. Anthropogenically altered habitats (i.e. cities) create novel conditions that may enhance or reduce fitness via environmentally induced changes in growth or body size. By comparing urban and natural habitats, we can quantify the ef...
Most temperate-climate lizards become inactive during the winter months of each year. As temperatures drop, they must find appropriate overwintering microhabitats to avoid lethal surface temperatures and/or thermoregulate. The environmental variables that characterize such microhabitats and the cues that lizards utilize to assess them are a critica...