Role of climate variability in shaping thermal tolerance of coastal tailed frogs
Studying the thermal sensitivity of animals that live in environments with variable temperatures--such as mountain streams with water temperatures that change over time and space--sheds light on how climate variability could be impacting the evolution of amphibian physiology.
Coastal tailed frogs inhabit cold, fast-flowing mountain streams that have little spatial temperature variation but can experience seasonal and annual temperature variability. Researchers predicted that coastal tailed frogs from sites with more variation in annual temperature would be more tolerant of temperature swings. They collected tadpoles at a range of elevations to capture a wide range of variation in environmental temperatures. In the lab, the tadpoles were exposed to a typical, cool temperature, and a temperature near the warmest that they would experience in nature. Populations collected from areas with more temperature variation were more heat tolerant. These results demonstrate the role of climate variability in shaping thermal tolerance among populations, and could help researchers and resource managers predict which populations will be most vulnerable to environmental change.
Cicchino, A.S., Ghalambor, C.K., Forester, B.R., Dunham, J.B., and Funk, W.C., 2024, Greater thermal plasticity with increased climate variability among populations of tailed frogs lacking opportunity for behavioral thermoregulation: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v. 291, no. 2034. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1628
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