A warmer environment is associated with increased growth, reduced longevity, and accelerated mortality, which indicates that thermal adaptation may cause life history shifts in wild populations. USGS and university researchers studied genetic variations among 20,033 Columbia spotted frogs from eight populations in four western U.S. states, surveyed annually for 14-18 years, to examine how mean annual temperature and precipitation influenced adult survival, lifespan, aging, mortality, recruitment, and population growth. Their results showed that population recruitment increased, and lifespan decreased with higher temperatures. Molecular signatures of genetic markers associated with temperature adaptation may play a role in Columbia spotted frog life history shifts. Understanding these mechanisms helps resource managers better predict the impact of climate change on amphibian populations.

Cayuela, H., Dorant, Y., Forester, B.R., Jeffries, D.L., McCaffery, R.M., Eby, L.A., Hossack, B.R., Gippet, J.M., Pilliod, D.S., Funk, W.C., 2021, Genomic signatures of thermal adaptation are associated with clinal shifts of life history in a broadly distributed frog: Journal of Animal Ecology, p. 1-17, online, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13545.