Linking global warming to amphibian declines through its effects on female body condition and survivorship |
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Authors: | C J Reading |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Winfrith Technology Centre, Winfrith Newburgh, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8ZD, UK |
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Abstract: | There is general consensus that climate change has contributed to the observed decline, and extinction, of many amphibian
species throughout the world. However, the mechanisms of its effects remain unclear. A laboratory study in 1980–1981 in which
temperate zone amphibians that were prevented from hibernating had decreased growth rates, matured at a smaller size and had
increased mortality compared with those that hibernated suggested one possible mechanism. I used data from a field study of
common toads (Bufo bufo) in the UK, between 1983 and 2005, to determine whether this also occurs in the field. The results demonstrated two pathways
by which global warming may cause amphibian declines. First, there was a clear relationship between a decline in the body
condition of female common toads and the occurrence of warmer than average years since 1983. This was paralleled by a decline
in their annual survival rates with the relationship between these two declines being highly correlated. Second, there was
a significant relationship between the occurrence of mild winters and a reduction in female body size, resulting in fewer
eggs being laid annually. Climate warming can, therefore, act on wild temperate zone amphibians by deleteriously affecting
their physiology, during and after hibernation, causing increased female mortality rates and decreased fecundity in survivors. |
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Keywords: | Body size Bufo bufo Environmental temperatures Hibernation Mortality |
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