Climate change correlates with rapid delays and advancements in reproductive timing in an amphibian community

Abstract

Climate change has had a significant impact globally on the timing of ecological events such as reproduction and migration in many species. Here, we examined the phenology of reproductive migrations in 10 amphibian species at a wetland in South Carolina, USA using a 30 year dataset. We show for the first time that two autumn-breeding amphibians are breeding increasingly later in recent years, coincident with an estimated 1.28C increase in local overnight air temperatures during the September through February pre-breeding and breeding periods. Additionally, two winter-breeding species in the same community are breeding increasingly earlier. Four of the 10 species studied have shifted their reproductive timing an estimated 15.3 to 76.4 days in the past 30 years. This has resulted in rates of phenological change that range from 5.9 to 37.2 days per decade, providing examples of some of the greatest rates of changing phenology in ecological events reported to date. Owing to the opposing direction of the shifts in reproductive timing, our results suggest an alteration in the degree of temporal niche overlap experienced by amphibian larvae in this community. Reproductive timing can drive community dynamics in larval amphibians and our results identify an important pathway by which climate change may affect amphibian communities.

Eiders in offshore pack ice show previously unknown courtship behavior: acceleration of readiness for a constrained breeding period?

“…With climate warming has come advanced spring phenology, resulting in mismatched timing between resource availability and breeding chronology for a range of taxa (Visser and Both 2005;Post et al 2008;Todd et al 2011). Of interest has been the ability of migratory birds to adapt to altered phenology, so that their breeding schedules still correspond to the seasonality of important factors such as food availability for young (Both and Visser 2001;Thomas et al 2001).…”

Evidências de Mudanças Climáticas na Região de Transição Amazônia-Cerrado no Estado do Maranhão

“…Essas mudanças podem ser consideradas como uma das ameaças mais significativas à sobrevivência dos ecossistemas, com vários efeitos potenciais sobre indivíduos, populações e comunidades (Walther et al, 2002), os quais já começam a ser detectados (Todd et al, 2011;Lurgi et al, 2012). Modificações na temperatura e precipitação também poderão acarretar em modificações nos recursos hídricos, afetando o abastecimento humano, geração de energia e agricultura (Nóbrega, 2008).…”

Too Cold, Too Wet, Too Bright, or Just Right? Environmental Predictors of Snake Movement and Activity

“…The influence of environmental factors on animal activity patterns is often readily apparent for ectotherms, whose body temperatures depend on the thermal environment, thereby making them especially sensitive to changes in temperature (Parmesan, 2007;Todd et al, 2011). Amphibian movements, in particular, show a high degree of correlation with environmental variables like temperature and rainfall (Todd and Winne, 2006).…”