Impacts of Climate Change on Small-Ranged Amphibians of the Northern Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Climate change is shifting species distribution all around the world. Amphibians are particularly vulnerable to these environmental changes, as they are highly sensitive to fluctuations in rainfall and temperature. While previous studies have shown that climate change may increase amphibian species extinctions worldwide, few have tested how these changes may impact small-ranged species. Here, we use simple Euclidean distance methods to evaluate how changes in climatic conditions predicted for 2050 and 2070 may impact ten small-ranged amphibians of Northern Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Specifically, we focused on changes in temperature and precipitation regimes during the breeding season of all target species. Our results indicate that future climatic conditions will be less favorable for the evaluated species. Environmental conditions similar to the ones currently experienced by the species may shift to southwestern regions. Likewise, we expect favorable climatic conditions to move in altitude, but without a common trend among species. In spite of these impacts, the most favorable climatic conditions for each species will keep the same connectivity patterns as observed in the present. Taken together, these findings suggest that small-ranged amphibians of the Northern Atlantic Forest will be negatively affected by climate change, mainly by the reduction and shifts of suitable climatic conditions. Finally, our results also indicate that actions to decrease greenhouse gas emissions would reduce the impact on these small-ranged species.

Current and future effectiveness of protected areas for the conservation of endemic owls from the Atlantic Forest

“…These results agree with previous studies for various groups of vertebrates in the Atlantic Forest, e.g. amphibians (Lemes et al 2014, Vilela et al 2018, reptiles (Lourenc ßo-de-Moraes et al 2019), birds (Loiselle et al 2010, De Souza et al 2011, Vale et al 2018a) and mammals (Bogoni & Tagliari 2021). This pattern could be associated with the predisposition of this biome to be affected negatively by climate change (Scarano & Ceotto 2015).…”

Predicting impacts of global climatic change on genetic and phylogeographical diversity of a Neotropical treefrog

“…ENMs showed a decrease in suitability in the Central‐West and Southeast Brazil and both shift and expansion of suitable areas towards the South Brazil, and Central and West Argentina. It has been widely reported that South American herpetological species, both broadly or restricted distributed, will face retraction and/or shifts in geographical distribution as a consequence of climatic change (Medina et al., 2020; Mesquita et al., 2013; Vasconcelos & Nascimento, 2016; Vasconcelos et al., 2018; Vilela et al., 2018; Zank et al., 2014). For example, Scinax fuscomarginatus , widely distributed from the northern border of the Amazon basin to Northwest Argentina, and Scinax fuscovarius and Dendropsophus minutus , distributed across the Central Brazil and Central Argentina (Frost, 2021), show a reduction of 31%, 43% and 52%, respectively, of suitable areas by 2050 (Vasconcelos & Nascimento, 2016) suggesting that a reduction in suitable areas in the future is a common outcome for amphibians in response to climate change, most likely due to their sensitivity to environmental conditions (Lopez‐Alcaide & Macip‐Ríos, 2011; Schivo et al., 2019; Velasco et al., 2021; Vilela et al., 2018; Zank et al., 2014).…”

Morphological characterization and taxonomic key of tadpoles (Amphibia: Anura) from the northern region of the Atlantic Forest

“…Nonetheless, 77 anuran species (12% of the known richness of the Atlantic Forest) of 34 genera and 15 families (Aromobatidae, Bufonidae, Centrolenidae, Ceratophryidae, Craugastoridae, Eleutherodactylidae, Hemiphractidae, Hylidae, Hylodidae, Leptodactylidae, Microhylidae, Odontophrynidae, Phyllomedusidae, Pipidae, and Ranidae) occur in this biogeographical region and its transitional areas (for species list and reference see Supplementary Material 1). Seven of these species are endangered (Allobates olfersioides, Adelophryne baturitensis, Chiasmocleis alagoana, Crossodactylus dantei, Hylomantis granulosa, Phyllodytes gyrinaethes, and Physalaemus caete), while 14 species are endemic (ICMBio 2018, Vilela et al 2018, IUCN 2020.…”