Niche divergence of evolutionarily significant units with implications for repopulation programs of the world's largest amphibians

Zhao, Tian; Zhang, Wenyan; Zhou, Junlan; Zhao, Chunlin; Liu, Xiaoke; Liu, Zhidong; Shu, Guocheng; Wang, Sishuo; Li, Cheng; Xie, Feng; Chen, Youhua; Jiang, Jianping

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140269

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Currently, the existence and distribution of wild A. davidianus in the future has become a topic that is in great need of research and discernment. The ecological niche model raised by Zhao, et al [ 34 ] suggested that climate change can potentially affect the distribution of these animals. To have a more reliable and refined prediction of the fate of the wild populations, physiological models considering their thermal limits and plasticity should be considered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This species was once widely distributed in central and southern China [ 31 , 32 ]. In the past 60 years, the wild populations of A. davidianus have declined dramatically due to habitat degradation, pollution, and overexploitation [ 33 , 34 ]. Recently, this species was evaluated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list [ 33 ] and Chinese specialists [ 35 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its evolutionary and ecological significance makes it a flagship species for biodiversity conservation in China. In particular, the effect of climate change (e.g., rise of temperature) has been considered a severe challenge to its survival in the wild [ 34 , 36 ]. In addition to the climatic factors, empirical evidence from farmers and our laboratory indicate that the diet types (e.g., fish, red worm, and pork liver in the farming industry) and temperature can jointly affect the growth rate, a primary fitness index, of the A. davidianus larvae.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperature and Diet Acclimation Modify the Acute Thermal Performance of the Largest Extant Amphibian

Zhao

Feng

et al. 2022

Animals

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The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus), one of the largest extant amphibian species, has dramatically declined in the wild. As an ectotherm, it may be further threatened by climate change. Therefore, understanding the thermal physiology of this species should be the priority to formulate related conservation strategies. In this study, the plasticity in metabolic rate and thermal tolerance limits of A. davidianus larvae were studied. Specifically, the larvae were acclimated to three temperature levels (7 °C, cold stress; 15 °C, optimum; and 25 °C, heat stress) and two diet items (red worm or fish fray) for 20 days. Our results indicated that cold-acclimated larvae showed increased metabolic capacity, while warm-acclimated larvae showed a decrease in metabolic capacity. These results suggested the existence of thermal compensation. Moreover, the thermal tolerance windows of cold-acclimated and warm-acclimated larvae shifted to cooler and hotter ranges, respectively. Metabolic capacity is not affected by diet but fish-fed larvae showed superiority in both cold and heat tolerance, potentially due to the input of greater nutrient loads. Overall, our results suggested a plastic thermal tolerance of A. davidianus in response to temperature and diet variations. These results are meaningful in guiding the conservation of this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperature and Diet Acclimation Modify the Acute Thermal Performance of the Largest Extant Amphibian

Zhao

Feng

et al. 2022

Animals

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“…However, due to the dramatic decline of the wild populations (over 80%) in the past 60 years (Wang et al, 2017 ; Turvey et al, 2019 ), the distribution of Andrias species was concentrated in 12 patches in China currently (IUCN, 2016 ). These declines are largely due to habitat degradation, water pollution, and in particular, overexploitation (Liang et al, 2004 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ). Consequently, Andrias species were evaluated as critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN, 2016 ), and also in China (Jiang et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Habitat River Microbiome on the Symbiotic Microbiota and Multi-Organ Gene Expression of Captive-Bred Chinese Giant Salamander

et al. 2022

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The reintroduction of captive-bred individuals is a primary approach to rebuild the wild populations of the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus), the largest extant amphibian species. However, the complexity of the wild habitat (e.g., diverse microorganisms and potential pathogens) potentially threatens the survival of reintroduced individuals. In this study, fresh (i.e., containing environmental microbiota) or sterilized river sediments (120°C sterilized treatment) were added to the artificial habitats to treat the larvae of the Chinese giant salamander (control group—Cnt: 20 individuals, treatment group 1 with fresh river sediments—T1: 20 individuals, and treatment group 2 with sterilized river sediments—T2: 20 individuals). The main objective of this study was to test whether this procedure could provoke their wild adaptability from the perspective of commensal microbiotas (skin, oral cavity, stomach, and gut) and larvae transcriptomes (skin, spleen, liver, and brain). Our results indicated that the presence of habitat sediments (whether fresh or sterilized) reshaped the oral bacterial community composition. Specifically, Firmicutes decreased dramatically from ~70% to ~20–25% (mainly contributed by Lactobacillaceae), while Proteobacteria increased from ~6% to ~31–36% (mainly contributed by Gammaproteobacteria). Consequently, the proportion of antifungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) increased, and the function of oral microbiota likely shifted from growth-promoting to pathogen defense. Interestingly, the skin microbiota, rather than the colonization of habitat microbiota, was the major source of the pre-treated oral microbiota. From the host perspective, the transcriptomes of all four organs were changed for treated individuals. Specifically, the proteolysis and apoptosis in the skin were promoted, and the transcription of immune genes was activated in the skin, spleen, and liver. Importantly, more robust immune activation was detected in individuals treated with sterilized sediments. These results suggested that the pathogen defense of captive-bred individuals was improved after being treated, which may benefit their survival in the wild. Taken together, our results suggested that the pre-exposure of captive-bred Chinese giant salamander individuals to habitat sediments could be considered and added into the reintroduction processes to help them better adapt to wild conditions.

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“…Moreover, the fluctuation of precipitation can strongly disturb amphibians habitat quality, tadpoles metamorphosis, as well as adults population dynamics (Lowe, 2012). In addition, recent works have demonstrated that amphibians distribution patterns can be also altered by climate change (e.g., Odorrana hainanensis; Huang et al, 2017, Andrias davidianus;Zhao et al, 2020). However, these studies only focused on single species, integrative work is still needed to evaluate the vulnerability of a group of amphibian species to climate change at both regional and global scales (but see Li et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Amphibians Vulnerability to Climate Change in China

et al. 2022

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Global climate change is considered to be one of the main threats to organisms. As poikilothermic animals, amphibians are in particular sensitive because they cannot adapt to the dramatic climate change through active physiological regulation. Using 104 representative species, the present study conducted an assessment of amphibians vulnerability to climate change in China through the combination of two approaches. Specifically, 18 vulnerability criteria belonging to five categories (i.e., thermal tolerance, individual reproductive, population diffusion and diversity, food and habitat, and climate conditions) were first selected and scored based on literatures and experts opinions. Species were then ranked into three levels of climate change vulnerability (i.e., high, moderate, and low) by calculating vulnerability scores and conducting natural breaks analyses, as well as performing a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and k-means cluster analyses, respectively. To integrate the two results, a matrix with the ranks from each result was developed to produce a final integrated list. Our results indicated that the 104 amphibian species were classified into three types by natural breaks, with 54 low vulnerable species, 41 moderately vulnerable species, and nine highly vulnerable species. Based on the results of PCoA and k-means cluster analyses, five species were highly vulnerable, 38 species were moderately vulnerable, and 61 species were low vulnerable. The combination of the two ranks suggested that 36 species such as Hyla tsinlingensis and Liangshantriton taliangensis were of low vulnerability, 54 species such as Echinotriton chinhaiensis and Hynobius chinensis were of moderate vulnerability, and 14 species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis and Zhangixalus prasinatus were of high vulnerability. Overall, our results indicated that climate change could have strong potential effects on amphibians in China. And the highly vulnerable species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis, Zhangixalus prasinatus, and Theloderma corticale should be the priority in future conservation activities.

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Niche divergence of evolutionarily significant units with implications for repopulation programs of the world's largest amphibians

Cited by 15 publications

References 82 publications

Temperature and Diet Acclimation Modify the Acute Thermal Performance of the Largest Extant Amphibian

Temperature and Diet Acclimation Modify the Acute Thermal Performance of the Largest Extant Amphibian

Effects of Habitat River Microbiome on the Symbiotic Microbiota and Multi-Organ Gene Expression of Captive-Bred Chinese Giant Salamander

Assessment of Amphibians Vulnerability to Climate Change in China

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