Variation in Salinity Tolerance among Larval Anurans: Implications for Community Composition and the Spread of an Invasive, Non-native Species

Brown, Mary E.; Walls, Susan C.

doi:10.1643/ch-12-159

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It is also possible that salinity intolerance of freshwater invertebrate predators could lead amphibians to adapt to saline habitats to escape predation pressure (Moreira et al 2015; although this must be balanced by potentially increased pressure from marine predators; Pyke et al 2013). Differential susceptibility to salt can also affect amphibian species diversity and community composition in saline habitats (Karraker et al 2008;Collins and Russell 2009;Karraker et al 2010;Brown and Walls 2013;Gallagher et al 2014;Moreira et al 2015). Thus, an escape from competitors or predators, or novel prey opportunities (in short, changes in community composition and structure), may be driving forces in the evolution of salt tolerance in amphibians.…”

Section: Origins Of Salt Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amphibians in coastal areas increasingly have to deal with storm surges and inundations of habitats with seawater during extreme weather events (e.g., tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.) as they increase in frequency with climate change (Thirion 2002;Gunzburger et al 2010;Brown and Walls 2013). Thus, amphibians in these habitats have been forced to evolve tolerance in response to these intermittent salinity events (Gunzburger et al 2010;Brown and Walls 2013;Moreira et al 2015).…”

Section: The Nature Of Selection In Osmoticallymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…as they increase in frequency with climate change (Thirion 2002;Gunzburger et al 2010;Brown and Walls 2013). Thus, amphibians in these habitats have been forced to evolve tolerance in response to these intermittent salinity events (Gunzburger et al 2010;Brown and Walls 2013;Moreira et al 2015). The salinity of coastal areas can also be affected by anthropogenic management activities, such as artificially opening and closing estuaries, resulting in the same pattern of disruptive, intermittent salinity inundation (Moreira et al 2015).…”

Section: The Nature Of Selection In Osmoticallymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Occurrence of Amphibians in Saline Habitats: A Review and Evolutionary Perspective

Hopkins

Brodie

2015

Herpetological Monographs

111

145

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Section: Origins Of Salt Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Nature Of Selection In Osmoticallymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Nature Of Selection In Osmoticallymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Occurrence of Amphibians in Saline Habitats: A Review and Evolutionary Perspective

Hopkins

Brodie

2015

Herpetological Monographs

111

145

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“…For example, exposure to sublethal levels of salt stress (i.e., 1 to 5 ppt) during larval development has been shown to decrease growth rates and increase the time to reach metamorphosis (Tejedo and Reques ; Kearney et al. ; Brown and Walls ; Wijethunga et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, exposure to saltwater or other pollutants during larval development typically induce nonadaptive plastic responses (Relyea 2005;Hopkins and Brodie 2015;Schuler and Relyea 2018). For example, exposure to sublethal levels of salt stress (i.e., 1 to 5 ppt) during larval development has been shown to decrease growth rates and increase the time to reach metamorphosis (Tejedo and Reques 1994;Kearney et al 2012;Brown and Walls 2013;Wijethunga et al 2016). Although both adaptive and nonadaptive responses to environmental stress can produce smaller individuals at metamorphosis (Wilbur and Collins 1973), a small size at metamorphosis is generally considered maladaptive because it is often correlated with older age at maturity, reduced fecundity, and reduced ability to escape predators and capture prey (Berven and Gill 1983;Ficetola and De Bernardi 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Local adaptation for enhanced salt tolerance reduces non‐adaptive plasticity caused by osmotic stress

Albecker

McCoy

2019

Evolution

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Organisms often respond to environmental change via phenotypic plasticity, in which an individual modulates its phenotype according to the environment. Highly variable or changing environments can exceed physiological limits and generate maladapted plastic phenotypes, which is termed nonadaptive plasticity. In some cases, selection may reduce the negative or disruptive impacts of environmental stress and produce locally adapted populations. Salt is an increasingly prevalent contaminant of freshwater systems and can induce nonadaptive plastic phenotypes for freshwater organisms like amphibians. Hyla cinerea is a frog species with populations inhabiting brackish, coastal habitats, so we use this species to test whether coastal populations are locally adapted to tolerate saltwater by determining how salt exposure during the embryonic and larval stages alters mortality and plastic developmental and metamorphic phenotypes of coastal and inland populations. Coastal frogs have higher survival, faster growth rates, and metamorphose sooner than inland frogs across salinities. Coastal frogs also metamorphose smaller (likely a consequence of earlier metamorphosis) yet maintain constant size, while higher salinities reduce metamorphic size for inland frogs. Coastal frogs evolved to minimize nonadaptive and disruptive impacts of saltwater during larval development and accelerate the larval period to reduce time spent in a stressful environment.

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Physiological and behavioral responses to novel saline conditions in an invasive treefrog

Messerly,

Mularo,

Longo

et al. 2024

J Exp Zool Pt A

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Salinity can be an environmental stressor for anurans, as their highly permeable skin makes them prone to osmotic stress when exposed to saline conditions. However, certain anuran species have colonized areas near saltwater habitats, suggesting an ability to acclimate to saline conditions. Here, we evaluated physiological and behavioral responses to saline conditions in adult Cuban treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis), an invasive anuran found throughout Florida. To examine their response to salinity, adult frogs were maintained in two treatments simulating a freshwater (0.5 ppt) or brackish (8.0 ppt) environment for 6 weeks. To assess their physiological response to this potential stressor, all frogs were submerged in a brackish solution to quantify individual weight change every 2 weeks. We found that frogs maintained in brackish solution lost more weight at Weeks 2 and 6 when compared to Week 0, suggesting that salinity may be an environmental stressor for Cuban treefrogs. Yet, the weight change at Week 4 was similar to the pre‐exposure period, which may indicate that constant exposure to salinity may alter their physiological response to saline conditions. To supplement the physiological analyses, we investigated avoidance behavior toward saline conditions by offering individuals a choice between freshwater or brackish environments. Our results showed that Cuban treefrogs chose freshwater environments more frequently and may thus avoid saline ones. This study reveals that salinity may induce plastic and avoidance responses in Cuban treefrogs, potentially allowing them to expand their range into areas typically stressful for most anurans.

show abstract

Variation in Salinity Tolerance among Larval Anurans: Implications for Community Composition and the Spread of an Invasive, Non-native Species

Cited by 26 publications

References 33 publications

Occurrence of Amphibians in Saline Habitats: A Review and Evolutionary Perspective

Occurrence of Amphibians in Saline Habitats: A Review and Evolutionary Perspective

Local adaptation for enhanced salt tolerance reduces non‐adaptive plasticity caused by osmotic stress

Physiological and behavioral responses to novel saline conditions in an invasive treefrog

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