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Linking global warming to amphibian declines through its effects on female body condition and survivorship

  • Global Change and Conservation Ecology
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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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Acknowledgments

I wish to thank an anonymous referee for detailed and constructive suggestions regarding the CMR analysis using MARK, and P. Rothery for assistance with the statistical analysis. I also wish to thank K. Moore who recorded the daily meteorological data for the Swanage area and the staff of the Swanage Tourist Information Centre for allowing me access to the weather data. The permanent marking of toads was licensed under the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Winfrith Technology Centre, Winfrith Newburgh, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2 8ZD, UK

    C. J. Reading

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  1. C. J. Reading
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Correspondence to C. J. Reading.

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Communicated by Anssi Laurila.

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Reading, C.J. Linking global warming to amphibian declines through its effects on female body condition and survivorship. Oecologia 151, 125–131 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0558-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0558-1

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