PhD Defense Daniel Grundmann
Daniel just defended his PhD thesis sucessfully!
Impacts of thermohydric stress on locomotor performance and future distribution in Rhinella hoogmoedi Caramaschi and Pombal, 2006 from southern Bahia
Abstract
Climate change stands as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. As global warming continues to escalate, its impacts on climate dynamics reverberate across all levels of life, from individuals to entire ecosystems. Investigating and understanding how living organisms respond to elements of climate dynamics, such as temperature and water availability, can contribute valuable insights in the face of today’s climate emergency. In amphibians, due to their ectothermic condition and higher dependency on environmental water, thermal and hydric stress act synergistically, affecting both physiological aspects, such as locomotor capacity, and how these animals are able to occupy their environment. This study investigated the impacts of thermo-hydric stress on the locomotor performance and potential future distribution of Rhinella hoogmoedi, a small-bodied anuran endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Individuals were subjected to locomotor performance experiments under different temperatures and hydration levels. Experimental data, combined with macroclimatic variables, were used to build ecological niche models. The individuals appeared to show low tolerance to high levels of dehydration. However, before reaching a critical threshold, dehydrated individuals did not exhibit significant differences in most of the investigated variables compared to fully hydrated individuals. Nonetheless, when physiological data were integrated with macroclimatic data, the results indicated a potential loss in climatic suitability across the species’ distribution. When interpreted in light of the species’ biology and ecological context, these findings highlight the risks faced by R. hoogmoedi under a future of increasingly climatic instability.
