Climate Change Could Reduce the Geographic Distribution of the Natterjack Toad in Semi-Arid Regions: A 34-Year Study in Central Spain
El cambio climático podría reducir la distribución geográfica del sapo corredor en regiones semiáridas: un estudio de 34 años en el centro de España
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/etfvi.17.2024.41661Keywords:
Biogeography; climatic variables; Community of Madrid; conservation; Epidalea calamita; phenology; reproductive success; temporal series; temporary ponds; weather conditionsAbstract
Amphibians are globally threatened due to pollution, infection diseases, invasive species, habitat loss and climate change. Rising temperatures and shifts in precipitation regimes can have a major impact on the persistence of amphibian populations, especially in semi-arid regions. In this study, we used a long term time series spanning 34 years in central Spain to evaluate the effect of three climatic variables on the reproductive success of the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) in temporary ponds.
Our results showed that reproductive success was only possible for seven years (20.6%). We found that reproductive success is positively related to the accumulated spring precipitation, while negatively related to mean spring temperature and spring evaporation. This study highlights the importance of conserving and restoring amphibian breeding habitats in order to minimize the potential impacts of climate change and habitat loss.
Downloads
References
Aragón, P., Rodríguez, M. A., Olalla-Tárraga, M. A., & Lobo, J. M. (2010). Predicted impact of climate change on threatened terrestrial vertebrates in central Spain highlights differences between endotherms and ectotherms. Animal Conservation, 13(4), 363-373. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00343.x
Araújo, M. B., Guilhaumon, F., Rodrigues Neto, D., Pozo Ortego, I., & Gómez Calmaestra, R. (2011). Impactos, vulnerabilidad y adaptación de la biodiversidad española frente al cambio climático. 2. Fauna de vertebrados. Dirección general de medio Natural y Política Forestal. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, y Medio Rural y Marino, Madrid. 640 pp.
Caballero-Díaz, C., Lapeña, H., & Corredor, J. (2024). What concert for today? Description of an urban population of common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) breeding in a fountain next to a bull ring in Almazán, northern Spain. Herpetology Notes, 17, 169-172.
Caballero-Díaz, C., Sánchez-Montes, G., Butler, H., Vredenburg, V., & Martinez-Solano, I. (2020). The role of artificial breeding sites in amphibian conservation: A case study in rural areas in central Spain. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 15, 87-104.
Caballero-Díaz, C., Sánchez-Montes, G., Gómez, I., Díaz-Zúñiga, A., & Martínez-Solano, Í. (2022). Artificialwater bodies as amphibian breeding sites: The case of the common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans) in central Spain. Amphibia-Reptilia, 43(4), 395-406. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-bja10115
Cano-Barbacil, C., Caballero-Díaz, C., & Cano, J. (2021). El paraje de las canteras de yeso de Valdemoro se encuentra en un estado lamentable. La revista de Valdemoro, 63, 54-59.
Cano-Barbacil, C., & Cano, J. (2014). La lluvia, la charca y el sapo corredor, una relación de supervivencia en ambientes semiáridos. En Calendario Meteorológico 2015. Información meteorológica y climatológica de España (pp. 262-269). Agencia Estatal de Meteorología. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Madrid.
Cano-Barbacil, C., & Cano, J. (2015). Ayudemos al sapo corredor allí donde el agua escasea. Quercus, 352, 12-13.
Cano-Barbacil, C., Radinger, J., & García-Berthou, E. (2024). Interacting effects of latitudinal and elevational gradients on the distribution of Iberian inland fish. Limnetica, 43(2). https://doi.org/10.23818/limn.43.18
Chazarra Bernabé, A., Lorenzo Mariño, B., Romero Fresneda, R., & Moreno García, J. V. M. G. (2023). Observed changes of Köppen climate zones in Spain since 1951. Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie VI, Geografía, 16, 133-144. https://doi.org/10.5944/etfvi.16.2023.38777
Deflandre, A. (2021). Industrial sites as opportunities for the conservation of endangered amphibians: Translocation of natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) in active quarries. Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech.
GBIF.org. (2024, abril 4). GBIF Occurrence Download. https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.2fudku
Gómez-Mestre, I. (2014). Sapo corredor – Epidalea calamita. En A. Salvador & I. Martínez-Solano (Eds.), Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid. http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/.
Gómez-Ramírez, F., Pérez, M. Á., Caballero-Díaz, C., Sánchez-Montes, G., & Martinez-Solano, I. (2023). The importance of naturalized quarries as amphibian breeding sites: A case study in central Spain. Basic and Applied Herpetology, 37, 29-44. https://doi.org/10.11160/bah.248
Griffiths, R. A. (1997). Temporary ponds as amphibian habitats. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 7(2), 119-126. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0755(199706)7:2<119::AID-AQC223>3.0.CO;2-4
Hernández-Manrique, O. L., Sanchez-Fernandez, D., Numa, C., Galante, E., Verdú, J. R., & Lobo, J. M. (2013). Extinction trends of threatened invertebrates in peninsular Spain. Journal of Insect Conservation, 17(2), 235-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-012-9502-3
IUCN. (2024). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org
Li, Y., Cohen, J. M., & Rohr, J. R. (2013). Review and synthesis of the effects of climate change on amphibians. Integrative Zoology, 8(2), 145-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12001
Luedtke, J. A., Chanson, J., Neam, K., Hobin, L., Maciel, A. O., Catenazzi, A., Borzée, A., Hamidy, A., Aowphol, A., Jean, A., Sosa-Bartuano, Á., Fong G., A., de Silva, A., Fouquet, A., Angulo, A., Kidov, A. A., Muñoz Saravia, A., Diesmos, A. C., Tominaga, A., … Stuart, S. N. (2023). Ongoing declines for the world’s amphibians in the face of emerging threats. Nature, 622(7982), 308-314. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06578-4
McGrath, A. L., & Lorenzen, K. (2010). Management history and climate as key factors driving natterjack toad population trends in Britain. Animal Conservation, 13(5), 483-494. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00367.x
Miranda, J. D., Armas, C., Padilla, F. M., & Pugnaire, F. I. (2011). Climatic change and rainfall patterns: Effects on semi-arid plant communities of the Iberian Southeast. Journal of Arid Environments, 75(12), 1302-1309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.04.022
Muñoz, A., Felicísimo, Á. M., & Santos, X. (2019). Assessing the resistance of a breeding amphibian community to a large wildfire. Acta Oecologica, 99, 103439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2019.06.002
Nunes, A. L., Fill, J. M., Davies, S. J., Louw, M., Rebelo, A. D., Thorp, C. J., Vimercati, G., & Measey, J. (2019). A global meta-analysis of the ecological impacts of alien species on native amphibians. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1897), 20182528. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2528
Parra, G., Guerrero, F., Armengol, J., Brendonck, L., Brucet, S., Finlayson, C. M., Gomes-Barbosa, L., Grillas, P., Jeppesen, E., Ortega, F., Vega, R., & Zohary, T. (2021). The future of temporary wetlands in drylands under global change. Inland Waters, 11(4), 445-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2021.1936865
Piper, W. H., Glines, M. R., & Rose, K. C. (2024). Climate change-associated declines in water clarity impair feeding by common loons. Ecology, e4291. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4291
Pontifes, P. A., García-Meneses, P. M., Gómez-Aíza, L., Monterroso-Rivas, A. I., & Chávez, M. C. (2018). Land use/land cover change and extreme climatic events in the arid and semi-arid ecoregions of Mexico. Atmósfera, 31(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.20937/ATM.2018.31.04.04
Pounds, J. A., Fogden, M. P. L., & Campbell, J. H. (1999). Biological response to climate change on a tropical mountain. Nature, 398(6728), 611-615. https://doi.org/10.1038/19297
Reques, R., & Tejedo, M. (2002). Bufo calamita (Laurenti, 1768). Sapo corredor. En J. M. Pleguezuelos, R. Márquez, & M. Lizana (Eds.), Atlas y Libro Rojo de los Anfibios y Reptiles de España. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza-Asociación Herpetológica Española.
Saare, L., & Rannap, R. (2021). Breeding behaviour of ectotherms at high latitudes: The case of the natterjack toad Epidalea calamita at its northern range limit. Behaviour, 159(5), 443-462. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10134
Sinsch, U. (1992). Structure and dynamic of a natterjack toad metapopulation (Bufo calamita). Oecologia, 90(4), 489-499. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01875442
Sinsch, U., & Schäfer, A. M. (2016). Density regulation in toad populations (Epidalea calamita, Bufotes viridis) by differential winter survival of juveniles. Journal of Thermal Biology, 55, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2015.11.007
Smith, P. H., & Skelcher, G. (2019). Effects of environmental factors and conservation measures on a sand-dune population of the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) in north-west England: A 31-year study. Herpetological Journal, 29(3), 146-154.
Stuart, S. N., Chanson, J. S., Cox, N. A., Young, B. E., Rodrigues, A. S. L., Fischman, D. L., & Waller, R. W. (2004). Status and Trends of Amphibian Declines and Extinctions Worldwide. Science, 306(5702), 1783-1786. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103538
Verdiell-Cubedo, D. (2012). Las charcas ganaderas en la región de Murcia: Hábitats acuáticos relevantes para la conservación de la biodiversidad regional. Eubacteria, 29, 1-4.
Winter, M., Fiedler, W., Hochachka, W. M., Koehncke, A., Meiri, S., & De la Riva, I. (2016). Patterns and biases in climate change research on amphibians and reptiles: A systematic review. Royal Society Open Science, 3(9), 160158. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160158
Zacharias, I., & Zamparas, M. (2010). Mediterranean temporary ponds. A disappearing ecosystem. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(14), 3827-3834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9933-7
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
