Multi‐scale relationships in thermal limits within and between two cold‐water frog species uncover different trends in physiological vulnerability

Cicchino, Amanda S.; Shah, Alisha A.; Forester, Brenna R.; Dunham, Jason B.; Ghalambor, Cameron K.; Funk, W. Chris

doi:10.1111/fwb.14102

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…See [41] for full details of CTmax experiments. Briefly, we sampled 10-24 tadpoles (developmental stages 26.5 to 44 [46]; electronic supplementary material, table S1) from each of seven populations of A. montanus in Montana.…”

Section: (A) Dynamic Ctmax Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the distance between these streams (7-224 km, electronic supplementary material, figure S1) and limited vagility of the species [47], we refer to these sampled sites (n = 7) as populations. We held tadpoles for 3 days at 8°C, a commonly experienced temperature among populations [41], without food to reduce the effects of natal stream temperature and feeding. For CTmax experiments, tadpoles were moved to an experimental tank and held in individual mesh containers.…”

Section: (A) Dynamic Ctmax Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tadpoles from each population were evenly and randomly assigned to one of five holding temperature treatments: 5°C, 10°C, 15°C, 20°C, 25°C (electronic supplementary material, table S1). Temperatures were decided based on thermal regime data [41]: 5°C and 10°C are commonly experienced temperatures; 15°C and 20°C treatments are near maximum stream temperatures; 25°C is greater than current maximum stream temperatures but is ecologically relevant given current rates of warming [49]. Tadpoles were held in the temperature treatments for 3 days and fed ad libitum by placing rocks collected from their stream in the holding tanks, from which they graze algae.…”

Section: (B) Static Thermal Stress Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A. montanus inhabits cold streams in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains and extreme southern Rocky Mountains of Canada. This species is already facing population declines that are partly due warming stream temperatures [38], and low CTmax relative to other amphibians [39][40][41] suggests continued risk from warming. Previous research found population variation in CTmax [41], providing an ideal opportunity to investigate if natural population variation in CTmax estimated via the dynamic method and mortality at different ecologically relevant constant temperatures (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We expected these two approaches to be related, such that populations with higher CTmax experienced less mortality. We also tested the strength of CTmax as a predictor of mortality from thermal stress by comparing its performance against local thermal conditions, which are commonly related to physiological traits [15,[42][43][44], including in this system [41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking critical thermal maximum to mortality from thermal stress in a cold-water frog

2023

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Estimates of organismal thermal tolerance are frequently used to assess physiological risk from warming, yet the assumption that these estimates are predictive of mortality has been called into question. We tested this assumption in the cold-water-specialist frog, Ascaphus montanus . For seven populations, we used dynamic experimental assays to measure tadpole critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and measured mortality from chronic thermal stress for 3 days at different temperatures. We tested the relationship between previously estimated population CTmax and observed mortality, as well as the strength of CTmax as a predictor of mortality compared to local stream temperatures capturing varying timescales. Populations with higher CTmax experienced significantly less mortality in the warmest temperature treatment (25°C). We also found that population CTmax outperformed stream temperature metrics as the top predictor of observed mortality. These results demonstrate a clear link between CTmax and mortality from thermal stress, contributing evidence that CTmax is a relevant metric for physiological vulnerability assessments.

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Section: (A) Dynamic Ctmax Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (A) Dynamic Ctmax Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (B) Static Thermal Stress Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking critical thermal maximum to mortality from thermal stress in a cold-water frog

2023

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Acclimation capacity of critical thermal maximum varies among populations: Consequences for estimates of vulnerability

Cicchino,

Shah,

Forester

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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Adaptive plasticity in thermal tolerance traits may buffer organisms against changing temperatures, making such responses of particular interest in the face of global climate change. Although population variation is integral to the evolvability of this trait, many studies inferring proxies of physiological vulnerability from thermal tolerance traits extrapolate data from one or a few populations to represent the species. Estimates of physiological vulnerability can be further complicated by methodological effects associated with experimental design. We evaluated how populations varied in their acclimation capacity (i.e., the magnitude of plasticity) for critical thermal maximum (CTmax) in two species of tailed frogs (Ascaphidae), cold‐stream specialists. We used the estimates of acclimation capacity to infer physiological vulnerability to future warming. We performed CTmax experiments on tadpoles from 14 populations using a fully factorial experimental design of two holding temperatures (8 and 15°C) and two experimental starting temperatures (8 and 15°C). This design allowed us to investigate the acute effects of transferring organisms from one holding temperature to a different experimental starting temperature, as well as fully acclimated responses by using the same holding and starting temperature. We found that most populations exhibited beneficial acclimation, where CTmax was higher in tadpoles held at a warmer temperature, but populations varied markedly in the magnitude of the response and the inferred physiological vulnerability to future warming. We also found that the response of transferring organisms to different starting temperatures varied substantially among populations, although accounting for acute effects did not greatly alter estimates of physiological vulnerability at the species level or for most populations. These results underscore the importance of sampling widely among populations when inferring physiological vulnerability, as population variation in acclimation capacity and thermal sensitivity may be critical when assessing vulnerability to future warming.

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Drivers of Intraspecific Variation in Thermal Traits and Their Importance for Resilience to Global Change in Amphibians

Cocciardi,

Ohmer

2024

Integrative and Comparative Biology

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Intraspecific variation can be as great as variation across species, but the role of intraspecific variation in driving local and large-scale patterns is often overlooked, particularly in the field of thermal biology. In amphibians, which depend on environmental conditions and behavior to regulate body temperature, recognizing intraspecific thermal trait variation is essential to comprehensively understanding how global change impacts populations. Here, we examine the drivers of micro- and macrogeographical intraspecific thermal trait variation in amphibians. At the local scale, intraspecific variation can arise via changes in ontogeny, body size, and between the sexes; and developmental plasticity, acclimation, and maternal effects may modulate predictions of amphibian performance under future climate scenarios. At the macrogeographic scale, local adaptation in thermal traits may occur along latitudinal and elevational gradients, with seasonality and range-edge dynamics likely playing important roles in patterns that may impact future persistence. We also discuss the importance of considering disease as a factor affecting intraspecific variation in thermal traits and population resilience to climate change, given the impact of pathogens on thermal preferences and critical thermal limits of hosts. Finally, we make recommendations for future work in this area. Ultimately, our goal is to demonstrate why it is important for researchers to consider intraspecific variation to determine the resilience of amphibians to global change.

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Multi‐scale relationships in thermal limits within and between two cold‐water frog species uncover different trends in physiological vulnerability

Cited by 8 publications

References 121 publications

Linking critical thermal maximum to mortality from thermal stress in a cold-water frog

Linking critical thermal maximum to mortality from thermal stress in a cold-water frog

Acclimation capacity of critical thermal maximum varies among populations: Consequences for estimates of vulnerability

Drivers of Intraspecific Variation in Thermal Traits and Their Importance for Resilience to Global Change in Amphibians

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