Physiological capacities and resilience facing climate change: exploring the functional dimension in ectothermic vertebrates

• Grant number: 21/10910-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Kênia Cardoso Bícego
• Grantee: Kênia Cardoso Bícego
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Denis Otavio Vieira de Andrade
• Associated researchers: Adrian Antonio Garda ; Charles Loren Buck ; Johannes Lerchner ; Jean-François Le Galliard ; Lucas Aparecido Zena ; Marcos Túlio de Oliveira ; Marina Rincon Sartori ; Rafael Parelli Bovo ; Rodrigo Samuel Bueno Gavira ; Sidney Feitosa Gouveia ; Tiago Santana Balbuena
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/17108-3 - Influence of the habitat in the physiology of Tropidurus lizards: interaction among thermoregulation, osmoregulation, behavior and fitness, BP.DR; 24/09640-7 - Effect of dehydration on water balance and behavior of Anuran Amphibians: A study on the genus Rhinella (Family: Bufonidae), BP.DR; 24/03250-2 - MECHANISTIC ASSESSMENT OF HABITAT SUITABILITY OF NEOTROPICAL TREEFROGS INHABITING THE BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC RAINFOREST, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 23/13965-6 - Functional trade-offs between thermoregulation and water balance in a South American Lizard, BP.PD; 23/14224-0 - Technical training in physiological capacities and tolerances of amphibians and reptiles in the face of climate change, BP.TT; 23/00178-6 - Physiological capacities and tolerances as determinants of habitat occupation and susceptibility to climatic change in anuran amphibians, BP.PD; 23/00852-9 - Physiological and behavioral variations in the face of seasonal climatic oscillations, BP.PD; 22/13834-6 - Influence of hydration status on the metabolic and behavioral changes related of hibernation in the tegu lizard Salvator merianae, BP.MS; 23/01307-4 - Physiological capacities and resilience facing climate change: exploring the functional dimension in ectothermic vertebrates, BP.TT; 22/13835-2 - Seasonal variation of thermogenic mechanisms in the Tegu lizard Salvator merianae, BP.DD - associated scholarships

Abstract

Temperature and availability of water and food profoundly affect the physiology, behavior and ecology of animals, especially ectotherms. Climate variability exposes them to considerable changes in the thermal, water and food configuration of the environment at both geographic and temporal scales. Thus, the successful occupation and maintenance of viable populations in different habitats over time are inextricably linked to the functional dimension of organisms, with special emphasis on water balance, energy demands and thermal physiology. In scenarios where environmental variations exceed tolerance and/or capacity for physiological adjustments, this can lead to deleterious consequences for fitness, with extirpation of local populations and, eventually, species extinction. In contrast, such climate changes may favor the expansion of those species with greater phenotypic plasticity, which may bring potential ecological risks in previously unoccupied areas where they act as invasive populations. Even though this scenario has given rise to a large number of correlative studies primarily focused on changing environmental variables delimited by areas of occurrence, attempts, especially in Brazil, to incorporate functional components into these assessments are rare. This approach is fundamental and urgent, as different species, with different physiological attributes, will present different vulnerabilities and tolerances to the same degree of environmental disturbance. Thus, this project aims to address the functional dimension of ectothermic vertebrates, especially amphibians and reptiles, investigating physiological capacities and tolerances related to different water and thermal balances and energy demands and how such attributes are related to the occupation of habitats and their variations both spatial and temporal (seasonal) in the present and even projected in future scenarios of anthropogenic climate change. (AU)

Scientific publications

(9)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GUADALUPE-SILVA, ANE; ZENA, LUCAS A.; HERVAS, LIVIA SACCANI; RIOS, VITOR PASSOS; GARGAGLIONI, LUCIANE H.; BUCK, C. LOREN; BICEGO, KENIA C.. Classification of sex-dependent specific behaviours by tri-axial acceleration in the tegu lizard Salvator merianae. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, v. 298, p. 10-pg., 2024-09-23. (21/10910-0, 17/01652-2, 20/07520-3, 20/10961-1)

MAENAKA, BEATRIZ M.; SENZANO, LUIS M.; ANDRADE, DENIS V.. Seasonal Variation in Thermal Biology and Water Balance in a Year-Round Active Neotropical Treefrog, Scinax fuscovarius. Herpetologica, v. 79, n. 4, p. 11-pg., 2023-12-01. (07/05080-1, 10/05473-6, 21/10910-0)

CABANZO-OLARTE, LAURA CAMILA; BICEGO, KENIA CARDOSO; IANNINI, CARLOS ARTURO NAVAS. Behavioral responses during sickness in amphibians and reptiles: Concepts, experimental design, and implications for field studies. Journal of Thermal Biology, v. 123, p. 12-pg., 2024-06-18. (14/16320-7, 21/10910-0)

NALI, RENATO C.; BORGES, MARILIA M.; LEANDRO, GABRIELA DA S.; ZENA, LUCAS A.; BICEGO, KENIA C.; PRADO, CYNTHIA P. A.. Herpetological Out in the wind: wiping behaviour in the leaf-frog Pithecopus ayeaye, and first evidence of bladder-filling behaviour in the genus. HERPETOLOGICAL JOURNAL, v. 35, n. 2, p. 5-pg., 2025-04-01. (09/12013-4, 10/03656-6, 21/10639-5, 21/10910-0)

MENDONCA, JULIANA DOS SANTOS; VIEIRA, LUCELIA GONCALVES; HIRANO, LIRIA QUEIROZ LUZ; QUALHATO, GABRIEL; DE ALMEIDA, JULIO CESAR NEVES; SANTOS, ANDRE LUIZ QUAGLIATTO; FERNANDES, EVANDRO DE ABREU; MALAFAIA, GUILHERME; ANDRADE, DENIS VIEIRA. Eggshell composition of Amazon turtle (Podocnemis expansa) is altered after incubation in substrates containing glyphosate and fipronil formulations. Science of The Total Environment, v. 893, p. 7-pg., 2023-10-01. (21/10910-0, 13/04190-9, 18/05839-2)

MENDONCA, JULIANA DOS SANTOS; DE ALMEIDA, JULIO CESAR NEVES; VIEIRA, LUCELIA GONCALVES; HIRANO, LIRIA QUEIROZ LUZ; SANTOS, ANDRE LUIZ QUAGLIATTO; ANDRADE, DENIS VIEIRA; MALAFAIA, GUILHERME; DE OLIVEIRA JR, ROBSON JOSE; BELETTI, MARCELO EMILIO. Mutagenicity, hepatotoxicity, and neurotoxicity of glyphosate and fipronil commercial formulations in Amazon turtles neonates (Podocnemis expansa). Science of The Total Environment, v. 898, p. 12-pg., 2023-11-10. (21/10910-0, 13/04190-9, 18/05839-2)

DE LIMA, MAYARA CRISTINA MORAES; CAMPOS, DEREK FELIPE; KOCHHANN, DAIANI; VAL, ADALBERTO LUIS. Effects of oxygen level on thermal tolerance in Amazonian catfishes with bimodal respiration: physiological and behavioural changes. Journal of Experimental Biology, v. 228, n. 3, p. 12-pg., 2025-02-01. (21/10910-0)

LERCHNER, JOHANNES; HERVAS, LIVIA S.; BICEGO, KENIA C.; GARCIA, GEOVANA S.; OLIVEIRA, MARCOS T.; HASIC, MERSIHA; KLINGENSPOR, MARTIN; MERTENS, FLORIAN. A device for rapid calorimetric measurements on small biological tissue samples. JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY, v. 149, n. 15, p. 12-pg., 2024-05-18. (21/06711-2, 21/10910-0)

HERVAS, LIVIA SACCANI; DO AMARAL-SILVA, LARA; SARTORI, MARINA RINCON; GUADALUPE-SILVA, ANE; GARGAGLIONI, LUCIANE H.; LERCHNER, JOHANNES; OLIVEIRA, MARCOS TULIO; BICEGO, KENIA CARDOSO. Mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle contributes to reproductive endothermy in tegu lizards (Salvator merianae). ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, v. 240, n. 7, p. 14-pg., 2024-05-13. (21/10910-0, 21/06711-2, 20/07520-3, 20/10961-1)