Influence of the Atlantic Forest longitudinal climatic gradient in the body size variation of anuran

• Grant number: 12/07356-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Rodrigues da Silva
• Grantee: Andre Zuffo Boaratti
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias para a Sustentabilidade (CCTS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

For many years researchers have been engaged in trying to understand the geographical variation in body size of organisms along environmental gradients. Among these gradients, latitudinal variables are well known for influencing body size distribution compared with longitudinal variables, but longitudinal variables may also exhibit gradients of temperature and humidity that have adaptive importance. However, few studies have tested the influence of longitudinal gradients for ectothermic organisms. Based on the assumptions that: I) an anuran is a group with low dispersal ability and known adaptations to environmental conditions of humidity and rainfall, and II) the outstanding topographic and climatic variation between the Coastal Atlantic Rainforest and Inland Mesophytic Forest, we intend to test three competing hypotheses (Hypothesis Availability of Water, Hypothesis of Heat Balance and Hypothesis of Habitat Availability ) that explain the variation in body size for three anuran species (Hypsiboas Faber, Physalaemus cuvieri and Dendropsophus minutes) in a longitudinal gradient in Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We hope that the geographical variations in anurans' body size in the Atlantic Forest are more correlated with the rainfall gradient than with temperature or habitat since the individuals occurring in moist and warm environments are not as affected by dehydration. Furthermore, individuals taking place in dry and warm conditions can only keep their skin moist reducing exposure to factors that promote dehydration. Therefore, we intend to understand the mechanisms that determine the distribution of anuran's body size in the Atlantic Forest and provide data that could contribute to the theory of spatial patterns.(AU)

Scientific publications

(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)

BOARATTI, ANDRE ZUFFO; DA SILVA, FERNANDO RODRIGUES. Relationships between environmental gradients and geographic variation in the intraspecific body size of three species of frogs (Anura). AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, v. 40, n. 8, p. 869-876, DEC 2015. (13/50714-0, 12/07356-2)

GOUVEIA, SIDNEY F.; BOVO, RAFAEL P.; RUBALCABA, JUAN G.; DA SILVA, FERNANDO RODRIGUES; MACIEL, NATAN M.; ANDRADE, DENIS V.; MARTINEZ, PABLO ARIEL. Biophysical Modeling of Water Economy Can Explain Geographic Gradient of Body Size in Anurans. American Naturalist, v. 193, n. 1, p. 51-58, JAN 1 2019. (12/07356-2, 14/05624-5, 13/50714-0, 13/04190-9, 10/20061-6, 17/10338-0)