Ecological physiology of amphibians: a modeling approach

• Grant number: 14/05624-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): July 15, 2014
• Effective date (End): October 14, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Denis Otavio Vieira de Andrade
• Grantee: Rafael Parelli Bovo
• Supervisor: Barry R. Sinervo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/20061-6 - Thermal physiology and water balance at different altitudinal gradients in Atlantic rainforest anurans, BP.DR

Abstract

Temperature and water availability are factors that affect, importantly, the ecology, physiology, and behavior of amphibians. Species with broad geographic distribution are submitted, along its area of occurrence, to substantial variations in abiotic parameters (especially related to climate and vegetation types). However, our knowledge on how those variations affect and/or are reflected in parameters related to tolerance, flexibility, and adaptations of the thermal physiology and the water balance of amphibians is still exceedingly incipient, especially for Neotropical species. Accordingly, this study aims to test whether or not intra and interspecific variations in selected physiological parameters of amphibians from the Atlantic Rainforest, in Brazil, can be understood/explained in regard to the altitudinal gradient. After three years collecting field and laboratory data, now we will proceed with the modeling approach exploring the interrelationships between the spatial variation of climatic parameters, particularly temperature and humidity, on related physiological functions. Identifying those organismal traits (e.g., physiological and/or ecological) that are sensitive to particular environmental parameters (or stressors) is a central step for developing models to predict organismal responses to environmental/climatic changes. Potential hydric and thermal tolerances related to amphibian activity will be tested for environmental changing scenarios, especially in the context of current and future climate to predict organismal vulnerability to potential extinctions. (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)

DE OLIVEIRA ANDERSON, RODOLFO CESAR; BOVO, RAFAEL PARELLI; ANDRADE, DENIS VIEIRA. Seasonal variation in the thermal biology of a terrestrial toad, Rhinella icterica (Bufonidae), from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Journal of Thermal Biology, v. 74, p. 77-83, MAY 2018. (13/04190-9, 10/20061-6, 14/05624-5, 17/10338-0)

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)

BOVO, RAFAEL P.; NAVAS, CARLOS A.; TEJEDO, MIGUEL; VALENCA, SAULO E. S.; GOUVEIA, SIDNEY F.. Ecophysiology of Amphibians: Information for Best Mechanistic Models. Diversity, v. 10, n. 4, DEC 2018. (10/20061-6, 14/16320-7, 14/05624-5, 17/10338-0)