Thermal tolerances of amphibians and reptiles from the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Pantanal: relationships with ecological aspects and implications for conservation

• Grant number: 23/14087-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcio Roberto Costa Martins
• Grantee: Juan Camilo Diaz Ricaurte
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/12658-4 - Challenges to the conservation of amphibians and squamate reptiles, with emphasis on the Brazilian fauna: from basic information to conservation actions, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Climate change is recognized as a major threat to global biodiversity. Therefore, understanding the vulnerability of species in the face of these changes is a conservation priority. Ectothermic vertebrates are one of the groups most affected by variation and increase in environmental temperatures due to their physiology highly dependent on environmental conditions. To understand how these organisms respond to the deleterious effects of climate change, it is essential to describe and explore their thermal ecology, and both ecological and natural history aspects. In this project, as a way of exploring and understanding these aspects, as well as contributing to the conservation of neotropical herpetofauna, we aim to i) test which aspects of species biology influence voluntary thermal tolerances of amphibians and reptiles from three biomes in Brazil, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest and Pantanal and ii) incorporate behavioral thermal tolerances into mechanistic niche models to predict areas where species will be more susceptible to thermal stress in the future, in order to assist in predicting changes in the conservation status of species in the face of climate change. This information has great potential to help predict climate vulnerability, especially in ectothermic animals. All results from this project are useful to have a more integrative view of how climate change can affect Neotropical herpetofauna and can be used in assessments of the conservation status of species with the IUCN method, as well as in any other approaches aimed at conservation actions, which aim to mitigate the effects of future threats on Neotropical biodiversity. This project represents a broad and strongly collaborative partnership, which makes this proposal original, with inter- and multidisciplinary approaches, in order to integrate areas such as ecology, ecophysiology and conservation.

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)

DIAZ-RICAURTE, JUAN C.; SERRANO, FILIPE C.; CAMACHO, AGUSTIN; NOGUEIRA, CRISTIANO DE C.; TRAVAGLIA-CARDOSO, SILVIA REGINA; MARTINS, MARCIO. On the Brink of Change? Environmental Drivers of Voluntary Thermal Maximum in South American Pitvipers. Journal of Biogeography, v. N/A, p. 14-pg., 2024-10-04. (23/14087-2, 15/20215-7, 20/12658-4, 18/14091-1)

ANTUNEZ-FONSECA, CRISTOPHER A.; RAMOS-GALDAMEZ, JOSUE; SOLIS, JOSE M. A. R. I. O.; DIAZ-RICAURTE, JUAN C.; DIAZ-RICAURTE, C.; WILSON, LARRY DAVID. A new species of the genus Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 (Serpentes: Anomalepididae) from the Caribbean coast of Honduras. Zootaxa, v. 5543, n. 1, p. 14-pg., 2024-12-02. (23/14087-2)

DIAZ-RICAURTE, JUAN C.; ANTUNEZ-FONSECA, CRISTOPHER A.; PERDOMO, ADRIAN; GARAVITO-DAVID, YULFREILER; BONILLA, JOSUE H.; LUCAS, MARCELO STEFANO BELLINI; BOLOCHIO, CRISTIANE ESPINOSA; IGAYARA, CLAUDIA ALMEIDA; BRITO, TIAGO R. SILVA; TRAVAGLIA-CARDOSO, SILVIA R.. Birds as prey: Expanding the dietary niche of Neotropical Spilotes snakes with the description of the anti-predator responses of birds. North-Western Journal of Zoology, v. 20, n. 2, p. 7-pg., 2024-12-01. (23/14087-2)