Geography, Temperature, and Water: Interaction Effects in a Small Native Amphibian.

Abstract

Amphibian locomotor capacity is strongly linked to temperature and hydration. However, organisms in nature experience covariation of multiple environmental factors, and thus to better understand the effects of thermal and hydric conditions on physiological performance, it is critical not only to experimentally disentangle them but also to incorporate potential interactive effects due to geographic variation. To this end, we selected two populations of the small amphibian Pleurodema thaul inhabiting highly contrasting temperatures and precipitation regimens. With these two populations, we evaluated the thermal and hydric sensitivities of locomotor performance. For both factors, performance increased with temperature as well as with hydration level, although performance reached a plateau between 25° and 30°C. In addition, the influence of dehydration on performance was independent of the temperature at which it was tested. Our results also showed that the population from the warmer environment has lower sensitivity of locomotor performance to dehydration, probably as a consequence of thermal adaptation, although further studies might be required to fully understand this.