Influence of temperature on larval development of Pleurodema diplolister (amphibia, anura, leptodactylidae)

Abstract

The population fluctuations of amphibians were correlated with climatic changes, and among the aspects listed the global temperature change was one of the highlights. We submitted tadpoles of Pleurodema diplolister to aquatic thermal variations to establish the thermal limit that implies the direct influence of temperature on larval development, as could occur in the global temperature change. Natural lentic environments were monitored in a way to acquire the mean temperature of the water in an annual (tolerant) average (31°C) and in the reproduction (optimal) period (27°C) of the frogs. In lab conditions the tadpoles’ development were tested in four different temperatures: 20°C, 27°C, 31°C, and 40°C, corresponding to minimal, optimal, tolerant, and maximum temperatures, respectively. The survival time was established by the Kaplan-Meier method. The data were tested by the Chi-square test to establish the adherence of the results. The success rate calculated for 20°C temperature was 3.69%, at 27°C it was 62.33%, at 31°C it was 68% and at 40°C it was 1.35%. This demonstrates that there is an optimal temperature of larval development with a tolerance zone around it, which indicates that an increase in global temperature, immediately, will not stop the reproduction of this species.