Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
2
AmphibianPopulation
Declinesand
ClimateChange
Andrew R. Blaustein, Catherine Searle,
Betsy A. Bancroft, and Joshua Lawler
CONTENTS
Key.Issues................................................................................................................. 30
Perspective.on.Global.Climate.Change.................................................................... 30
Assessing.the.Effects.of.Climate.Change.on.Amphibians....................................... 33
Climate.Change.and.Amphibian.Population.Declines......................................... 33
Remote.Sensing................................................................................................... 34
Models................................................................................................................. 34
Phenology............................................................................................................ 36
Environmental.Changes.and.Emerging.Infectious.Diseases.................................... 38
Ambient.UV-B.Radiation.Is.Harmful.to.Amphibians.and.May.Interact.with.
Climate.Change........................................................................................................ 41
Evolutionary.Considerations....................................................................................44
Summary................................................................................................................... 45
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................... 46
References................................................................................................................ 46
Large.losses.in.biodiversity.are.occurring.around.the.world.(Lawton.and.May.1995)..
Although.the.exact.number.of.species.being.lost.is.unknown,.some.estimate.that.the.
rate.of.extinction.is.greater.than.any.known.in.the.last.100,000.years.(Wilson.1992)..
Species.loss.is.a.major.part.of.this.“biodiversity.crisis.”.The.crisis.is.exempliied.by.
population.declines,.range.reductions,.and.extinctions.of.amphibian.species.around.
the. world. (Houlahan. et. al.. 2000;. Stuart. et. al.. 2004;. Lannoo. 2005;. Mendelson. et.
al..2006)..In.at.least.some.regions,.amphibian.losses.appear.to.be.more.severe.than.
losses.in.other.vertebrate.taxa.(Pounds.et.al..1997,.1999;.Stuart.et.al..2004)..From.
a. historical. perspective,. amphibian. losses. may. be. representative. of. a. sixth. major.
extinction. event. (Wake. and. Vredenburg. 2008).. Moreover,. declines. in. amphibian.
populations.are.prominent.because.many.of.them.are.occurring.in.areas.that.remain.
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