Document Type

Article

Editors

Diversity

Abstract

As part of an overall decline in biodiversity, populations of many organisms are declining and species are being lost at unprecedented rates around the world. This includes many populations and species of amphibians. Although numerous factors are affecting amphibian populations, we show potential direct and indirect effects of climate change on amphibians at the individual, population and community level. Shifts in amphibian ranges are predicted. Changes in climate may affect survival, growth, reproduction and dispersal capabilities. Moreover, climate change can alter amphibian habitats including vegetation, soil, and hydrology. Climate change can influence food availability, predator-prey relationships and competitive interactions which can alter community structure. Climate change can also alter pathogen-host dynamics and greatly influence how diseases are manifested. Changes in climate can interact with other stressors such as UV-B radiation and contaminants. The interactions among all these factors are complex and are probably driving some amphibian population declines and extinctions.

Pages

281-313

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/d2020281

Volume

2

Issue

2

Publication Date

2010

Keywords

amphibian population declines, climate change, range shifts, amphibian diseases

Disciplines

Biology

Comments

This item is included in the Center for Climate, Society, & the Environment's Faculty Publications Bibliography.

Find more Climate Studies works by Gonzaga University faculty at the bibliography's home here.

ISSN

1424-2818

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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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