For the first time, a scientific study has concluded that climate change can alter the body size of a species. It was previously speculated that such a connection may exist, but a new study from the University of Maryland has provided concrete support.
Biologists studied salamanders in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Specifically, they looked at a family of salamander called Plethodontidae, which are lung-less and breathe through their skin.
They found the creatures have been steadily shrinking over the past 50 years. On average, salamander specimens collected after 1980 were eight percent smaller than those from previous decades. The shrinkage was most apparent in salamanders from low elevations, where there has been a more significant increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall.
Salamanders have been around for hundreds of millions of years. It’s possible that they evolved an ability to adapt their body size to Earth’s cycles of warming and cooling. But it’s unknown how they will withstand the more rapid changes brought about by current global warming.
Smaller salamanders mean fewer eggs laid and increased vulnerability to predators. And their key role in the food chain – where they consume copious amounts of bugs – means their fate could affect an entire ecosystem.
The shrinking of salamanders has happened relatively quickly – about one percent per generation – and is likely to continue. While other species may not react as quickly or in the same way as salamanders, this research provides insight into just how drastically climate change may affect organisms over time.
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Warming World Shrinks Salamanders
Photo, taken April 16, 2011, courtesy of Brian Gratwicke via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.