Few rainforest creatures are more iconic than the brightly colored tree frogs that inhabit the canopy of the Amazon. However, these creatures rely on a fragile environmental balance that is currently under threat.
As drought strikes more frequently and more harshly, these amphibians may not get the moisture they need to survive, Mongabay reported.
What's happening?
Air pollution from human sources — mostly dirty energy — is trapping heat inside our atmosphere. This heats up the world, which destabilizes long-established weather and climate patterns. Disasters like severe storms and megadroughts are becoming more common.
According to a new study, up to 33% of the habitats of frogs, toads and tree frogs will be subject to increased drought risk by the year 2100. Brazil's Amazon and Atlantic forests are on that list.
Unfortunately, that's a huge threat to these tiny amphibians.
"Amphibians have thin, permeable skin, unlike other land animals such as humans, birds, reptiles and insects," said Western Sydney University biologist Nicholas Wu, per Mongabay.
"Their moist skin allows water and other substances to pass through, making it more sensitive to dry air. This is why you don't see frogs exposed to the sun for long periods of time — they dry out much faster than other animals."
Not only could droughts threaten amphibian populations directly, but an increase in temperature and drop in humidity could also alter their behavior.
"We also found that the combination of higher temperatures and drier environments will have major impacts on their activity window; that is, the hours when the weather does not prevent anurans from foraging and breeding," said Wu.
Why is the loss of tree frogs important?
Many of the beautiful species in Brazil's rainforests exist nowhere else.
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All the time 💯 "The biome is home to more than 700 species of anuran amphibians known in Brazil, and more than 50% of them are endemic," University of California, Riverside researcher Rafael Bovo explained, per Mongabay.
"When you think about a scenario in the Atlantic Forest, with the loss of almost 90% of its original vegetation, and now with even faster climate deterioration, many of these species could disappear."
Amphibians aren't just an irreplaceable part of our world in their own right; they're also a key part of their ecosystems. They help control populations of mosquitoes, for example, which are disease vectors for larger animals, including humans. The fewer frogs there are, the more mosquito-borne disease we'll see.
What's being done about the threat to frogs?
Even in a warming world, there's hope for many species.
"It is possible that amphibians will adapt to a warmer world, but they need time to do so," said Wu.
"Currently, the rate of warming exceeds their ability to adapt, which is why many frogs are at risk of extinction. If we provide some environmental protection, for example by restoring forests, this will provide suitable microclimates for amphibians to adapt to our rapidly changing world."
Studies like this one are the first step to putting those protections in place by identifying the need and the areas most likely to be affected.
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