Thermoregulation and Hydric Balance inAmphibians

Resumen

Understanding the role of key environmental variables – as temperature and humidity – on animal physiology and ecology is a fundamental question of organismal biology. In a 21st century marked by a rapid climatic change, the relevance of this topic is highlighted. Amphibians are ectotherms, normally reproduce on water and have aquatic larval stages and, as adults, maintain a skin that is highly permeable to water. This combination of traits, where heat exchange is tightly linked evaporative to water loss, makes amphibians’ ecophysiology uniquely challenging and thrilling. This chapter summarizes the knowledge on thermal ecology and hydric balance of amphibians. Attention is paid to the understand the connections and interactions between thermal and hydric regulation mechanisms: the thermo-hydroregulation conceptual framework. Different morphological, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms take place on the different amphibians' groups and habitats. These are explained in a model of costs and benefits that should be upgraded to include the integrative perspective of thermo-hydroregulation. Finally, this chapter provides examples and discussion aimed to integrate the effect of temperature and humidity on the main conservation issues for amphibians in the next decades.