Climate change has been the main factor driving amphibian extinction, according to a study published Wednesday; because amphibians have remained the most threatened vertebrates for the last two decades. Frogs, salamanders, newts and other cold-blooded creatures that live in moist environments are very sensitive to changes in the environment.

Because they breathe through their skin and have no feathers, hair or scales for protection, the intense heat associated with climate change means they are rapidly becoming dehydrated and losing breeding grounds that need moisture. More frequent, intense and prolonged storms, floods and rising sea levels can destroy forest habitats and breeding grounds.

“In many cases, these changes are happening too quickly for adaptation,” said Kelsey Neem of the Amphibian Specialist Group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission. “Climate change is an underestimated threat to amphibians,” he predicted, and there would be an “exponential effect,” adding that it would become “more apparent” as more data became available. “We expect climate change to push species towards extinction,” Nim told AFP.

The Global Amphibian Assessment, a landmark study conducted in 2004, found that amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates in the world. In an article published in the journal Nature On Wednesday, researchers built on a second study published last year that evaluated 8,011 species for the IUCN Red List.

They found that approximately 41 percent of amphibians worldwide are threatened, designated as endangered, threatened and vulnerable.

This represents a deterioration from 37.9 percent in 1980 and 39.4 percent in 2004.

Climate change was the main driver of 39 percent of the decline in status from 2004 to 2022, affecting 119 species; 37 percent were accounted for by habitat loss and degradation. The authors note that climate change may also increase other threats such as fire, disease and land use change.

Habitat loss and damage from agriculture, infrastructure development, and other industries remained the most prevalent threat but did not lead to deterioration of status. By contrast, habitat loss and disease, particularly the chytrid fungus that has decimated amphibians worldwide since the late 1990s, were responsible for 91 percent of declines between 1980 and 2004; only one percent was due to climate change.

“Investing in our planet”

The endangered species were mostly concentrated in the Caribbean, Central America, the tropical Andes, Cameroon, Nigeria, Madagascar, the Western Ghats in India, and Sri Lanka. Salamanders and salamanders were the most affected. For example, the status of five salamander species in the United States has declined due to fires and reduced soil moisture caused by drought and wildfires, which scientists say worsens climate change.

In parts of Australia and Brazil, reduced rainfall due to climate change is predicted to threaten the reproduction of frogs that depend on high levels of soil moisture and fallen leaves to prevent eggs from drying out.

The authors called for increased investments and policy actions to support amphibians, which play an important role in ecosystems and can help combat climate change. Emphasizing the need to protect habitats and reduce carbon emissions, Nim said they prey on mammals, birds and reptiles, helping to recycle nutrients and support a food web that would collapse without them.

“By protecting amphibians, we are protecting forests and ecosystems, which are key natural solutions to climate change,” he told AFP.

“An investment in amphibians is an investment in the future of our planet.”

Amphibians’ small distribution makes them more vulnerable to extinction than other vertebrates, but could also facilitate conservation efforts, said study co-author Jennifer Ludtke of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group. Niem added that improved habitat protection and management played a key role in the species improving its category between 2004 and 2022. Source