Climate change is a major threat to amphibians, according to study

He climate change has become the main factor that affects the extinction of amphibiansaccording to a study published this Wednesday by the journal Nature.

Animals such as toads, frogs, salamanders and other cold-blooded creatures, capable of living in water and on land, are very vulnerable to environmental changes, since they do not have feathers, hair or scales to protect themselves.

Salamanders and triturus are the most affected species and the threat is concentrated in the Caribbean islands, in Mesoamerica, in the tropical areas of the Andes, Madagascar and Sri Lanka, among other regions.

In extreme climates linked to climate change, amphibians dehydrate quickly and have also lost the humid spaces necessary for their reproduction.

More frequent and intense storms, floods or rising sea levels can destroy the forests where they live and reproduce.

“In many cases these changes occur too quickly for them to adapt”said Kelsey Neam, an expert with the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission.

“Climate change is an underestimated threat to amphibians” and it will be done “more evident”said Neam, co-author of the study. “We hope that climate change will push species towards extinction,” Neam told AFP.

Amphibians play an essential role in the food chain, as they feed birds, mammals and reptiles. Extensive research in 2004 showed that these animals are the most endangered vertebrates on the planet.

The study published this Wednesday is based on an update carried out last year of this global research, using an assessment of the status of 8,011 species, commissioned by the IUCN.

The conclusion is that the situation of amphibians continues to deteriorate and a 41% of these animals are now classified as “threatened”, a rating that includes vulnerable, endangered and seriously endangered species.

In parts of Australia and Brazil, reduced rainfall due to climate change is projected to threaten the reproduction of frogs, which depend on moisture in the soil and leaves to keep their eggs from drying out.