Thermal tolerance of the common coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) in East Hawaii along an elevation gradient

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dc.contributor.advisorMautz, William J.
dc.contributor.authorHaggerty, Jacqueline
dc.contributor.departmentTropical Conservation Biology & Environmental Science
dc.date.accessioned2017-02-02T00:11:20Z
dc.date.available2017-02-02T00:11:20Z
dc.date.issued2016-12
dc.description.abstractNatural variation in the environment can be tolerated by animals via behavioral modification, adaptation, or physiological or developmental plasticity. Phenotypic plasticity, or acclimation, allows individuals to adjust physiological parameters to best suit the needs of their environment. Acclimation to temperature is a feature of successful invasive species and may be a contributing factor to the expansion of the coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) in its introduced range in Hawaii. Coqui frogs have been recorded on Hawaii Island since the late 1980s and pose a noise nuisance to humans. If the frogs expand into higher elevation, montane habitats, they may disrupt the ecosystems with noise and food web disturbances. The minimum tolerance of cold temperatures of coqui frogs along an elevational gradient in East Hawaii was measured and compared. Coqui frogs were found to have a flexible range of cold temperature tolerance, with differences in cold tolerance between populations, evidence of acclimation to lower temperatures, sex-specific thermal tolerance, and a lower thermal tolerance level in Hawaii than in their native Puerto Rico. However, a higher tolerance for cold did not correlate directly with elevation and there were no appreciable differences in hematocrit, plasma osmolality, or heart mass between acclimation treatments or populations. The overall range of shift in thermal tolerance after acclimation was 2-3°C, implying the thermal flexibility of coqui frogs may enable them to further expand their habitat in Hawaii to cooler, high elevation areas. Particularly sensitive areas should be monitored and managed to minimize ecosystem threats from coqui frogs.
dc.description.degreeM.S.
dc.description.institutionUniversity of Hawaii at Hilo
dc.format.extent34 pages
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10790/2945
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectConservation biology
dc.subjectPhysiology
dc.subjectEcology
dc.subjectAcclimation
dc.subjectAmphibian
dc.subjectInvasive species
dc.subjectThermal biology
dc.titleThermal tolerance of the common coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) in East Hawaii along an elevation gradient
dcterms.rightsAll UHH dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
local.identifier.alturihttp://dissertations.umi.com/hilo.hawaii:10130

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