OVIDIUS UNIVERSITY OF CONSTANŢA DOCTORAL SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCES DOMAIN: BIOLOGY - Doctoral thesis summary - ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES IN AMPHIBIANS LIVING UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS PhD Coordinator Prof. DAN COGĂLNICEANU PhD Student FLORINA STĂNESCU CONSTANŢA, 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research received support through the following projects/grants: . Calling patterns within the spadefoot toad genus Pelobates, grant within the SYNTHESYS Programme [http://www.synthesys.info/] funded by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 "Capacities" Programme, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC), Fonoteca Zoológica, Madrid, Spain (2013) (Florina Stănescu). The impact of global changes on populations at the limit of their ranges, project financed by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research CNCS – UEFISCDI, PN II CAPACITĂȚI, Romania - Argentina bilateral cooperation (2013-2014) (Prof. Dan Cogălniceanu). Is range limited by life history, environmental conditions, or biogeographical barriers? A study case using spadefoot toads (genus Pelobates) - project financed by the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research CNCS – UEFISCDI, PN II IDEI (2011-2016) (Prof. Dan Cogălniceanu). I am grateful for the support of the following institutions: Măcin Mountains National Park Administration, Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration, Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation Sighișoara, Dirección de Fauna y Áreas Naturales Protegidas of the Chaco province (Argentina), Herpetology Lab (FaCENA) (National University of Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina), Evolutionary Genetics Lab (National University of Posadas, Argentina), and Fonoteca Zoológica (National Museum of Natural Sciences, Madrid, Spain). I feel privileged for the opportunity to work with extraordinary people and receive constant support throughout the course of my studies. I will try to point out their major contributions to this work and, most important, to my formation as a researcher. I am grateful for their collaboration and for introducing me to the fields of: . Bioacoustics, to Dr. Rafael Márquez and Dr. Diego Llusia – National Museum of Natural Sciences – Fonoteca Zoológica, Madrid, Spain. Skeletochronology, to Dr. Daniela Mariana Roșioru - National Institute for Marine Research and Development Grigore Antipa Constanța and Dr. Federico Marangoni - Subtropical Biology Institute (IBS – UNaM//CONICET), Posadas, Argentina. GIS, to Dr. Ciprian Samoilă and Ruben Iosif – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Ovidius University Constanța. I am grateful for their invaluable help and support in: . Data collection in the field, to Dr. Paul Székely, Diana Székely, Prof. Dan Cogălniceanu, Elena Buhaciuc, Ruben Iosif, Sebastian Topliceanu, Monica Bogdan – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Ovidius University Constanța, Dr.Tibor Hartel and Orsolya Máthé - Sapientia University Cluj, Dr. Federico Marangoni, Dr. Rodrigo Cajade and Ivana Reinko - Subtropical Biology Institute (IBS – UNaM//CONICET), Posadas, Argentina. Data analysis, to Dr. Raluca Băncilă and Ruben Iosif - Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Ovidius University Constanța, Dr. Federico Marangoni - Subtropical Biology Institute (IBS – UNaM//CONICET), Posadas, Argentina. Laboratory analyses, to Sebastian Topliceanu – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Ovidius University Constanța. I am grateful for kindly providing personal data, to Dr. Christophe Eggert – Fauna Consult (France), and bone tissue samples, to Cecilia Bardier - Universidad de la República, Montevideo (Uruguay), Prof. Dr. Santiago Ron - Pontificial Universidad Catolica de Ecuador, Quito (Ecuador) and Prof. Dr. Dan Cogălniceanu. I am grateful for all the advice, their support, and most important, for their constructive criticism, to: Teodora Maria Onciu, Marius Skolka, Laurențiu Rozylowicz, Rafael Márquez, Diego Llusia, Federico Marangoni, Marian Tudor, Ruben Iosif, Raluca Băncilă, Cristina Preda, Danyiar Memedemin, Ciprian Samoilă, Sebastian Topliceanu. For believing in me, I am most grateful to my family. For their constant support and their friendship, I am grateful to Diana and Paul Székely. I am furthermore indebted to my mentor, Prof. Dr. Dan Cogălniceanu, for his constant guidance and support. For the enthusiasm and joy to share their knowledge, their kindness, their contagious passion, for all the moments that we have shared and most important, for shaping a better version of me today, I dedicate this work to them. FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION Amphibians – biological and ecological characteristics. ............................................. 1 Population structure parameters. ................................................................................. 4 Body condition. ........................................................................................................... 5 Acoustic communication. ............................................................................................ 6 Environmental stress. ................................................................................................... 8 Amphibian conservation. ............................................................................................. 13 PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS AIM AND OBJECTIVES. .............................................................................................. 16 MATERIAL AND METHODS Study areas. .................................................................................................................. 21 Study species. .............................................................................................................. 32 Methods and techniques. ............................................................................................. 43 I. Population structure parameters in amphibians at the limit of their ranges. ........... 43 II. Population body condition estimates. .................................................................... 50 III. Estimating the effects of environmental stress. .................................................... 51 IV. Release calls analysis. .......................................................................................... 56 V. Harmonizing amphibians’ distribution data. ......................................................... 62 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION I. Population structure parameters in amphibians at the limit of their ranges. ........ 65 I.1. Skeletochronology as a method of age estimation in amphibians. ....................... 65 I.2. Population structure parameters in Dermatonotus muelleri (Boettger 1885) (Anura: Microhylidae). .......................................................................................... 74 I.3. Population structure parameters in Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) (Anura: Pelobatidae). .......................................................................................................... 79 II. Population body condition estimates. ....................................................................... 87 II.1. Body condition dynamics in Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) (Anura: Pelobatidae). ........................................................................................................ 87 II.2. Body condition dynamics in Pelobates syriacus (Boettger, 1889) (Anura: Pelobatidae). ........................................................................................................ 94 II.3. Body condition dynamics in Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) (Anura: Bufonidae). .. 99 III. Estimating the effects of environmental stress. ...................................................... 104 III.1. The effect of salinity during early developmental stages – a comparative study in Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) and Pelobates syriacus (Boettger, 1889) (Anura: Pelobatidae). .............................................................................. 104 III.2. The effect of salinity during larval development in Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) (Anura: Pelobatidae). ............................................................. 106 III.3. Facultative padeomorphosis in Lissotriton vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Caudata: Salamandridae). ................................................................................ 107 IV. Release calls analysis. ................................................................................................ 112 IV.1. A comparative study of release calls in Pelobates fuscus (Laurenti, 1768) and P. syriacus (Boettger, 1889) (Anura: Pelobatidae). .......................................... 112 IV.2. Release calls in Rhinella schneideri (Werner, 1894) (Anura: Bufonidae). ........ 118 V. Harmonizing amphibians’ distribution data. ........................................................... 124 CONCLUSIONS. ............................................................................................................. 132 BIBLIOGRAPHY. ........................................................................................................... 137 SCIENTIFIC OUTPUTS OF THE AUTHOR. ............................................................ 159 LIST OF FIGURES. ........................................................................................................ 163 LIST OF TABLES. .......................................................................................................... 169 APPENDICES. ................................................................................................................. 172 Key words.