Studying Some Brain and Ovarian Morphological Traits in Diaglena spatulata Female Frogs Thriving in Conserved and Perturbed Habitats: A Preliminary Report and Its Implications for Amphibian Survival and Continuity
Author(s)
Esperanza Meléndez-Herrera,
Bryan Víctor Phillips-Farfán,
Fany Edith Bucio-Piña,
Noemi Ramírez-Arrés,
Gabriel Gutiérrez-Ospina,
Ireri Suazo-Ortuño,
Javier Alvarado-Díaz,
Alma Lilia Fuentes-Farías*
Affiliation(s)
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología Animal, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México. Laboratorio de Nutrición Experimental, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaria de Salud, México Distrito Federal, México. Laboratorio de Biología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Coordinación de Psicobiología y Neurociencias, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México Distrito Federal, México. Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México. Laboratorio de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México.
Laboratorio de Ecofisiología Animal, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México. Laboratorio de Nutrición Experimental, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Secretaria de Salud, México Distrito Federal, México. Laboratorio de Biología de Sistemas, Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Coordinación de Psicobiología y Neurociencias, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México Distrito Federal, México. Laboratorio de Ecología, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México. Laboratorio de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Investigaciones sobre los Recursos Naturales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México.
ABSTRACT
Amphibians are thought to be highly susceptible to perturbed environments. However, recent studies show that many of them are successful inhabitants of disturbed, fragmented habitats. The source of this resilience is yet unclear, but it may be the byproduct of having a robust phenotype and/or the result of phenotypic plasticity. We then assessed the contribution of each by evaluating cytological features of two brain nuclei that modulate reproductive behavior and of the ovary, using female specimens of the frog Diaglena spatulata prospering in conserved and disturbed areas of a tropical dry forest. Our results in the brain show that the medial amygdala, but not the preoptic area, had a reduced size in frogs collected in disturbed forests compared to specimens collected in conserved forests. Both brain nuclei displayed, however, neurons with a reduced size in frogs captured in disturbed forest patches. In contrast, ovarian cytological features were similar between groups. Our preliminary results lead us to propose that Diaglena spatulata female specimens might combine robust ovary and plastic brain’s phenotypic traits to confront disturbed environments. This, however, is still a working hypothetical framework that needs to be experimentally confirmed.
Cite this paper
Meléndez-Herrera, E. , Phillips-Farfán, B. , Bucio-Piña, F. , Ramírez-Arrés, N. , Gutiérrez-Ospina, G. , Suazo-Ortuño, I. , Alvarado-Díaz, J. and Fuentes-Farías, A. (2014) Studying Some Brain and Ovarian Morphological Traits in Diaglena spatulata Female Frogs Thriving in Conserved and Perturbed Habitats: A Preliminary Report and Its Implications for Amphibian Survival and Continuity. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 5, 740-747. doi: 10.4236/abb.2014.59087.
Meléndez-Herrera, E. , Phillips-Farfán, B. , Bucio-Piña, F. , Ramírez-Arrés, N. , Gutiérrez-Ospina, G. , Suazo-Ortuño, I. , Alvarado-Díaz, J. and Fuentes-Farías, A. (2014) Studying Some Brain and Ovarian Morphological Traits in Diaglena spatulata Female Frogs Thriving in Conserved and Perturbed Habitats: A Preliminary Report and Its Implications for Amphibian Survival and Continuity. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 5, 740-747. doi: 10.4236/abb.2014.59087.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8774455
[1] Brook, B.W., Sodhi, N.S. and Ng, P.K.L. (2003) Catastrophic Extinctions Follow Deforestation in Singapore. Nature, 424, 420-426.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12879068 [2] Beebee, T.J. and Griffiths, R.A. (2005) The Amphibian Decline Crisis: A Watershed for Conservation Biology? Biological Conservation, 125, 271-285.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2005.04.009 [3] Pounds, J.A., Carnaval, A.C., Puschendorf, R., Haddad, C.F. and Masters, K.L. (2006) Responding to Amphibian Loss. Science, 314, 1541-1542.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.314.5805.1541 [4] Becker, C.G., Fonseca, C.R., Haddad, C.F., Batista, R.F. and Prado P.I. (2007) Habitat Split and the Global Decline of Amphibians. Science, 318, 1775-1777.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18079402
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1149374 [5] Zimmerman, B.L. and Bierregaard, R.O. (1986) Relevance of the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography and Species-Area Relations to Conservation with a Case from Amazonia. Journal of Biogeography, 13, 133-143.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2844988
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2844988 [6] Hillers, A., Loua, N.S. and Rodel, M.O. (2008) Assessment of the Distribution and Conservation Status of the Viviparous Toad Nimbaphrynoides Occidentalis on Monts Nimba, Guinea. Endangered Species Research, 5, 13-19.
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v5/n1/p13-19/
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr00099 [7] Vallan, D. (2002) Effects of Anthropogenic Environmental Changes on Amphibian Diversity in the Rain Forests of Eastern Madagascar. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 18, 725-742.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S026646740200247X
http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S026646740200247X [8] Suazo-Ortuño, I., Alvarado-Diaz, J. and Martinez-Ramos, M. (2008) Effects of Conversion of Dry Tropical Forest to Agricultural Mosaic on Herpetofaunal Assemblages. Conservation Biology, 22, 362-374.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18294298
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00883.x [9] Nussey, D.H., Wilson, A.J. and Brommer, J.E. (2007) The Evolutionary Ecology of Individual Phenotypic Plasticity in Wild Populations. Journal of Evolutive Biology, 20, 831-844. [10] Suárez-Domínguez, E.A., Morales-Mávil, J.E., Chavira, R. and Boeck, L. (2011) Effects of Habitat Perturbation on the Daily Activity Pattern and Physiological Stress of the Spiny Tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura acanthura). Amphibia-Reptilia, 32, 315-322.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/017353711X571883 [11] Blaustein, A.R., Walls, S.C., Bancroft, B.A., Lawler, J.J., Searle, C.L. and Gervasi, S.S. (2010) Direct and Indirect Effects of Climate Change on Amphibian Populations. Diversity, 2, 281-313.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d2020281 [12] Takami, S. and Urano, A. (1984) The Volume of the Toad Medial Amygdala-Anterior Preoptic Complex Is Sexually Dimorphic and Seasonally Variable. Neuroscience Letters, 44, 253-258.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304394084900314
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(84)90031-4 [13] Navas, C.A. and Otani, L. (2007) Physiology, Environmental Change, and Anuran Conservation. Phyllomedusa, 6, 83103. [14] Duellman, W.E. and Trueb, L. (1994) Biology of Amphibians. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. [15] McCreary, B., Pearl, C.A. and Adams, M.J. (2008) A Protocol for Aging Anurans Using Skeletochronology. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report. 1209, 1-38.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1209/pdf/ofr20081209.pdf [16] Ogielska, M. and Batmanska, J. (2009) Oogenesis and Female Reproductive System in Amphibia Anura. In: Ogielska, M., Ed., Reproduction of Amphibians, Science Publishers, Enield, 153-272. [17] Hoque, B. and Saidapur, S. (1994) Dynamics of Oogenesis in the Tropical Anuran Rana tigrina (Amphibia: Ranidae) with Special Reference to Vitellogenic Cycles in Wild-Caught and Captive Flogs. Journal of Biosciences, 19, 339-352.
http://www.ias.ac.in/jarch/jbiosci/19/339-352
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02716824 [18] Hecker, M., Park, J.W., Murphy, M.B., Jones P.D., Solomon K.R., Van Der Kraak, G., Carr, J.A., Smith, E.E., Preez, L., Kendall, R.J. and Giesy, J.P. (2005) Effects of Atrazine on CYP19 Gene Expression and Aromatase Activity in Testes and on Plasma Sex Steroid Concentrations of Male African Clawed Frogs (Xenopus laevis). Toxicological Sciences: An Official Journal of the Society of Toxicology, 86, 273-280.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15901915 [19] Bell, K.E. and Donnelly, M.A. (2006) Influence of Forest Fragmentation on Community Structure of Frogs and Lizards in Northeastern Costa Rica. Conservation Biology, 6, 1750-1760.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00522.x [20] Collins, J.P., Crump, M.L. and Lovejoy, T.E. (2009) Extinction in Our Times. Global Amphibian Decline. Oxford University Press, New York. [21] Ghalambor, C.K., McKay, J.K., Carroll, S.P. and Reznick, D.N. (2007) Adaptive versus Non-Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity and the Potential for Contemporary Adaptation in New Environments. Functional Ecology, 21, 394-407.
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01283.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01283.x [22] Benarroch, E.E. (2006) Basic Neurosciences with Clinical Applications. Buttenworth Heinneman, Elsevier, Philadelphia. [23] Viau, V. and Meaney, M.J. (1996) The Inhibitory Effect of Testosterone on Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Responses to Stress Is Mediated by the Medial Preoptic Area. The Journal of Neuroscience, 16, 1866-1876.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8774455