Physiological thermal niches, elevational ranges and thermal stress in dendrobatid frogs: an integrated approach

Aim: We investigated the relationship between thermal physiology, elevational distribution, and thermal stress among nine closely related dendrobatid frogs during their aquatic stage by employing an integrated approach, combining thermal physiology, environmental temperature modelling, and predictive assessments of current and future exposure to thermal variation.
Location: Ecuador
Taxon: Amphibians; Anura, Dendrobatidae, Epipedobates, Hyloxalus
Methods: We determined the Thermal Performance Curves of larval growth (TPCs) for each species and modelled the thermal variation in contrasting aquatic larval environments for both present and future times. This allowed us to estimate the expected elevational distributions and forecast periods of exposure to stressful temperatures that inhibit larval growth due to elevation and global warming.
Results: We found significant correlations between optimum temperature (Topt), 50 % maximum performance temperature (maxB50), 50% minimum performance tem..., Selection of Species
We sampled nine Ecuadorian frogs belonging to the family Dendrobatidae during their larval stage, covering a wide elevational range in Ecuador ranging from 38 - 1900 m, between latitudes 1ºN - 4ºS). We focused on five out of the six species of Epipedobates found on the coastal side of Ecuador, as well as four species of Hyloxalus from the Amazonian slope out of the twenty-seven that can be found throughout the country (Ron, et al. 2020; for more information see supplementary Table S1 and Fig. S6). One population of each species was collected from their natural aquatic habitats from December 2014 to April 2016 and transported to the experimental facilities in the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). However, for three species (Epipedobates machalilla, E. tricolor and Hyloxalus nexipus) we sourced specimens from ‘Balsa de los Sapos’ initiative PUCE. It is important to note that the specimens from captive breeding were first- or second-generation breeds,..., , # Physiological thermal niches, elevational ranges and thermal stress in dendrobatid frogs: an integrated approach

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d51c5b094](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d51c5b094)

This is the data supporting our publication in Journal of Biogeography. We have included data on water temperatures of aquatic habitats inhabited by various Ecuadorian amphibian species, as well as physiological data on CTmax, CTmin, and thermal performance curves (TPC) for different dendrobatid species from the western (*i.e. Epipedobates* genera) and eastern (*i.e. Hyloxalus* genera) slopes of Ecuador. 

Additionally, the name of the species *E. darwinwallacei* has been recently changed to *E. espinosai* as both species were found to be synonymous according to a recent article (López-Hervas et al., 2024, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108065)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108065\)). 

## Description of the data and file structure

The data contained in five .txt files.

**...