Idiosyncratic liver alterations of five frog species to land use changes in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

AbstractChanges in land use trigger environmental changes that can lead to decreased biodiversity and species loss. The liver is an essential detoxification organ that reflects systemic physiological responses to environmental changes. Here, we tested whether land use changes influence the amount of substances from the hepatic cellular catabolism and melanomacrophages of five anuran species in the Brazilian Cerrado. We used routine histological and histochemical techniques. We then use recently developed ecological methods to relate functional traits to environmental variables. There was an increase in the amount of melanin in environments with high proportion of agriculture, as well as variation in the amount of lipofuscin and hemosiderin. Therefore, the area of melanomacrophages in the liver and the metabolic products in their cytoplasm can be used as biomarkers of environmental changes in regions with intense agricultural activities. Our results add a new perspective to the influence of land use changes on environmental health by highlighting the effect of environmental changes on internal morphological aspects of animals.