A new study reveals that sloths, the beloved slow-moving creatures of Central and South America, may face an uncertain future due to the impacts of climate change, particularly for high-altitude populations.
Sloths’ Struggle to Adapt
Researchers who studied how sloths respond to increasingly hot temperatures called the energy constraints of this species that will be reduced in as few as 80 years, and with it their ability to survive.
This means sloths are limited from the very beginning: owing to its slow metabolism and a unique inability to regulate body temperature in the same way as most mammals. Due to the impact of climate change, as many as half of sloths in high-elevation areas might not be able to adjust a temperature increase projected for 2100.
The high-altitude sloth episode.
The surviving recorded information showed that sloths from highland areas see a major boost in their sleeping metabolic rate (RMR) as temperature levels skyrocket. That means these sloths will have to spend more energy just maintaining their basic physiology, and that leaves them less energy for other essential things — like foraging for food or breeding.
By contrast, lowland sloths respond to higher temperatures by reducing their metabolic rate as a strategy for survival beyond the temperature range at which normal activities can be maintained. On the one hand this is a survival strategy, yet on the other hand it may not be enough to save them in the long-term as the predicted temperature rises might push them over their limits.
Conclusion
The results of this study underscore the necessity for rapid action in the preservation of sloth populations, especially those native to higher elevations like the mountain sloth being driven extinct by climate change. Given their relative inability to adjust metabolism, limited dispersal opportunities (sloths are slow-moving and largely arboreal), we conclude that sloths may be in considerable peril over the coming decades with ongoing anthropogenic climate warming. Our favourite of creatures rely on our actions in order to maintain their existence.
