By the turn of the century, sloths could be endangered.
New research published on September 27 in the journal PeerJ indicates that Earth’s rising temperatures could pose a severe threat to the overall species’ health and long-term survival rates. Researchers led by Rebecca Cliffe (a zoologist, founder of The Sloth Conservation Foundation) focused their latest investigation on the two-fingered slots (Choloepushoffmanni), who live in highland and lowland regions with a range of ambient temperatures. Cliffe’s research team used indirect calorimetry to analyze the oxygen consumption of sloths and their core body temperature in scenarios that mimicked the projected warming rates for their habitats between 2100 and 2200, which is anywhere from 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit to 6 degrees Celsius. The study concluded that the effects “are expected be profound.” Our research indicates that sloths in high-altitude areas may not survive the significant temperature increases forecast for 2100. It is particularly problematic because of their limited ability to adapt metabolically and the difficulty they have in finding cooler habitats. While low-altitude slots may be able move higher up to cooler habitats, they still display a biological survival characteristic called “metabolic Depression” which limits any further increases in RMR. It would be enough to threaten their health. This means that they can’t simply eat more food as both global temperatures and sloth metabolic rates rise. This means that they can’t simply eat more food as both global temperatures and sloth metabolic rates rise.
Cliffe’s team concedes in the study that their climate model was “rudimentary in its omission of error and uncertainty considerations.” Despite this, they “predict that a comparatively small increase in ambient temperature could see high-altitude sloths pushed into a situation where it is impossible to make their energy consumption tie in with their energy budget.” It’s this delicate balance between metabolism, digestion, and habitat temperatures that make the slow-moving species especially susceptible to climate change fallout.
