Harlequin frog rediscoveries provide insights into species persistence in the face of drastic amphibian declines

Jaynes, Kyle E.; Páez-Vacas, Mónica; Salazar-Valenzuela, David; Guayasamín, Juan M.; Terán-Valdez, Andrea; Siavichay, Fausto R.; Fitzpatrick, Sarah W.; Coloma, Luis A.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109784

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Some populations of Atelopus persist due to a high recruitment of offspring, but remain in a precarious state (Lampo et al, 2017;Gonzaĺez-Maya et al, 2018). There is evidence that A. varius populations in Panama are developing resistance to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) (Voyles et al, 2018;Byrne et al, 2021), and rediscoveries of Atelopus populations once thought to be extinct may offer further insight into the genetic selection pressures that chytridiomycosis places on these populations (Jaynes et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement and survival of captive-bred Limosa harlequin frogs (Atelopus limosus) released into the wild

Klocke,

Estrada,

Mataya

et al. 2023

Front. Amphib. Reptile Sci.

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The endangered Limosa harlequin frog Atelopus limosus has experienced significant chytridiomycosis-related declines, but has been successfully bred in captivity as part of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. We conducted the first Atelopus release trial using 83 captive-bred A. limosus, and monitored individuals as they transitioned from captivity back into the wild at a site within their historic distribution with no extant population. We acclimated 23 animals to the environment prior to release by holding them in mesocosms for 30 days (soft release) and released a further 60 animals without prior acclimation (hard release). We radio-tracked a subsample of animals in each treatment group. We used a Bayesian mark–recapture analysis to integrate known fate data from radio-tracked individuals with data from resighted individuals that had unknown fates. For this analysis, we allowed survival to differ between release treatments (hard vs. soft) and assumed detection probability would differ between tracking methods. Per-survey detection probability was about 0.02 for individuals without radio transmitters vs. 0.88 for radio-tracked frogs. We observed that hard-released animals initially dispersed further than soft-released animals, and, despite the fact that 25% of the soft-released animals were Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)-positive on release day, their estimated 30-day survival probability was 0.46 (vs. 0.31 for the hard-released animals). The insights from this release trial can be used in an adaptive management framework to improve and refine release methods that will inform the nascent field of amphibian reintroduction ecology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement and survival of captive-bred Limosa harlequin frogs (Atelopus limosus) released into the wild

Klocke,

Estrada,

Mataya

et al. 2023

Front. Amphib. Reptile Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, Harlequin toads ( Atelopus spp.) have been devastated by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, leading to 70% of the species being considered Critically Endangered or Possibly Extinct in fewer than 20 years (Jaynes et al ., 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%