Population Declines and Priorities for Amphibian Conservation in Latin America

Young, Bruce E.; Lips, Karen R.; Reaser, Jamie K.; Ibáñez, Roberto; Salas, Antonio W.; Cedeño, Jeffrey; Coloma, Luis A.; Ron, Santiago R.; Marca, Enrique La; Meyer, John R.; Muñoz, A.; Bolaños, Federico; Cháves, Gerardo; Romo, David

doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.00218.x

Cited by 259 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Declines of similar magnitude to those we report for La Selva's primary forests have been widely reported for other tropical sites in Central and South America and Australia, but the trends we identify are distinct from all other recorded population declines in at least three major ways. First, community-wide amphibian population declines of the magnitude that we report herein have only been reported from cool climates: temperate regions or montane regions of the tropics (3,15,16). Second, amphibian decline events in the montane tropics have occurred rapidly, often in as little as 6 months (5).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Amphibian and reptile declines over 35 years at La Selva, Costa Rica

Whitfield

Bell

Philippi

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Amphibians stand at the forefront of a global biodiversity crisis. More than one-third of amphibian species are globally threatened, and over 120 species have likely suffered global extinction since 1980. Most alarmingly, many rapid declines and extinctions are occurring in pristine sites lacking obvious adverse effects of human activities. The causes of these ''enigmatic'' declines remain highly contested. Still, lack of long-term data on amphibian populations severely limits our understanding of the distribution of amphibian declines, and therefore the ultimate causes of these declines. Here, we identify a systematic community-wide decline in populations of terrestrial amphibians at La Selva Biological Station, a protected old-growth lowland rainforest in lower Central America. We use data collected over 35 years to show that population density of all species of terrestrial amphibians has declined by Ϸ75% since 1970, and we show identical trends for all species of common reptiles. The trends we identify are neither consistent with recent emergence of chytridiomycosis nor the climate-linked epidemic hypothesis, two leading putative causes of enigmatic amphibian declines. Instead, our data suggest that declines are due to climate-driven reductions in the quantity of standing leaf litter, a critical microhabitat for amphibians and reptiles in this assemblage. Our results raise further concerns about the global persistence of amphibian populations by identifying widespread declines in species and habitats that are not currently recognized as susceptible to such risks.conservation ͉ long-term studies ͉ tropical wet forest

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Amphibian and reptile declines over 35 years at La Selva, Costa Rica

Whitfield

Bell

Philippi

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

285

266

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“…In addition, the genetic relationships among strains of Bd and genetic diversity should be compared between regions where Bd is suspected to be native, such as Japan (Goka et al 2009, Goka 2010 and South Africa (Weldon et al 2004), and regions where Bd is considered to be invasive and responsible for a drastic decline in amphibian populations, such as Latin America (e.g. Young et al 2001, Puschendorf et al 2009). Experimental infection of native amphibians with Bd could be a way of measuring the ecological risk to these species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amphibian population declines have been reported worldwide (Young et al 2001, Stuart et al 2004. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is an aquatic fungus discovered in 1998 (Berger et al 1998) that is responsible for the emerging infectious disease chytridiomycosis (Daszak et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the potential distribution of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in East and Southeast Asia

Moriguchi

Tominaga²,

Irwin³

et al. 2015

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is the pathogen responsible for chytridiomycosis, a disease that is associated with a worldwide amphibian population decline. In this study, we predicted the potential distribution of Bd in East and Southeast Asia based on limited occurrence data. Our goal was to design an effective survey area where efforts to detect the pathogen can be focused. We generated ecological niche models using the maximum-entropy approach, with alleviation of multicollinearity and spatial autocorrelation. We applied eigenvector-based spatial filters as independent variables, in addition to environmental variables, to resolve spatial autocorrelation, and compared the model's accuracy and the degree of spatial autocorrelation with those of a model estimated using only environmental variables. We were able to identify areas of high suitability for Bd with accuracy. Among the environmental variables, factors related to temperature and precipitation were more effective in predicting the potential distribution of Bd than factors related to land use and cover type. Our study successfully predicted the potential distribution of Bd in East and Southeast Asia. This information should now be used to prioritize survey areas and generate a surveillance program to detect the pathogen.

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“…However, due to the constant environmental degradation and forest fragmentation this high diversity is threatened (Young et al, 2001;Eterovick et al, 2005;Lips et al, 2005), which makes this biome one of the 10 hotspots of world biodiversity (Myers et al, 2000;Mittermeier et al, 2005). The Atlantic rain forest in São Paulo State has been substantially affected by forest fragmentation because prolonged intense exploitation of natural resources (Myers et al, 2000;Mittermeier et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helminth parasite communities of two Physalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leiuperidae) populations under different conditions of habitat integrity in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil

et al. 2015

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Adults of Physalaemus cuvieri were collected and necropsied between November 2009 and January 2010. This was carried out in order to report and compare the helminth fauna associated with two populations of this anuran species from the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest under different conditions of habitat integrity. The hosts from the disturbed area were parasitized with five helminth taxa: Cosmocerca parva, Aplectana sp., Physaloptera sp., Rhabdias sp., Oswaldocruzia subauricularis (Nematoda) and Polystoma cuvieri (Monogenea) while those from the preserved area had four helminth taxa: C. parva, Aplectana sp., Physaloptera sp., Rhabdias sp., and Acanthocephalus saopaulensis (Acanthocephala). Prevalence, mean intensity of infection, mean abundance, mean richness, importance index and dominance frequency of helminth component communities were similar in both areas. The helminth community associated with anurans from the disturbed area had higher diversity than that from the preserved area. This study is the first to report on the acanthocephalan parasites of Ph. cuvieri, and the similarity between helminth fauna composition of two host populations under different selective pressures.Keywords: amphibian, Atlantic Rain Forest, component community, helminth fauna, parasites. Comunidade de helmintos parasitos de duas populações dePhysalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leiuperidae) sob diferentes condições de integridade de habitat da Mata Atlântica, Brasil ResumoAdultos de Physalaemus cuvieri foram coletados e necropsiados entre Novembro de 2009 e Janeiro de 2010. Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de informar e comparar a helmintofauna associada a duas populações desta espécie de anuro proveniente da Mata Atlântica sob duas condições de integridade de hábitat. Os hospedeiros da área perturbada estavam parasitados por cinco taxa de helmintos: Cosmocerca parva, Aplectana sp., Physaloptera sp., Rhabdias sp., Oswaldocruzia subauricularis (Nematoda) e Polystoma cuvieri (Monogenea), enquanto aqueles da área preservada apresentaram quatro taxa de helmintos: C. parva, Aplectana sp., Physaloptera sp., Rhabdias sp., e Acanthocephalus saopaulensis (Acanthocephala). Prevalência, intensidade média de infecção, abundância média, riqueza média, índice de importância específica e freqüência de dominância da comunidade componente dos helmintos foram similares em ambas as áreas. A comunidade helmíntica associada aos anuros da área perturbada apresentou-se mais diversa do que a encontrada naqueles da área preservada. Este estudo é o primeiro a relatar parasitas acantocéfalos em Ph. cuvieri, e a semelhança entre a composição da helmintofauna de duas populações hospedeiras sob diferentes pressões seletivas.Palavras-chave: anfíbios, Mata Atlântica, comunidade componente, helminto fauna, parasitas.

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Population Declines and Priorities for Amphibian Conservation in Latin America

Cited by 259 publications

References 48 publications

Amphibian and reptile declines over 35 years at La Selva, Costa Rica

Amphibian and reptile declines over 35 years at La Selva, Costa Rica

Predicting the potential distribution of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in East and Southeast Asia

Helminth parasite communities of two Physalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leiuperidae) populations under different conditions of habitat integrity in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil

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