Conservation Conversations 16

Leaping to Extinction?

It has been reported (http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2058785,00.html) that amphibian and reptile numbers have declined by an average of 75% since 1970 on the La Selva lowland forest reserve in Costa Rica in spite of building, land clearance and agricultural chemicals being banned from the location. There has consequently been little direct loss of habitat in this area and it is difficult to link the declines to the fungal disease chytridiomycosis that has decimated amphibian populations in many parts of the world. One suggestion (by Maureen Donelly of Florida International University) is climate change as warmer and wetter weather in Costa Rica has reduced the amount of leaf litter on the forest floor (leaves are used for shelter by some frogs, snakes and lizards as well as providing food for their insect prey). It has also been suggested in the journal Science that a $400m Amphibian Survival Alliance plan should be instituted to collect these endangered species for captive breeding programmes. There is, of course, no guarantee that captive breeding would be successful, the resulting progeny would be suitable for release or appropriate habitat to release them back to existing.

FOOTNOTE Chytridiomycosis arrived in the UK in 2006 following the escape of some imported North American bullfrogs, to further threaten our dramatically declining Natterjack toad and Great crested newt numbers?