Adrift on a Sea of Troubles: Can Amphibians Survive in a Human-Dominated World?1

Ford, Jessica; Hunt, David A. G. A.; Haines, Grant E.; Lewis, M. K.; Lewis, Yael; Green, David M.

doi:10.1655/0018-0831-76.2.251

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…As IAS threaten a specific part of these traits, we may ask whether ecosystem processes will remain unchanged or whether some are particularly at risk if IAS‐T species disappear. For instance, in addition to maintaining physical and chemical conditions around them as larvae, amphibians play a critical role in nutrient flow when moving from water to land during metamorphosis (Ford et al, 2020). However, we showed that amphibians with aquatic larval stages were likely to be associated with IAS threat specifically, thus rendering these functions uncertain if IAS‐T species go extinct.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiling insular vertebrates prone to biological invasions: What makes them vulnerable?

Marino

Leclerc

Bellard

2021

Global Change Biology

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Human activities continue to impact biodiversity worldwide at an accelerating rate (Ceballos et al., 2015). Among various drivers that negatively affect global biodiversity, invasive alien species (IAS) are considered to be the primary cause of extinctions (Blackburn et al., 2019). Because almost 9 of 10 extinctions associated with IAS involve insular endemic species (Bellard, Cassey, et al., 2016), insular systems are particularly impacted by this threat. Moreover, intrinsic island features such as simplified ecosystems and high endemism due to a specific eco-evolutionary history promote the high extinction proneness of insular species (Tershy et al., 2015). Combined with the ongoing IAS threat, this puts strong pressure on contemporary insular biodiversity. For example, IAS are currently associated with more than a quarter of critically endangered insular terrestrial vertebrates (Dueñas et al., 2021). Since the rate of introduction of alien species into new ecosystems is currently increasing and does not appear to be slowing down (Seebens et al., 2017), it is of primary importance to understand the vulnerability of insular ecosystems to biological invasions.Species vulnerability to threats depends on extrinsic factors such as stress intensity as well as intrinsic factors such as ecological traits (e.g., body size, type of habitat, and diet), which affect the capacity of species to adapt and thrive under changing environments (Clavel et al., 2011). The link between species traits and vulnerability to major threats has been widely documented. For instance, universal characteristics associated with a "slow-living" pace (correlated with large body size) or a small geographical range have been shown to be particularly important to explain the species extinction risk (Chichorro et al., 2019). However, the

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiling insular vertebrates prone to biological invasions: What makes them vulnerable?

Marino

Leclerc

Bellard

2021

Global Change Biology

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“…With some notable exceptions (e.g., in páramos, African moorlands, Andean punas, and other ecoregions facing severe impacts from anthropogenic climate change and/or disease transmission), habitat loss and degradation represent the greatest overall threats to amphibians (Collins & Storfer, 2003; Cushman, 2006; Ford et al, 2020), including in several top‐scoring pixels. In fact, for a few areas and for several imperiled microendemic species, there may be so little viable habitat remaining that certain resident amphibian species will soon be or are already functionally extinct (Frankham, 1995; Hanski & Ovaskainen, 2002; With & King, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, being forced to choose between which species to protect or let perish is undeniably an artificially created problem (Czech, 2000; Czech et al, 2000; Parr et al, 2009). To reduce the number of future amphibian extinctions, we therefore endorse the perspective that scientists should view conservation biology not merely as an applied academic discipline, but as a multifaceted task that will ultimately require dismantling social and economic barriers to environmental protection in general (Czech, 2000; Ford et al, 2020). For example, conservation scientists should take proactive steps toward establishing relationships with local wildlife managers, and should be institutionally supported in doing so.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An integrative synthesis to global amphibian conservation priorities

Button

Borzée

2021

Global Change Biology

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Human activities are driving many species to the brink of extinction, and the current distribution of protected areas only weakly alleviates pressure on threatened species. This discrepancy reflects the presence of protected areas on lands available instead of the ecological, evolutionary, or conservation values of species present. Habitat loss consequently continues to impact threatened species, as illustrated by geographic patterns of biodiversity loss for amphibians. Given the need to better align the boundaries of protected areas with at‐risk biodiversity, we assessed the importance of various factors for identifying global and biome‐level conservation priority areas, specifically for amphibians. We identified, mapped, and ranked areas of critical conservation importance for all amphibian species on earth using a new integrative tool that scores the urgency of conserving each species and location based on a combination of species characteristics and ecoregion‐level human impacts. Our integrative approach is novel in that it accounts for likely threats to Data Deficient species, considers the irreplaceability of unique species that are phylogenetically isolated, and addresses the localized conservation implications of species endemicity and projected future human impacts to an ecoregion. For comparison, we also mapped and ranked amphibian biodiversity using species richness and an Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) score proxy. Our integrative approach predicted key regions for amphibian conservation that were not apparent when using a simple species richness or EDGE score proxy‐based approach. Furthermore, by scaling conservation priority scores relative to biome, we identified several temperate and xeric regions of crucial yet overlooked conservation importance for amphibians. Until global amphibian diversity is thoroughly catalogued, we recommend using our integrative scoring approach to set geographic priorities for amphibian habitat protection, while acknowledging that this approach may be complemented by others (e.g., EDGE scores). Our study provides an avenue for avoiding common pitfalls of more simplistic species richness‐based approaches for conservation planning, and can be used to improve the future design of protected areas.

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“…The presence of the zoosporangia in a host cell induces cell division (hyperplasia) in neighboring epidermal cells, resulting in local thickening of the epidermis [8,9,42,45,46]. For example, in L. caerulea the stratum corneum (i.e., the apical epidermal cell layer) can thicken from 2-5 µm to 60 µm [6]. Bd-infected epidermis is not only thicker, but also more heavily keratinized than healthy skin (hyperkeratosis).…”

Section: Epidermal Morphology Of Bd-infected Frogsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Curbing this biodiversity loss is crucial, because amphibians are an important link in the food web of many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems [5]. The design of effective mitigation strategies for chytridiomycosis requires a thorough understanding of the fundamental processes that determine disease impact, many of which are still unknown [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Chytridiomycosis Affect Tree Frog Attachment?

et al. 2021

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The pandemic disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is a major threat to amphibian biodiversity. For most species, the exact mechanisms of chytridiomycosis that lead to negative population dynamics remain uncertain, though mounting evidence suggests that sublethal effects could be an important driver. In this review, we propose that tree frog attachment is a promising case to study the sublethal effects of a Bd infection on amphibians. A synthesis of the current knowledge on the functional morphology of the adhesive toe pads of tree frogs, on the underlying mechanisms of tree frog attachment, and on the epidermal pathology of chytridiomycosis substantiates the hypothesis that Bd-induced epidermal alterations have the potential to disrupt tree frog attachment. We highlight a series of (biomechanical) experiments to test this hypothesis and to shed some light on the sublethal disease mechanisms of chytridiomycosis. The knowledge generated from such an approach could contribute to future research on Bd epidemiology and ultimately to the conservation of the biodiversity of arboreal anurans.

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Adrift on a Sea of Troubles: Can Amphibians Survive in a Human-Dominated World?1

Cited by 11 publications

References 80 publications

Profiling insular vertebrates prone to biological invasions: What makes them vulnerable?

Profiling insular vertebrates prone to biological invasions: What makes them vulnerable?

An integrative synthesis to global amphibian conservation priorities

Does Chytridiomycosis Affect Tree Frog Attachment?

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