Signals of decline of flagship species Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895 (Caudata, Ambystomatidae) in a Mexican natural protected area

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Abstract

Mexico is home to 18 species of salamanders in the family Ambystomidae. Endangered Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895 is a flagship species for the Lagos de Zempoala National Park (LZNP) in central Mexico, a protected area subject to numerous anthropogenic threats. Ambystoma altamirani populations in the Park have been little studied. In 2016–2017, we surveyed four streams where populations of the species had been previously reported. Habitat variables did not differ amongst streams and three had invasive rainbow trout, but we were only able to locate one A. altamirani population in Quila, a small, cold water stream lacking fish. We captured an average of 88 individuals (total n = 354; range 53–109) across all samples in this stream, including larvae, juveniles and adults. Population estimates ranged between 53 and 127 individuals. The absence in other streams suggests reductions in the spatial extent of A. altamirani in the LZNP. We suggest rainbow trout presence in numerous streams have led to local extirpation of A. altamirani and that removal and blockage of the invasive fish and a planned re-introduction strategy might help in restoring this flagship species.

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Colloquium paper: are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians.

D. Wake, V. Vredenburg (2008)

Many scientists argue that we are either entering or in the midst of the sixth great mass extinction. Intense human pressure, both direct and indirect, is having profound effects on natural environments. The amphibians--frogs, salamanders, and caecilians--may be the only major group currently at risk globally. A detailed worldwide assessment and subsequent updates show that one-third or more of the 6,300 species are threatened with extinction. This trend is likely to accelerate because most amphibians occur in the tropics and have small geographic ranges that make them susceptible to extinction. The increasing pressure from habitat destruction and climate change is likely to have major impacts on narrowly adapted and distributed species. We show that salamanders on tropical mountains are particularly at risk. A new and significant threat to amphibians is a virulent, emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, which appears to be globally distributed, and its effects may be exacerbated by global warming. This disease, which is caused by a fungal pathogen and implicated in serious declines and extinctions of >200 species of amphibians, poses the greatest threat to biodiversity of any known disease. Our data for frogs in the Sierra Nevada of California show that the fungus is having a devastating impact on native species, already weakened by the effects of pollution and introduced predators. A general message from amphibians is that we may have little time to stave off a potential mass extinction.

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Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide.

Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil A Cox … (2004)

The first global assessment of amphibians provides new context for the well-publicized phenomenon of amphibian declines. Amphibians are more threatened and are declining more rapidly than either birds or mammals. Although many declines are due to habitat loss and overutilization, other, unidentified processes threaten 48% of rapidly declining species and are driving species most quickly to extinction. Declines are nonrandom in terms of species' ecological preferences, geographic ranges, and taxonomic associations and are most prevalent among Neotropical montane, stream-associated species. The lack of conservation remedies for these poorly understood declines means that hundreds of amphibian species now face extinction.