The amphibian decline crisis: A watershed for conservation biology?

By T. Beebee, R. Griffiths. 2005

822 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Amphibians have declined dramatically in many areas of the world. These declines seem to have worsened over the past 25 years and amphibians are now more threatened than either mammals or birds, though comparisons with other taxa are confounded by a shortage of reliable data. Research into amphibian declines has focused on: (1) documentation at the landscape or population level; and (2) observational and experimental work on potential causes of declines. Although loss of habitat is known to have impacted amphibians for decades, recent research has focused on the effects of environmental contaminants, UV-B irradiation, emerging diseases, the introduction of alien species, direct exploitation, and climate change. Such factors may interact with each other, but high levels of mortality do not necessarily lead to population declines. Major challenges remain in extrapolating from experimental data to population level effects, and in developing methodologies that will provide unbiased descriptions of amphibian population dynamics. Although amphibians have been widely advocated as good biological indicators, there is little evidence to suggest that they are more effective than other taxa as surrogate measures of biodiversity or habitat quality. As many of the threats facing amphibians are extremely difficult to neutralize in the short- to medium-term, the chances of ameliorating – let alone reversing – amphibian declines seem very poor.

Subfields: Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/59c71560cd1ac732afbdca1ddbfa580df2cb6e1b

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Citations in the corpus

Habitat availability for amphibians and extinction threat: a global analysis (2015, background): “(2014) 1–10 A J ou rn al o f Co ns er va ti on y D iv er si ty a nd D is tr ib ut io ns pollution, UV-B radiation and human-caused mortality (Stuart et al., 2004, 2008; Beebee & Griffiths, 2005).”
Global warming and biodiversity: Evidence of climate-linked amphibian declines in Italy (2009, background): “In Europe, anthropogenic activities degrading native habitats, both by structural modifications and pollutant releases, are the most obvious factors contributing to amphibian population disappearances (Blaustein and Kiesecker, 2002; Beebee and Griffiths, 2005).”
Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Broadly Distributed in the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest (2006, background): “…to climate change, chemical contamination, habitat loss, infectious diseases, overexploitation, species introduction, and ultraviolet radiation; and it is becoming increasingly clear that inter- actions among some of these factors play a key role in population fate (Beebee and Griffiths, 2005).”
Amphibians over the edge: silent extinction risk of Data Deficient species (2014, background): “…threats from habitat loss (Stuart et al., 2004; Cushman, 2006; Becker et al., 2007), wild harvesting for food (Warkentin et al., 2009) and trade (Stuart et al., 2006), and increases in ultraviolet radiation (Kiesecker et al., 2001) are linked to population declines (Beebee & Griffiths, 2005).”
Effect of salmonid introduction and other environmental characteristics on amphibian distribution and abundance in mountain lakes of northern Spain (2006, background): “In recent years, amphibians have been the focus of important conservation efforts owing to severe population reductions and even extinction in many species (Houlahan et al., 2000; Stuart et al., 2004; Beebee & Griffiths, 2005).”
A Synthesis of Evidence of Drivers of Amphibian Declines (2020, background): “Since overcoming these early challenges, current evidence indicates that declines are real and that they are ongoing and catastrophic in some locations (e.g., Mahony 1996; Houlahan et al. 2000; Green 2003; Beebee and Griffiths 2005; Vredenburg et al. 2010).”
Ongoing invasions of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis: a global review (2012, background): “Recreational fishing has detected at least two populations (Humberside, UK and France), while others have been recognised due to a renewed interest in amphibian surveys following the well publicised amphibian decline phenomenon (e.g. Beebee and Griffiths 2005).”
Habitat fragmentation reduces genetic diversity and connectivity among toad populations in the Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Forest (2009, background): “Amphibians are the vertebrate lineage with highest number of species threatened with extinction (Stuart et al., 2004; Beebee and Griffiths, 2005) and their vulnerability is at least partially explained by their often narrow environmental tolerances (Findlay and Houlahan, 1997; Bridges and…”
The amphibian chytrid fungus along an altitudinal transect before the first reported declines in Costa Rica (2006, background): “The decline and extinction of many amphibian populations in protected areas around the world is an alarming phenomenon with several possible causes (Alford and Richards, 1999; Stuart et al., 2004; Beebee and Griffiths, 2005 ).”
Paradox, presumption and pitfalls in conservation biology: The importance of habitat change for amphibians and reptiles. (2007, background): “…that the last two decades have witnessed a shift in the research attention of studies concerned with amphibian declines away from the consequences of habitat loss and towards a focus on non-structural threats (‘‘Class II’’ hypotheses) (Collins and Storfer, 2003; Beebee and Griffiths, 2005).”
Additive threats from pathogens, climate and land-use change for global amphibian diversity (2011, background): “The causes of these declines are a matter of continued research, but probably include climate change, land-use change and spread of the pathogenic fungal disease chytridiomycosi”
Impacts of habitat loss and restoration on amphibian populations (2009, background): “…and alien species, global warming, enhanced ultraviolet radiation, increased environmental acidity, contaminants, and over-exploitation (Alford and Richards 1999, Semlitsch 2000, Blaustein and Kiesecker 2002, Collins and Stofter 2003, Beebee and Griffiths 2005, Cushman 2006, Gardner et al. 2007).”
Variable response of anuran calling activity to daily precipitation and temperature: implications for climate change (2013, background): “Additionally, habitat loss is a major driver of population declines (Beebee and Griffiths 2005, Cushman 2006, Halliday 2008, Hillers et al. 2008, Angelone and Holderegger 2009), and the fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, has been identified as cause of population declines and extinctions of…”
Pattern of distribution of the American bullfrog Rana catesbeiana in Europe (2007, background): “one of the most harmful invasive species, since it negatively affects native amphibians through competition and predation (Lowe et al. 2000; Kats and Ferrer 2003; Beebee and Griffiths 2005).”
Plasticity in the vocalizations of anurans in response to traffic noise (2010, background): “Beebee and Griffiths (2005) listed habitat alteration, environmental contaminants, UV-B irradiation, disease, introduced species, exploitation and climate change as the primary factors explaining these declines.”
Effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on amphibians: A review and prospectus (2006, result): “Other studies have reached similar conclusions based on the relatively small movement distances and philopatry of adults and relatively large dispersal distances of juveniles (Breden, 1987; Berven and Grudzien, 1990).”