More than 17,000 species threatened by extinction

Rabb's fringe-limbed tree frog. Photo: Brad Wilson.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has just released its 2009 Red List, and it includes over 17,000 species that are currently threatened by extinctin. The Red List is a comprehensive, global approach for evaluating the conservation status of animal and plant species. This method of evaluation began in 1994, and forthcoming Red List workshops will now include the Amphibian Ark’s Conservation Needs Assessment process to evaluate and prioritize amphibians for the specific conservation needs.

The 2009 list contains 1,895 amphibian species that are threatened due to deforestation, climate change, disease and other factors.

The Kihansi spray toad of southern Tanzania is now thought to be extinct in the wild. A dam upstream of Kihansi Falls has dried up the gorge where it lived, and an aggressive fungal disease known as chytridiomycosis appears to have pushed the toad population over the edge, the group said.

The same fate could soon befall the unusually large Rabb’s fringe-limbed tree frog, which glides through the forest using its big webbed feet to steer safely to the ground. It is the only known frog species where the tadpoles feed off skin shed by the male while he guards the young.

The chytrid fungus that causes chytridiomycosis reached central Panama in 2006, a year after scientists first discovered the tree frog. Since then the fungus — believed to be spread by international trade and global warming — has virtually wiped out the wild frog population.

Click here for the full article about the 2009 Red List update.

 

Biodiversity is slipping through our fingers, study shows

Six years ago, promises were made by governments from around the world involving the mass extinctions facing so many animal classes, chief among them the amphibian class. The governments vowed to halt the decline in biodiversity by 2o1o. Well, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) just issued a report that says, in essence, “let’s not kid ourselves, when next year comes around, it’s going to be bleak.”

IUCN, which puts out the Red List of most endangered species, has produced a 150-page report that details the loss of biodiversity earth has experienced over the last 5 years. “Biodiversity continues to decline and next year no one will dispute that,” said the report’s senior editor. “It’s happening everywhere.”

Here’s a link to story I just read about this.  (Click HERE.)

An excerpt from the IUCN Web site:

The report shows nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction. For some plant groups, such as conifers and cycads, the situation is even more serious, with 28 percent and 52 percent threatened respectively. For all these groups, habitat destruction, through agriculture, logging and development, is the main threat and occurs worldwide.

In the case of amphibians, the fungal disease chytridiomycosis is seriously affecting an increasing number of species, complicating conservation efforts. For birds, the highest number of threatened species is found in Brazil and Indonesia, but the highest proportion of threatened or extinct birds is found on oceanic islands. Invasive species and hunting are the main threats. For mammals, unsustainable hunting is the greatest threat after habitat loss. This is having a major impact in Asia, where deforestation is also occurring at a very rapid rate.

 

Frogs vanishing in Europe

Frogs are disappearing at an alarming rate in Europe: “Fifty-nine percent of all European amphibians and 42 percent of reptiles are declining and face even greater risk than European mammals and birds, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said.” CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY.

 

Climate change stat of the day

Among endangered species of amphibians, “75 percent are susceptible to climate change while 41 percent of non-threatened species are susceptible as well.” (From study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as reported in The Economic Times of India.)

 

Take all amphibian species, divide by two, and that’s not as many that are hurt by global warming

The math is astounding, staggering, sobering, disheartening, and maddening, but we need to react with determination, anger, confidence, and donations to Amphibian Ark. More details are coming out on IUCN’s announcement of the major threats facing all animal life. I just posted about the fact that one in four mammals being threatened. Well, now we learn that MORE THAN TWO IN FOUR AMPHIBIANS ARE BEING HARMED BY GLOBAL WARMING. That fits hand-in-glove with the studies showing that up to half of all amphibian species are hopping toward extinction. Here’s an excerpt from the write-up on peopleandplanet.net:

The study found 3,217 of the 6,222 amphibians in the world are likely to be susceptible to climate change. Three salamander families are could be particularly susceptible, while 80-100 percent of Seychelles frogs and Indian Burrowing Frogs, Australian ground frogs, horned toads and glassfrog families were assessed as susceptible.

 

The elephant in the room about the only animal with better news

The African elephant has been “upgraded” to “near threatened from the bleaker “vulnerable” list. And that’s about the rosiest take from the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, where the annual Red List oof Endangered Species was announced. The grabber this year is that one in four mammals is threatened due to habitat loss, hunting, and global warming.

The Congress also issued the reminder of why 2008 has been called the Year of the Frog and why Amphibian Ark was created: at least one-third (most say up to one-half) of amphibian species could go extinct in our lifetime unless emergency measures are taken. Here’s the excerpt from The New York Times:

“Although 5 percent of mammals are recovering, what we observe are rates of habitat loss and hunting in Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Central and South America that are so serious that the overall rate of decline has steadily increased during the past decade,” Mr. Schipper said.

Amphibians, too, are facing an extinction crisis, with at least 33 percent either threatened or extinct, the I.U.C.N. reported.

Holdridge’s toad, found only in Costa Rica, was declared extinct. The Cuban crocodile, illegally hunted for its meat and skin, was moved to the critically endangered category.

Making the list for the first time were Indian tarantulas, highly prized by collectors and threatened by the international pet trade. The Rameshwaram parachute spider, whose habitat has been eroded by new roads, was found to be critically endangered. The spiders’ “natural habitat has been almost completely destroyed,” the group said.

Not every part of the report was bleak. The African elephant was removed from the vulnerable list and was listed as “near threatened,” although its status varied depending on location. The I.U.C.N. said increases in the population of the elephants in southern and eastern Africa were big enough to offset any decreases taking place elsewhere.

 

The profit motive of biodiversity

Have been holding onto this article from Planet 2025 News Network for awhile. Seems like a good day to share it. IUCN, by the way, is a key supporter of Amphibian Ark.

The business case for conserving nature is strong and getting stronger, according to a new report published today by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Shell International Limited.

The report calls for policy reforms to increase the commercial rewards for conserving biodiversity, increased penalties for biodiversity loss and better information on the biodiversity performance of business. A key challenge facing all biodiversity businesses is the lack of accepted indicators to measure positive and negative contributions to biodiversity conservation.As the world wakes up to the accelerating loss of biological diversity, businesses are increasingly viewing biodiversity conservation as a potential profit centre, says the report, Building Biodiversity Business.”There are numerous pro-biodiversity business opportunities that can generate significant profits as well as benefits for nature,” says Dr Joshua Bishop, IUCN’s Senior Advisor on Economics and the Environment. “But a few inspiring examples aren’t enough. This report shows how to achieve a major increase in business investment in biodiversity conservation, by linking policy reforms, technical assistance and innovative financing tools.”Ecotourism is one example of how money can be made from looking after species and their habitats. Environmentally-friendly tourism is expanding at a rate of 20-30 percent annually, compared with 9 percent for tourism as a whole.

Many other businesses, historically responsible for the loss of biodiversity, are starting to lead the way by protecting biodiversity. Markets for organic agriculture and sustainably-harvested timber are growing at double-digit rates. Another major area of growth is the demand for climate mitigation services, such as the protection of forests and wetlands to absorb carbon dioxide.

Bio-prospecting, the search for new compounds, genes and organisms in the wild, is also a biodiversity business on the rise. Some suggest the sector could be worth as much as US$500 million by 2050.

“For businesses to conserve biodiversity it must ultimately become more profitable to protect nature and use natural resources sustainably, rather than ignore or destroy it,” says Sachin Kapila, Group Biodiversity Adviser at Shell International Limited.

Source: iNSnet

 

Frog auction getting a lot of attention: Associated Press story

Read, learn, enjoy this new AP story. And also here is link to the auction page.

Conservationists auction off frog naming rights/Associated Press

 A girl has to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, but how to interpret the gesture when the prince makes a bid to name a frog in her honor?

That’s one possible scenario, thanks to a new online auction allowing a high bidder to win the right to name a frog species.

Amphibian Ark, an international collaboration of conservationists working to save frogs, is organizing the effort to auction the naming rights to five species of frogs on the Internet – one frog a month for five months.

Profits will fund efforts to protect frogs at a crucial time, said Kevin Zippel, Amphibian Ark’s program director. Amphibians have been on the planet for 360 million years, but based on recent science, “This is the greatest extinction rate they’ve ever faced,” he said.

The first frog that a member of the public can name – for the right price – is from Ecuador, a member of the Osornophryne genus.

The frog was discovered in 1997, and there are no living members of the species in captivity, but whoever wins the online auction will be able to determine its species name. The profits raised will go to fund work to save frogs in Ecuador. Details on the other four frogs, and where the money will go to protect frogs, have not yet been released.

The hope is that auctioning off the naming rights could raise between $100,000 to $200,000 for each of the five frogs.

The estimate is based on prices paid in the past in separate efforts for the rights to name animals, like the $650,000 an Internet casino paid in 2005 to name a monkey species for the benefit of a national park in Bolivia. Its moniker? GoldenPalace.com.

“The potential to raise money to save these species outweighed any criticism we might get that we’re selling out,” said Zippel, speaking by telephone from Auburn, N.Y., where he lives.

A description of the new species will be published in a professional journal, and its scientific name will need to conform to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Zippel offered an example: If Donald Trump were a winning bidder of a frog from Rana genus, it wouldn’t be named “Rana Donald Trump,” but “Rana donaldtrumpi.”

The Internet naming contest at http://www.amphibianark.org/ is just one of many ways Amphibian Ark is trying to raise awareness about the plight of the frog. The group has dubbed 2008 the “Year of the Frog,” with zoos and other organizations around the world holding events to educate about the threats frogs are facing.

From one-third to one-half of the planet’s amphibian species are in danger of extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution, over collection and disease, including a fatal fungus.

Scientists say they have to figure out a way to rid the environment of chytrid fungus or help frogs develop a resistance. The frogs can be cured with a fungicide, but they’ll be affected again upon re-entry.

Amphibian Ark wants 500 frogs from 500 species to be held in biosecure facilities around the world. Jeffrey Bonner, president of the Saint Louis Zoo and Amphibian Ark’s immediate past chair, called the effort “protective custody for frogs.”

Profits from the auction of the first frog will be donated to the lab of Dr. Luis Coloma in Ecuador for frog conservation work.

Researchers don’t know if they’ll be able to save the frog whose naming rights are being auctioned. That’s because they don’t know how many are still in the wild.

But, Zippel said, the funds will go to study how many of those frogs remain in the field and to help efforts to conserve it and other frogs in Ecuador.

Bonner called the online auction “just lovely.” He said, “It’s such a wonderful idea. I hope it works.” If $500,000 were raised, “we could save a lot of animals,” he said.

Amphibian Ark is a partnership between the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Conservation Union.

 

Polar bears and amphibians on the “thin ice” list

And now, the polar bear. Yesterday’s decision by the U.S. government to place the polar bear on the endangered species list comes after the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that the world’s polar bear population could shrink to one-third its current size by 2050.  The IUCN Red List, which transcends borders, states that the polar bear is “considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.” For a table showing how the different animal classes compare on percentage of species considered endangered — it’s pretty much all bad — I condensed an IUCN table into what you see below.

 

How the number 5 will help save amphibians

Amphibian Ark, a global conservation organization created to raise awareness and rally fundraising to protect endangered amphibian species, announced last week the commencement of its 5 for Frogs campaign. 5 for Frogs is a grassroots crusade with the goal of raising $500,000 to save five endangered species in five months.

The ”pay it forward” spirit behind 5 for Frogs asks kids and adults to do something to help frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians through acts of kindness involving the number 5. It could be as simple as someone telling or emailing five people about the looming mass extinction of amphibians. Or, it could be holding a charity car wash or selling cookies to raise $5, $50, or even $500 for Amphibian Ark to allocate to rescue projects. If thousands get involved, each can play a part in saving five or more species from extinction. Fifty ideas for getting involved in 5 for Frogs are listed on the Amphibian Ark Web site at www.amphibianark.org.

The May kickoff of 5 for Frogs started with a U.S. national FrogWatch on May 3 involving hundreds of students who will monitor the environmental health status of amphibians in their communities through a cooperative effort organized by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) and the National Wildlife Federation. FrogWatch is a volunteer-based program that encourages everyone to help by getting outdoors and monitoring local wetlands for breeding frogs and toads.

“Not since the disappearance of the dinosaurs have we seen an extinction of this magnitude,” said Jean-Michele Cousteau, supporter of Amphibian Ark and founder of the Oceans Future Society. “Because amphibians are the first to feel the effects of environmental stressors that could ultimately harm humans, and they play a critical role in our ecosystem, the time to act is now.”

In addition to the grassroots activities, 5 for Frogs will feature several global, special events throughout the summer. Five species of amphibians that have not yet been given common names will have their naming rights auctioned, with proceeds earmarked for Amphibian Ark. And, an endangered Mexican species, the Large-crested toad, received special visibility on Cinco de Mayo, celebrated, of course, on the fifth day of the fifth month.

 “It costs only $100,000 to save one species of amphibians, which is a relatively low cost for avoiding extinction,” said Jeff Corwin, supporter of Amphibian Ark and host of The Discovery Network’s Animal Planet. “The Year 2008 has been dubbed The Year of the Frogs by conservationists from around the world to highlight the amphibian crisis and to save the most endangered species from extinction. As a result, the 5 for Frogs campaign could not come at a better time in an attempt to channel these efforts.”

Amphibian Ark is a partnership between the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, and IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. It was formed to develop, promote, and guide short term captive management of threatened amphibians, making possible the long-term survival of species for which adequate protection in the wild is not currently possible. To learn more about Amphibian Ark, the 5 for Frogs campaign, and to review 50 inspirational and creative ways to raise funds for amphibians, please visit www.amphibianark.org.