Browsing by Author "Lawson, Dwight"

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    Confronting Amphibian Declines and Extinctions
    (2006-07) Mendelson, Joseph R.; Lips, Karen R.; Ronald, Gagliardo W.; Rabb, George B.; Collins, James P.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Daszak, Peter; Ibanez, Roberto D.; Zippel, Kevin; Lawson, Dwight; Wright, Kevin M.; Stuart, Simon N.; Gascon, Claude; Da Silva, Helio R.; Burrowes, Patricia A.; Joglar, Rafael L.; La Marca, Enrique; Lotters, Stefan; Du Preez, Louis; Weldon, Ché; Hyatt, Alex D.; Mahecha, J.V. R.; Hunt, Susan; Robertson, Helen; Lock, Brad; Raxworthy, Christopher J.; Frost, Darrel; Lacy, Robert C; Alford, Ross A.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Olea, Gabriela P.; Bolaños, Federico; Domingo, Jose J. C.; Halliday, Tim; Murphy, James B.; Wake, Marvalee H.; Coloma, Luis A.; Kuzmin, Sergius; Price, Mark S.; Howell, Kim; Lau, Michael W.N.; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Boone, Michelle; Lannoo, Michael; Blaustein, Andrew R.; Dobson, Andy P.; Griffiths, Richard A.; Crump, Martha L.; Wake, David; Brodie Jr, Edmund D.
    Amphibian declines and extinctions areglobal and rapid: 32.5% of 5743 de-scribed species are threatened, with atleast 9, and perhaps 122, becoming extinct since1980 (1). Species have disappeared across theentire taxonomic group and in nearly all regionsof the planet. These figures are probably under-estimates as entire clades of species are threat-ened. For example, of the 113 species of harle-quin toads (genus Atelopus), 30 are possiblyextinct, and only 10 have stable populations (2).Nearly a quarter of known amphibian specieswere deemed “data-deficient” with respect toconservation status in the recent global assess-ment (1). Losing biodiversity at this taxonomicscale impacts ecosystem goods and services[e.g. (3, 4)]. As amphibian species disappear, wealso lose their untapped potential for advances inbiomedicine and biotechnology in general (5). Losses result from familiar threats (land-usechange, commercial overexploitation, and exoticspecies) and from the emerging infectious dis-ease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungusBatrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Pre-dictions are that within 4 to 6 months of Bdarrival at a site where it has not previously beenpresent, ~50% of amphibian species and ~80%of individuals may disappear (6). Global climatechange may be encouraging local conditionsideal for Bd’s persistence and/or spread (7), com-mercial trade of wildlife may also contribute (8),and pollution may increase susceptibility ofspecies to pathogens (9, 10). Traditional pro-grams and current laws and policies alone areinsufficient to address global threats that crossboundaries of reserves and nation