general assessment of the conservation status and decline trends of Mexican amphibians

• Published in: Biodiversity and conservation Vol. 19; no. 13; pp. 3699 - 3742
• Main Authors: Frías-Alvarez, Patricia, Zúñiga-Vega, J. Jaime, Flores-Villela, Oscar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01-12-2010; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amphibians; Analysis; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Conservation biology; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Conservation status; Ecology; Endangered & extinct species; Extinction (Biology); Infectious diseases; Introduced species; IUCN red list; Land pollution; Land use; Life Sciences; Mexican amphibians; Nature conservation; Original Paper; Population trends; Quantitative research; Reptiles & amphibians; Species extinction; threatened species; Trends; Wildlife conservation; Mexico; IUCN red list; Threatened species; Conservation status; Mexican amphibians; Population trends
• ISSN: 0960-3115; 1572-9710
• DOI: 10.1007/s10531-010-9923-9

We present a review on the conservation status and population trends of the 372 amphibian species currently recognized for Mexico. We based our analyses on the information gathered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature-the Global Amphibian Assessment (IUCN-GAA) as well as on available literature about imminent or potential threats to these organisms in Mexico. This country has the fifth largest amphibian fauna in the world and almost 58% of the species that inhabit this country are considered as threatened. We highlight the proportion of species per order, family, and genus that are currently under severe risk in Mexico. In addition, we prepared a detailed list of the main factors that are threatening amphibians in this country. Evidence is provided that the six main mechanisms that are globally leading amphibians to extinction (alien species, over-exploitation, land use change, global changes, pollution, and infectious diseases) are indeed currently operating in Mexico. We discuss the relative importance of each of these causes. We also highlight the paucity of quantitative studies that support the current conservation status of Mexican amphibian species.