Authors
Joseph R Mendelson III, Karen R Lips, Ronald W Gagliardo, George B Rabb, James P Collins, James E Diffendorfer, Peter Daszak, Roberto Ibáñez D, Kevin C Zippel, Dwight P Lawson, Kevin M Wright, Simon N Stuart, Claude Gascon, Hélio R Da Silva, Patricia A Burrowes, Rafael L Joglar, Enrique La Marca, Stefan Lötters, Louis H Du Preez, Ché Weldon, Alex Hyatt, José Vicente Rodriguez-Mahecha, Susan Hunt, Helen Robertson, Brad Lock, Christopher J Raxworthy, Darrel R Frost, Robert C Lacy, Ross A Alford, Jonathan A Campbell, Gabriela Parra-Olea, Federico Bolaños, José Joaquin Calvo Domingo, Tim Halliday, James B Murphy, Marvalee H Wake, Luis A Coloma, Sergius L Kuzmin, Mark Stanley Price, Kim M Howell, Michael Lau, Rohan Pethiyagoda, Michelle Boone, Michael J Lannoo, Andrew R Blaustein, Andy Dobson, Richard A Griffiths, Martha L Crump, David B Wake, Edmund D Brodie Jr
Publication date
2006/7/7
Source
Science
Volume
313
Issue
5783
Pages
48-48
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Amphibian declines and extinctions are global and rapid: 32.5% of 5743 described species are threatened, with at least 9, and perhaps 122, becoming extinct since 1980 (1). Species have disappeared across the entire taxonomic group and in nearly all regions of the planet. These figures are probably underestimates as entire clades of species are threatened. For example, of the 113 species of harlequin toads (genus Atelopus), 30 are possibly extinct, and only 10 have stable populations (2). Nearly a quarter of known amphibian species were deemed “data-deficient” with respect to conservation status in the recent global assessment (1). Losing biodiversity at this taxonomic scale impacts ecosystem goods and services [eg (3, 4)]. As amphibian species disappear, we also lose their untapped potential for advances in biomedicine and biotechnology in general (5).
Losses result from familiar threats (land-use change …
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Scholar articles
JR Mendelson III, KR Lips, RW Gagliardo, GB Rabb… - Science, 2006