Assessment Results
Atelopus manauensis
Manauense Harlequin Frog
Sapo arlequim manauense
Order:
Anura
Family:
Bufonidae
Synonym(s):
Assessed for:
Brazil
on:
01 Oct 2020
by:
AArk/ASG Brazil Assessment Workshop
Authors:
A.P.Lima, F.P. Werneck, M. Gordo, P.L.V. Peloso and R.F. Jorge
IUCN Global Red List:
Not Evaluated (NE)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
Brazil
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
Common names: Manauense harlequin frog; Sapo arlequim manauense; Atelopus manauense
As a precaution, this species should, or deserves, receive an ex situ effort to maintain a safe population in captivity, since the rate and speed of deforestation in the region of Manaus is not calculated.
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Not Evaluated (NE) | |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ||
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | No / unlikely | This species occurs mainly in the municipality of Manaus (~80%), but it also occurs in the municipality of Rio Preto da Eva (~ 20%). About half of the geographic range are not included within protected areas. Moreover, the other half are private areas conceded for scientific research, but with some degree of anthropogenic impact or management for agriculture and tropical silviculture, such as Fazenda Experimental da Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke (INPA), Army training Area and Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais, none of them are effectively protected. Near Manaus, there are no reliably protected areas. The Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke has become mostly an urban forest fragment in the last decade. |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | No / unlikely | Only if some areas have a better level of protection: areas of the Fazenda Experimental da Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, Army training Area, Reserva Biológica do Alto Rio Cuieiras and ARIE PDBFF. |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | No | |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | No / unlikely | |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Yes / probably | Change level of protection of the areas where the species occurs for areas of restrictive use; Access the state and federal government to protect three micro watersheds to protect this species, as it still occurs in several fragments and it would be possible to protect part of the population; Recover micro watersheds and create ecological corridors to provide the connection between populations; Recompose the connectivity of the plateau areas to connect the watersheds between the tributaries; Verify the feasibility of reintroduction in recovered areas. |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | Studies are needed on biology, reproductive behavior and natural history; long-term monitoring to see impacts on urban growth; modeling on climate change (Samuel Gomides is carrying out - A.P. Lima and R.F. Jorge, pers. comm. 2020); modelling on habitat loss and increase of urbanization; vulnerability to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; and extinction vortex. |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats unlikely to be reversed in time to prevent further decline / extinction | The main threats for this species are: disorderly urban growth of Manaus (which is fast and irreversible); deforestation; and expansion of agriculture. |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | This species is charismatic and has the potential for illegal pet trade. |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Yes / probably | |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | This species is part of the Atelopus Survival Initiative and is also target of the ASI national group, that is starting to be structured (A.P.Lima and L.F.M.da Fonte, pers. comm. 2020). |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | No | The species is intended to be used as a municipal symbol of the city of Manaus (A.P. Lima, pers. comm. 2020) |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | Each species of Atelopus has a different tetrodotoxin, which is not known for this species. However, it has this potential (R.F. Jorge, pers. comm. 2020). |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | Yes | The presence of Bd in natural populations has already been identified, so ex situ activities would assist in testing for vulnerability to the disease (relating to environmental conditions), treatments or techniques to combat the fungus. Studies of survival and development of tadpoles in different pH conditions, pesticides, etc. Test the viability of reproduction between lineages from different portions of its geographic range. Create ex situ efforts to preserve the different genetic lineages throughout the distribution of the species, thinking on genetic varieties of distinct micro-clades in different portions of environmental gradients (R.F. Jorge unpublished data), since the sub-populations of different lineages are under different risk of extinction. |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | No / unlikely | |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | No / unlikely | There are well-established lowland Atelopus husbandry and breeding protocols that can be used. Atelopus hoogmoedi (LC) could be an analog species, however, it is still little known for this species in Brazil (tadpoles and where they lay their eggs are unknown). |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Maintained but no successful breeding | Twenty-three adults were kept for 3 months at UNICAMP during an experiment. They died and were deposited in the scientific collection of UNICAMP (L.F. Toledo, pers. comm. 2020). |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | Yes | This species is very charismatic and colourful with potential for frog watching (ecotourism) and zoo exhibits. It has a curious reproductive behaviour with hand signalling and flash marks exhibition (R.F. Jorge, pers. comm. 2020). It will be used as a municipal symbol of the city of Manaus. |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | Before selecting the founders, it is necessary to make a conservative evaluation and understand the adaptive genomic variation within each genetically structured population already identified (R.F. Jorge, unpublished data). There is no gene flow between populations from the upper- and lowermost portion of the distribution of the species. This absence of gene flow might be a result of deforestation along with the environmental heterogeneity of its landscape (R.F. Jorge unpublished data). |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | Yes |
Citation:
A.P.Lima, F.P. Werneck, M. Gordo, P.L.V. Peloso and R.F. Jorge 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Atelopus manauensis, Brazil
(AArk/ASG Brazil Assessment Workshop).
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/6801
Accessed 18 May 2024
