Assessment Results
Craugastor saltuarius
Order:
Anura
Family:
Craugastoridae
Synonym(s):
Eleutherodactylus saltuarius
Assessed for:
Honduras
on:
13 Mar 2019
by:
AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop
Authors:
Cruz, G. & Wilson, L.D.
IUCN Global Red List:
Critically Endangered (CR)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
Honduras
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
20.00211102
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
If disease is shown to be a major threat, then surviving individuals might need to form the basis for the establishment of an ex-situ population.
Improved enforcement and management of the national parks and the elimination of incentives to convert forest (e.g., Decreto 37-2016) is urgently needed to halt anthropogenic land use change in the national parks and reserves of Honduras (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019).
Further survey work is required to determine where this species is still surviving and to establish its population status. Genetic and morphological comparison of specimens from Correviento and the specimens from Cordillera Nombre de Dios is needed to verify their identity (J. Townsend pers. comm. March 2019).
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Endangered (EN) | New record that result in expansion of species range |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | This species has always been rare (just 5 specimens have been collected). Visits to both of the sites, both in 1995, 1996, 2005, 2016, 2017 failed to turn up any individuals. Further survey work is required to determine the population status of this species and the reasons for its decline in pristine habitat. In 2013, six individuals were observed and one male and one female collected in Correviento, Colón which represents a new locality for the species (J. Townsend L. Herrera pers. comm. March 2019) |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value 20 - 50 | |
| 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? | Unknown | This species is located in intermediate elevations in the west and central portion on Cordillera Nombre de Dios (CND), mountain range on the slope of the Atlantid in the north of the country (McCranie and Castañeda 2007). The species occurs in Parque Nacional Pico Bonito and in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat. Species have been also collected in Correvientos, Colón. |
| 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? | Yes / probably | |
| 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.). | ||
| 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.)? | ||
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | ||
| 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 are likely to be reversible in time frame to prevent further decline / extinction | Habitat destruction caused by subsistence agriculture and landslides are the major threats. However, these threats do not account for its decline in pristine habitats. Rather, its disappearance is likely to be as a result of disease (such as chytridiomycosis), although it is perhaps surprising for this to be the case in such a species since it is not associated with streams. In Texiguat, the major threats to this species include high rates of deforestation and encroachment in the wildlife refuge for extensive cattle ranching and coffee plantations, agricultural crops (e.g., beans, avocado), including in the core area, illegal selective logging for hardwoods, followed by clear-cutting along the same access routes (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). Another threat includes the construction of several small-scale hydroelectric dams (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). Harvesting of palm plants that this species uses may represent an additional threat (J. Ramos Galdámez pers. comm. March 2018). The reform to the Ley de Protection de la Actividad Caficultora y Cacaotera (Decreto 37-2016; Articulos I, V, VI) has incentivised the cultivation of coffee in national lands, including the core zones of protected areas, which is increasing the alteration of primary forest (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). There is a proposal to shift the core part of the refuge (which currently is at 1,250 m asl) upslope, which would create a much larger buffer zone where habitat conversion can progress unabated (C. Antúnez and J. Ramos Galdámez pers. comm. March 2019). The area from which this species was recorded is subject to extensive landslides; these often severely impact the species habitat. Additional major threats include deforestation as a result of agricultural and large-scale livestock encroachment, human settlements, selective logging of hardwoods, and human-induced fires (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention that by 1996 that all streamside Craugastor known to occur above 900 m asl were thought to have disappeared in Honduras (Froglog 1998 paper). Reasons for the disappearances of this species remains unclear, although infection with chytridiomycosis together with the alteration of its habitat due to extensive landslides is a strong possibility (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). There is a proposal to shift the core parts both the Parque Nacional Pico Bonito and Texiguat, which may create a much larger buffer zone where habitat conversion can progress unabated (C. Antúnez, J. Ramos Galdámez, J. Townsend pers. comm. March 2019). Cerro Correviento is unprotected forest, where the only forest that remains a patch of less than 1,500 hectares between 1,130-1,245 m asl, which is threatened by small-scale agriculture (crops), expanding human settlements, selective logging for valuable hardwoods followed by clear-cutting, human-induced fires and hunting trails and activities (L. Herrera and J. Townsend pers. comm. March 2019). Highland amphibians are adapted to inhabit a narrow climatic envelope. Changes in climate are expected to reduce the available suitable habitat and required microclimates. Rapid shifts in the climate conditions required by these species would not allow sufficient opportunity for adaptation, especially in light of the limited possibility for elevational migration. Tropical Montane Cloud Forest (>1,000 m asl) has been demonstrated to be negatively affected by climatic changes to a greater extent than other habitats (Foden et al. 2013, Wicaksono et al. 2017, Lyra et al. 2017, Neate-Clegg et al. 2018). An increase in high rainfall events are being observed throughout this species' range, as well as an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events (hurricanes and droughts) in the Caribbean, destroying the riparian habitat required by stream-dwelling and stream-associated amphibian species (Honduras Amphibian Red List Workshop March 2019). Climate change is therefore considered to be both a current and future threat to all amphibian species in this habitat type. Furthermore, amphibians globally are at an increased risk of disease (e.g. chytridiomycosis) and a decline in fecundity due to such changes (Pounds et al. 2006, Blaustein et al. 2010). Several other species in the genus in Honduras have experienced drastic declines due to disease (such as chytridiomycosis), although it would be surprising for this to be the case in this species since it is not associated with streams (Honduras Red List Assessment Workshop March 2019). |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Last specimens seen at top of a mountain on a really small forest patch. In Correviento it is likely that population is too small to recover by itself. |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | ||
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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? | No | |
| 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.) | ||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | Not held in captivity to date | |
| 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? | No | |
| 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? | Unknown | Research into availability of founders needs to be prioritised. |
| 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:
Cruz, G. & Wilson, L.D. 2019. Conservation Needs Assessment for Craugastor saltuarius, Honduras
(AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop).
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/4687
Accessed 31 Jan 2025
