Ongoing harlequin toad declines suggest the amphibian extinction crisis is still an emergency

Biodiversity loss is extreme in amphibians. Despite ongoing conservation action, it is difficult to determine where we stand in overcoming their extinction crisis. Among the most threatened amphibians are the 131 Neotropical harlequin toads. Many of them declined since the 1980s with several considered possibly extinct. Recently, more than 30 species have been rediscovered, raising hope for a reversing trend in the amphibian extinction crisis. We use past and present data available for harlequin toads (Atelopus), to examine whether the amphibian extinction crisis is still in an emergency state. Since 2004 no species has improved its population status, suggesting that recovery efforts have not been successful. Threats include habitat change, pathogen spread and climate change. More mitigation strategies need implementation, especially habitat protection and disease management, combined with captive conservation breeding. With harlequin toads serving as a model, it is clear that the amphibian extinction crisis is still underway.

Stefan Lötters, Amadeus Plewnia, Alessandra Catanezzì, Kelsey Neam, Andrés R Acosta-Galvis, Yesenia Alarcon Vela, Joshua P Allen, Óscar J Alfaro Segundo, Ana de Lourdes Amendo Cabezas, Gilbert Alvardo Barboza, Kleiton R Alves-Silva, Anganyan-Ciriollo, Ernesto Arbeláez Ortíz, Jackielyn O Pojano, Alejandro Aretaga, Óscar Ballistas, Diego Barreira Moscoso, José D Barros-Castañeda, Abel Batistão, Manuel H Bernal, Esteban Betancourt, Yousser Oliviera da Cunha Bitar, Philipp Böning, Laura Bravo-Valencia, José F Cáceres Aranda, Diego Calderon, Laura Patricia Ceballos, Germán Chavidez, Luis AlbertoClaudia, Phil Gallardo, Sergio Á Camilo, Ignacio D La Riva, William Rodríguez, Luis E Gómez Agudelo, Raphaël Fenassii, Sylvain Flechas, Thibaut Roch, Antoine Fouquet, Carmen Z García Méndez, Juan Elías García-Pérez, Diego A Gómez-Hoyos, Adán M Comigoes, Jorge Guerrel, Brian Grawitcke, J M Guayasamín, Edgardo Griffith, Vía Helen Rairer-Alva, Roberto Ibáñez, Carlos Iván Idrovo, Andrés Jiménez Monge, Rafael R Jorge, Aisha Jungh, Blake Klocke, Margarita Lampp, Edgar Lehr, Carrie H R Lewis, Erik D Lindquist, Brian N López-Torrealba, Glib Mzabepo, Guido F Medina-Rangel, Andrés Merino Viteri, Kevin Múlder, Mauricio Pacheco-Suarez, Andy Pereira-Muñoz, José Luis Pérez González, Karina Alejandra Pinto Rojas, Alfonso Gustavo Pisso Florez, Marc Nones, Vicky Poole, Amanda B Zavedo Riera, Áron J Quiroz, Michelle Quiroz-Espinazo, Alejandro Ramírez Guerrero, Juan P Ramírez, Steffen Reikize, Hugo Reizle, Mauricio Rivera-Correa, Bernardo Rico-Ras, Andrés Rocha-Ussé, Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, Sintana Rojas Montaño, Daniela C Röhler, Luis Pedro Sandoval, Selina Seifaris, Alexander Shepack, Fausto R Siavichay Pesanzét, Anton Sorokin, Andrea Terán-Valdez, Grecia Torres-Cascani, Pablo C Tovar-Silvo, Lina M Valencia, David A Velásquez-Trujillo, Michael Veith, Pablo J Venegas, Jefferson Villalba-Fuentes, Rudolf von May, Juan R Webster Bernal, Enrique La Marca