Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 278, Issue 1711, Pages 1515-1523Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1872
Keywords
amphibian declines; extinction risk; threats; Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; Random Forests; classification tree
Categories
Funding
- Australian Postgraduate Award
- Australian Biosecurity CRC professional development award
- Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia
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In studies of extinction risk, it is often insufficient to conclude that species with narrow ranges or small clutch sizes require prioritized protection. To improve conservation outcomes, we also need to know which threats interact with these traits to endanger some species but not others. In this study, we integrated the spatial patterns of key threats to Australian amphibians with species' ecological/life-history traits to both predict declining species and identify their likely threats. In addition to confirming the importance of previously identified traits (e.g. narrow range size), we find that extrinsic threats (primarily the disease chytridiomycosis and invasive mosquitofish) are equally important and interact with intrinsic traits (primarily ecological group) to create guild-specific pathways to decline in our model system. Integrating the spatial patterns of extrinsic threats in extinction risk analyses will improve our ability to detect and manage endangered species in the future, particularly where data deficiency is a problem.
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