David O'Brien

Scottish Natural Heritage · Biodiversity and Geodiversity

To help provide the data, tools, and knowledge needed to help safeguard genetic diversity of wild, managed and cultivated species for human well-being and ecosystem resilience https://geobon.org/ebvs/working-groups/genetic-composition/

Be that as it may, more than 41% of amphibian species are thought of as ‘endangered’, including 54.7% of the Urodela group. In this case, the well-known family Salamandridae contained not less than 27 threatened species as of 2015. 56 species are still not evaluated by the IUCN and are classed data deficient (DD) in 2018. North and Central America and Asia are most severely affected by the continued destruction of habitats and the spread of chytrid (Bd). In Asia, the human consumption of many species has become also a major issue (Hernandez 2015a, 2016a,b,c). Thus, the main factors are grouped here: 1) Habitat destruction and alteration [in France, the area covered by roads is greater than that of protected areas] with Asia, Central and South America being most severely affected; 2) Climate change; 3) Pollution 4) The increasing emergence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis since the 1980s [and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans since 2013]; 5) The overexploitation of natural resources (trade in endangered species, use in traditional medicine (Andrias, Tylototriton in China), and as food (Asia, Mexico); 5) The introduction of potentially invasive alien species (red-eared slider, red swamp crayfish, bullfrog a.o. in Europe) that thrive to the detriment of native species. As a result, species conservation is complex and depends on many interdependent players: countries and states, institutions, NGOs, etc., which need to agree on who will do what, where and when. Most of these projects take time, while the crisis will continue to severely worsen with every passing year (Gascon et al. 2007). Some species have already become extinct and more are likely to follow suit. Effective conservation is key to pulling back at least some species from the brink of extinction. Nature and species conservation have in fact turned into a new scientific discipline that primarily makes use of two techniques: ex situ (off-site) and in situ (on-site) initiatives. The crises at its base increased in number and accelerated due to changes in our society. While biodiversity could largely survive at times of traditional land management practices, the industrial revolution that began in the 19th century has made humans more and more unaware of the value of their natural heritage and mass destruction an everyday occurrence by now. First and foremost in this are the excessive and poorly managed exploitation of resources (water, soil and forests) to the detriment of natural environments the world over. While only two urodeles are officially extinct, Hypselotriton wolterstorffi and Plethodon ainsworthi, the status of many other species is unknown or uncertain in South and Central America and South Asia, frightening examples of which are the Central and South American species of Pseudoeurycea, Thorius, Bolitoglossa and related genera, and is demonstrated by species that have not been found in more than thirty years such as Isthmura naucampatepetl, Pseudoeurycea ahuitzotl, P. mixcoalt, P. aquatica, B. digitigrada, and many others more. As far as Asia is concerned, many new species have been discovered in recent years, but we are only just beginning to understand the incredible diversity within groups such as Tylototriton, Pachytriton and Paramesotriton. Like elsewhere in the world, their population status is largely unknown and deserving of a full assessment (Hernandez 2015a, 2016a).

Variation in a species’ habitat needs across its range remains poorly understood. We are studying the realised habitats of the newt Lissotriton helveticus. Although abundant over its core range, and in places presumably one of the dominant vertebrates in terms of both number and biomass, this species is confined to the western fringes of Europe. By examining breeding sites and surrounding habitat across the range, we hope to bet