Protected areas assessment for the conservation of threatened amphibians in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia

Albornoz-Espinel, M. M.¹, C. Cáceres-Martínez², A.A. Acevedo-Rincón³. 2017. Protected areas assessment for the conservation of threatened amphibians in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia. Herpetology Notes, 10:2017 PDF

¹ albornozm091@gmail.com ² charli1391@gmail.com

³ Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 340, Santiago, Chile

Abstract

The global decline of amphibians is one of the greatest challenges in Conservation Biology. In this study we assessed the level of protection in Protected Areas (PAs) in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia for 52 species of threatened amphibians. We also determined the changes in vegetation coverage, both inside and outside the PAs. Our data collection was made between February 2015 and June 2017, when we gathered information from databases, biological collections, and the literature. Geographical records were georeferenced and overlaid on the layers of 190 PAs and on the layers of land coverage of the Cordillera Oriental. Our results confirm the limited level of protection for amphibians provided by PAs, whereby only 33 species represented in 160 out of 509 geographical records showed a report within PAs. At the same time, drastic changes were evident in vegetation coverage, which for most localities where records of vegetation were made 10–30 years ago was reduced to mosaics of fragmented forests, crops, and grasslands. This study demonstrates the need to establish priority actions and efficiently generate geographical areas of protection, in terms of coverage of the distribution of threatened amphibians in the Eastern region of Colombia.

Map of northwestern Colombia, with geographical records of threatened amphibians in the Cordillera Oriental indicated by coloured circles (VU, EN. CR). Several of the blue protected areas are clearly visible, attesting to their ineffectiveness for amphibian conservation.

1. Numbers of species in the threatened category VU: 22
2. Numbers of species in the threatened category EN: 16
3. Numbers of species in the threatened category CR: 14

Select the threat category (VU, EN. CR), and select each point to see the associated information.

*YOD-LYO (Yeor of description - Yeor of last seen)

Gastrotheca helenae, PNN Tamá, Photo: Aldemar A.Acevedo

Layers of protected areas were obtained from: Parques Nacionales de Colombia. (2017): Áreas protegidas de Colombia. Available at: http:////www.parquesnacionales.gov.co/portal/es/servicio-al-ciudadano/datos-abiertos/. Accessed on 01 November 2016.