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Conservation assessment of the critically endangered frog Mantella aurantiaca in Madagascar

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 59; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/04416651.2010.481761

2153-3660

Roma Randrianavelona, Harisoa Rakotonoely, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Richard K. B. Jenkins,

Mosquito-borne diseases and control

Abstract Mantella aurantiaca is a small, bright orange, terrestrial amphibian that is endemic to the island of Madagascar. The species has attracted significant attention from herpetologists and captive breeders but relatively little effort has been given to its conservation in the wild. We surveyed 33 reported breeding localities of the species to determine sites of conservation importance and aspects of habitat use and seasonality. We found a total of 471 M. aurantiaca in 26 different localities, all of which were characterised by intact or degraded humid forest on sloping ground alongside temporary lentic ponds in narrow valleys. Additional monitoring at a single site revealed that adult M. aurantiaca predominantly used the ponds and surrounding humid forest habitat during the austral summer and moved upslope at the beginning of the austral winter. Effective conservation for this species should therefore include measures to safeguard both forest and aquatic habitat features. Although 62% of localities occurred in sites with a positive conservation status (provisional protected areas or Ramsar sites), there is currently heavy pressure from artisanal mining, logging and agriculture in these areas. Because a further 15% of sites occur on land due to be impacted by mining and an additional 23% were at sites without any biodiversity management, the future of M. aurantiaca in the wild is precarious. A species conservation strategy is therefore needed to produce a cohesive plan for the future which aims to secure as many sites as possible for conservation. Keywords: Mantella aurantiaca amphibianminingprotected areaRamsar sites Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Rufford Small Grants (to RR), Ambatovy Project and Fauna and Flora International/DEFRA Flagship Species grant for funding the field surveys. Additional funds to support the Mangabe protected area were provided by a Conservation Action Grant from the USAID Miaro Programme. Personnel from ACCE, A. Rabearivelo, G. Randrianasolo, G. Andrianantenaina and R. Rajaonarison, were very helpful and we are grateful for their enthusiastic contributions. We are very grateful to V. Rakotomboavonjy for his help during the fieldwork. We also thank J-.N. Ndriamiary and R. Dolch of Association Mitsinjo, for assistance in the field and useful comments on the manuscript respectively. Steven Dickinson, Paul Andrianaivomahefa and the environment team at the Ambatovy Project were also helpful. Pierre O. Berner, Steven Dickinson, Andrew Cooke and two anonymous referees helped to improve the manuscript. We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Tourism for granting permission to conduct this survey (N°154 + 254/08/MEEFT/SG/DGEF/DSAP/SSE).