Mountain concerns

While global fears mount about the dwindling numbers of many amphibian species as a result of disease and other unknown factors, three separate teams of researchers have announced the discovery of several new species and other organisms in the mountain rainforests of Colombia, Tanzania and India. Scientists in Bogata carried out a ‘rapid assessment program’ expedition over three weeks in the mountainous Tacarcuna area of Darien near the border with Panama. The expedition was led by herpetologists from Conservation International in Colombia and ornithologists from the Ecotropico Foundation, with support from the local community. The aim was to bolster conservation measures in the region. The team announced the discovery of 10 amphibian species thought not to be previously recorded, including a spiky-skinned, orange-legged rain frog, three poison-dart frogs and three glass frogs, so called because of their transparent skin. This region is isolated from the Andes range and has been recognised as a centre of endemism and high biological diversity. Historically it has served as a bridge for exchange of flora and fauna between North and South America. And the team discovered four Central American species — two amphibians and two reptiles — in this region for the first time. “The high number of new amphibian species found is a sign of hope, even with the serious threat of extinction that this animal group faces in many other regions of the country and the world,” said Jose Vicente RodriguezMahecha, scientific director of Conservation International Colombia. The expedition was mounted to heighten Colombia’s position as a major centre for biodiversity and improve conservation by extending protected areas in this region of Darien. Although the natural cover of the Darien region is currently relatively undisturbed, it faces many threats due to selective timber extraction, increasing cattle ranching, illicit crop cultivation, hunting and mining. Another key objective of the study was to build links with the indigenous local people and support initiatives to guarantee them land rights and develop a management plan appropriate for them and the environment. While conservationists are hopeful that plans to protect further this unique, relatively small, region of Colombia, the findings of a 10-year study by a team of Indian scientists across the country’s vast Western Ghats mountain range which stretches for 1,600 kilometres pose many more problems. The scientists were delighted to discover 12 new species of tree frog. Reporting these results in a forthcoming issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, the authors add that their habitat is under increasing threat along the mountain range from plantations and urban development. S.D. Biju at the University of Dehli and Franky Bossuyt at the Free Feature