Assessment Results
Agalychnis annae
Orange-eyed Tree Frog, Blue-sided Treefrog
Order:
Anura
Family:
Hylidae
Synonym(s):
Assessed for:
Costa Rica
on:
13 Jan 2020
by:
AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop
IUCN Global Red List:
Vulnerable (VU)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
Costa Rica
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
12.61532031
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Vulnerable (VU) | Its population is considered to be severely fragmented by urban development, and because even though the species exhibits a degree of tolerance to disturbed habitats, there is ongoing loss of essential habitat for this species’ survival, such as riparian forest and urban green spaces in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value < 20 | |
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | No / unlikely | This species occurs in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Cordillera de Tilarán and Cordillera Central, Costa Rica, at 600-1,650 m asl. While it is thought to have disappeared from much of its range, surveys around 2012 began to suggest that the subpopulations have recovered or persisted in urban and semi-urban parts of the Central Valley, as well as, coffee farms in the foothills of the Talamancas (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019). Most of the individuals are found within the San José metropolitan area. |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | Yes / probably | Parque nacional TAPANTI-MACIZO CERRO DE LA MUERTE , Parque Nacional INTERNACIONAL LA AMISTAD, Reserva Forestal Cordillera Volcánica Central, Zona Protectora ARENAL-MONTERVERDE |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | Yes, successfully | Kauffman 2005 - Translocation |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | Yes / probably | It currently occurs in Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo Sector Zurqui (Juan Abarca pers. comm, Sept 2019) |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Yes / probably | Conservation efforts should focus on protecting urban green spaces and biological corridors in the Central Valley where the species is known to still occur. Education programs are recommended to make local citizens in the Central Valley to raise awareness of the presence of this enigmatic species (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019). |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | Genetic studies of the population within the metropolitan area, since they could be descendants of the same source population. Effect of translocation by citizens on the species and its health |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats unlikely to be reversed in time to prevent further decline / extinction | This species appears to have undergone rapid, dramatic declines across Costa Rica during the 1980s, including disappearances within undisturbed habitat, which has been associated with chytridiomycosis as observed in many other montane species across Mesoamerica. Climate change or the synergistic effects of multiple factors could have played an additional role in the declines (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019). Chytrid has been found in individuals in at least three sites in the Central Valley; however the species continues to persist there (Whitfield et al. 2017, J. Cossel pers. comm. September 2019). Museum specimens (2/47) tested positive for the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (De León et al. 2019). The species appears to be recovering or recovered in some coffee farms in the foothills in Talamanca, as well as, in many urban and semi-urban sites in the Central Valley (Hoffmann 2005, Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019) but remnant subpopulations in the Central Valley are highly fragmented by urban development and are experiencing ongoing habitat loss associated with the loss of urban green spaces, such as riparian vegetation, gardens and shaded coffee plantations (Acosta 2013, Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019). |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | Although species is found in pet trade in Europe, more likely bred in captivity there. |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Yes / probably | Population has increased during the last years in the Central Valley. This species remains common in some areas of Costa Rica's Central Valley, and the population appears to be increasing in some areas (Costa Rica Red List Assessment Workshop September 2019). |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | No | |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | No | |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | Yes / probably | Assurance population at Manchester Museum (O'Donell pers. comm. 2019) , Simón Bolívar Zoo does headstart with the species and release them within the zoo and other suitable areas in San José like the botanical garden (J. Rodriguez, pers. comm. 2019). SINAC developed an app called Vida Silvestre that helps CITES officers to check on CITES species that helps to regulate the traffic of the species. Education programs are recommended to make local citizens in San José and rest of Central Valley to raise awareness of the presence of the species (CR workshop 2019) |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | No / unlikely | |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Yes, bred to F2 | An assurance population is kept at Manchester Museum (M. O'Donnell pers. comm. September 2019) |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | No | |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | Yes |
Citation:
AArk/ASG Assessment Workshop. 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Agalychnis annae, Costa Rica.
https://www.conservationneeds.org/assessment/5281
Accessed 18 May 2024
