Recovering The Critically Endangered El Rincon Stream Frog (Pleurodema somuncurense) In Patagonia, Argentina
- Dr. Federico Kacoliris discusses a multitude of actions his team has undertaken to save the El Rincon Stream Frog in Patagonia.
- Recorded during the 2020 SAVE THE FROGS! World Summit Online on April 24th, 2020 in celebration of the 12th Annual Save The Frogs Day.
- With just a handful of isolated populations remaining in the wild, the El Rincon stream frog (Pleurodema somuncurense) is the most critically endangered frog of Patagonia. During the last four decades, the expansion of invasive rainbow trout cornered the frogs to the hot springs of the Valcheta Stream headwaters, limiting its range. But even in these hot springs, where frogs were expected to thrive, they are facing another threat in the form of habitat destruction by trampling and grazing of livestock. Since 2013 we have been working on the recovery of this species. The action plan of this frog, in its first stage, has a goal to double the distributional range and population size of the frog. After eight years of hard work, we are happy to say that we started the recovery of this endangered species. We faced the problem by:
(1) Creation of sanctuaries at hot springs, which prevent the access of livestock, and where native vegetation is restored;
(2) Reintroduction of frogs in sites where they went extinct, and;
(3) Initiating a trout management plan that is restoring connectivity among isolated subpopulations. We successfully re-established an extinct subpopulation in a restored habitat and also removed trout from 1-km of stream, increasing the available habitat for frogs in 10%.
Our results show that if we continue conducting these management actions, we can move this species outside the brink of extinction.
- About Dr. Federico Kacoliris:
“I am a motivated and enthusiastic person with a clear goal: to save endemic and endangered species from extinction. Between 2004 and 2008, I conducted my Ph.D. research on the Conservation of the Sand Dune Lizard (Liolaemus multimaculatus, IUCN-Endangered) in coastal dunes of Argentina. Between 2008 and 2012, I led the main field conservation actions in the Conservation Project of the Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis, IUCN-Critically Endangered) in Bolivia.Since 2013, I have been fully dedicated to the conservation of the El Rincon Stream Frog (Pleurodema somuncurense, IUCN: Critically Endangered); the Laguna Raymunda Frog (Atelognathus reverberii, IUCN-Vulnerable) and the Patagonia Frog (Atelognathus patagonicus, IUCN-Critically Endangered) in Patagonia. I reported the results of our research and conservation actions in a dozen scientific and public articles. In this frame, I participated in the creation of the first Amphibians Rescue Centre in Argentina where I established a captive breeding population of El Rincon stream frogs, which enabled me to conduct the first successful reintroduction of this species. I’m working in the Herpetological Lab of La Plata Museum; and I’m also Professor at the National University of La Plata, where I teach Population Ecology. I am an active member of the Argentinean Herpetological Association (AHA) and the IUCN-SSC Argentinian Amphibian Specialist Group.”
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