Strategies for Conservation Success in Herpetology

摘要: The Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Rana [Lithobates] chiricahuensis) is a highly aquatic frog native to the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico (Fig. 1; Sredl and Jennings 2005, Rorabaugh and Lemos-Espinal 2016). Historically, the Chiricahua Leopard Frog occurred primarily in semi-permanent or permanent wetlands and slow-moving sections of canyon streams. However, because of extensive loss or modification of wetlands and streams and invasion of these habitats by nonnative predators (eg, the American Bullfrog, Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana), most remaining leopard frog populations occupy isolated ponds constructed for livestock (stock ponds; Sredl and Jennings 2005, Rorabaugh and Lemos-Espinal 2016). The Chiricahua Leopard Frog was listed as a threatened species under the US Endangered Species Act in 2002, primarily in response to habitat loss, the threat of invasive predators, and disease (USFWS 2002).Management and recovery efforts for the Chiricahua Leopard Frog in southern Arizona are complex, but in many cases, have been successful due to creativity and persistence by state, university, federal, and private or non-profit partners. One effort centered around Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), along the border of Arizona, USA, and Sonora, Mexico (Fig. 2). In 1993, biologists led by US Geological Survey (USGS; C. Schwalbe) and University of Arizona (P. Rosen) discovered a small population of Chiricahua Leopard Frogs in a stock pond (Garcia Tank; Tobin 2010). At the time, it was the only known Chiricahua Leopard Frog population in the area. Recognizing the importance of this population, refuge …