Gaps in global wildlife trade monitoring leave amphibians vulnerable
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand
- School of Biology, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Thailand
Abstract
As the biodiversity crisis continues, we must redouble efforts to understand and curb pressures pushing species closer to extinction. One major driver is the unsustainable trade of wildlife. Trade in internationally regulated species gains the most research attention, but this only accounts for a minority of traded species and we risk failing to appreciate the scale and impacts of unregulated legal trade. Despite being legal, trade puts pressure on wild species via: direct collection, introduced pathogens, and invasive species. Smaller species-rich vertebrates, such reptiles, fish, and amphibians, may be particularly vulnerable to trading because of gaps in regulations, small distributions, and demand of novel species. Here we combine data from five sources: online web searches in six languages, CITES trade database, LEMIS trade inventory, IUCN assessments, and a recent literature review, to characterise the global trade in amphibians, and also map use by purpose including meat, pets, medicinal and for research. We show that 1,215 species are being traded (17% of amphibian species), almost three times previous recorded numbers, 345 are threatened, and 100 data deficient or unassessed. Traded species origin hotspots include South American, China, and Central Africa; sources indicate 42% of amphibians are taken from the wild. Newly described species can be rapidly traded (mean time lag of 6.5 years), including threatened and unassessed species. The scale and limited regulation of the amphibian trade, paired with the triptych of connected pressures (collection, pathogens, invasive species), warrants a re-examination of the wildlife trade status-quo, application of the precautionary principle in regards to wildlife trade, and a renewed push to achieve global biodiversity goals.
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All code and data is available in SupplementsAll data used is also provided in it's used form and listed in the Key Resources table
Article and author information
Author details
Benjamin Michael Marshall
Funding
National Science Foundation China (U1602265;)
- Alice C Hughes
Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20050202; 2017XTBG-T03; Y4ZK111B01)
- Alice C Hughes
High-End Foreign Experts Program of Yunnan Province (Y9YN021B01)
- Alice C Hughes
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2021, Hughes et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Gaps in global wildlife trade monitoring leave amphibians vulnerable
eLife 10:e70086.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.70086
