Action plan for Darwin's frogs 357


led by the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, which in 2017 convened 30 governmental, non-profit and private or- ganizations from Chile, Argentina and elsewhere. Darwin’s frogs are iconic examples of the global amphibian conserva- tion crisis: R. rufum is categorized as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) on the IUCN Red List, and R. darwinii as Endangered. Here we articulate the conservation planning process that led to the development of the conservation strategy for these species and present its main findings and recommendations.Using an evidence-based approach, the Bi- national Conservation Strategy for Darwin’s Frogs contains a comprehensive status reviewof Rhinodermaspp., including critical threat analyses, and proposes 39 prioritized conserva- tion actions. Its goal is that by 2028, key information gaps on Rhinoderma spp. will be filled, the main threats to these spe- cies will be reduced, and financial, legal and societal support will have been achieved. The strategy is a multi-disciplinary, transnational endeavour aimed at ensuring the long-termvia- bility of these unique frogs and their particular habitat.


Keywords Amphibians, Argentina, Chile, conservation strategy, Darwin’s frogs, extinction, Rhinoderma darwinii, Rhinoderma rufum


Supplementary material for this article is available at doi.org/10.1017/S0030605319001236


PLATE 1 A brooding male southern Darwin’sfrog Rhinoderma darwinii in a typical humid substrate of the Valdivian temperate forest.


Introduction H


alting biodiversity loss depends largely on developing effective conservation policies and planning (Johnson


et al., 2017). Evidence-based, inclusive, participatory conser- vation strategies are recommended when specific actions are needed to save species from extinction (IUCN, 2017). Key species can act as umbrellas or flagships, transforming species-level conservation plans into ecosystem-wide bene- fits (Superina et al., 2018). The northern and the southern Darwin’sfrog (Rhino-


derma rufum and Rhinoderma darwinii)are namedafter Charles Darwin, who was the first to collect R. darwinii, in 1834. These species are the only known amphibians in which the males brood their offspring within their vocal sacs (Plate 1). In R. rufum the later larval stages develop in water, whereas in R. darwinii the entire larval development, lasting up to 8 weeks and including metamorphosis, takes place within the male’s vocal sac (Formas et al., 1975; Formas, 2013; Supplementary Fig. 1). Endemic to the Austral temperate forests of South America, both species are highly threatened as a result of dramatic population declines, par- ticularly during the last 4 decades (Crump & Veloso, 2005; Bourke et al., 2012; Soto-Azat et al., 2013a). The habitat of Darwin’s frogs is an ecoregion characterized by a high degree of endemismand is thus of high conservation priority (Myers


et al., 2000). Rhinoderma rufumhas not been recorded since 1981 and remaining populations of R. darwinii are small and isolated (Soto-Azat et al., 2013a;IUCN, 2019). Darwin’sfrogs are found only in native forest (generally old-growth), and R. darwinii abundance has been positively correlated with the structural complexity of its forest habitat (Valenzuela- Sánchez et al., 2019a). Although habitat loss is a threat, popu- lation declines and extirpations have also been documented within protected areas and undisturbed ecosystems (Crump & Veloso, 2005; Soto-Azat et al., 2013a). Recently, there has been growing concern about Darwin’s


frogs, evidenced by several independent and uncoordinated research and conservation efforts. The majority (75%) of all publications on Darwin’s frogs indexed in the Web of Science were published during 20010–2019,whenanumber of in situ and ex situ conservation projects were established for R. darwinii. Thus, we identified an opportunity for collaboration to provide efficient and cost-effective conserva- tion outcomes for these unique and highly threatened frogs. In 2017 the Chilean section of the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group convened stakeholders to develop a conser- vation plan for Darwin’s frogs, and as a result the Binational Conservation Strategy for Darwin’s Frogs was launched in 2018. Here we summarize the process of the strategy’s devel- opment, present itsmain findings and recommendations and discuss themajor challenges and opportunities of implemen- tation. This work adds to the scarce peer-reviewed literature on species conservation planning and seeks to stimulate its use as a biodiversity conservation tool.


Study area


The Austral temperate forests, which include the habitat of Darwin’s frogs (32–47 °S), cover . 20 million ha, mainly in


Oryx, 2021, 55(3), 356–363 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319001236


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