As volcanic eruptions draw nearer, scientists are working to gather the last survivors of a rare animal to help them thrive in the future.
Ecuador still has a small number of rocket frogs that live in the shadow of an active volcano.
Written by Jennifer S. Holland
To prevent extinction from eruptions, biologists near Ecuador's capital, Quito, are working to "evacuate" a critically endangered species living there.
These little rocket frogs (Hyloxalus jacobuspetersi) with chocolate-colored stripes used to be commonly found near Quito, and even in pastures and gardens (they can live well around humans). Today, for unknown reasons, only one population of this frog has survived. There are fewer than 100 adult rocket frogs, in addition to an unknown number of juvenile frogs and tadpoles struggling to survive along the Pita River in the Andes. The water from the Pita River comes from the top of Kodopahi Volcano, which has recently become active.
Ticking time bomb countdown
Kodopathi Volcano, which has been dormant since the early 20th century, began erupting steam and ash in August this year, potentially threatening more than 300,000 people. Although the amount of ejecta is limited, it has been erupting non-stop, and the magma inside is rising. A larger eruption may be only a few months, or even weeks, and the result will melt snow from mountain tops, triggering massive mudslides and floods.
Volcanic lava, water and mud will rush along the Pita River, which, combined with layers of ash piled up on the ground, will almost certainly push the rare rocket frogs to extinction. So biologists are trying to save as many volcanoes as possible before they erupt.
"Normally, volcanic eruptions hardly affect the survival of one species because they have their own kind living in other unaffected places," said Santiago Ron, a reptile biologist from the Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito. But for rocket frogs, these threatened guys are already the last survivors of the species.
Since the volcano began coming alive this summer, Ron's team at the Catholic University of Ecuador has been searching for habitat for rocket frogs, bringing 25 tadpoles and 1 juvenile frog back to the lab so far. "Frogs are not active during the dry season, making them difficult to spot," Ron said. In addition, they are diurnal animals, and adult rocket frogs are very cautious for scientists.
Ron says rocket frogs are easier to spot when they gather. It's the rainy season, and the frog's cry reveals its hiding place.
Kodopahi Volcano has been active since August of this year, spewing out volcanic ash and steam. Once it erupts in full force, it will be threatened not only by the human inhabitants near Quito, but also by the last rocket frogs.
Photo by DOLORES OCHOA, AP
Long-term protector
Ron and his team are rescuing threatened frogs in Ecuador. It is home to one of the most diverse amphibians in the world, home to more than 550 known amphibians (40% of which are endemic), but more than a third of them are threatened or endangered. With this in mind, Ron and his colleagues created the Balsa de los Sapos project to collect, raise and breed as many of the country's endangered frogs as possible. When the environment allows, they will release some of it back into nature.
At present, Ron's university laboratory is home to more than 1,500 amphibians from 30 species, and they have successfully bred some of them. This is not an easy task, because the breeding requirements of frogs are very sensitive, require specific climates and environments, and scientists are still trying to simulate them with captive environments.
Rocket frogs are no exception: they are difficult to reproduce and grow. But efforts in that regard are at least one way out. First, Ron needs to rescue at least 50 adult rocket frogs and more than 100 tadpoles in Quito. "Tadpoles have a lower probability of survival in nature," he says. "So keeping them in captivity can actually increase survival rates to 80 to 90 percent." Also, taking away tadpoles has less effect on frog populations, and animals that are raised in the lab are easier to raise than adult individuals.
Breed and release?
Collecting endangered species for captivity and then releasing them back into nature is not the first of its kind. Biologists, for example, collected the sharply declining chihansi spray toad in Tanzania in 2001 and released them into nature in 2012 after successful breeding.
Can people also succeed in saving rocket frogs? Ron hopes so, although it will take years for the current habitat to recover after the eruption of Mount Kodopahi. Still, the animals are able to return to where they once lived.
"It would be nice to be able to release rocket frogs back into places with good habitat," said Don Church, executive director of the Amphibian Survival Alliance. "We don't have a complete record of why they went extinct on a large scale, but researchers in Ecuador argue that disease and climate change are to blame."
"These problems are not being solved," Church says, "but we have new tools to mitigate threats in the wild, such as skin probiotics that make frogs more resistant to deadly chytrids." "One of the reasons for the decline in the number of rocket frogs and many other frogs is the presence of jugs." These tools need to be field-tested on more frogs in more parts of the world. ”
Today, he said, given that Quito's rocket frogs need special attention, "we have the perfect test subject." ”
The premise is that they did not become extinct as a result of volcanic eruptions.