download the PDF here - Amphibian Specialist Group

Homepage of the Korean DAPTF
Literature Cited
Kaplan, R.H. 1987.Developmental plasticity and
maternal effects of reproductive characteristics in the
frog, Bombina orientalis. Oecologia 71: 273-279.
Park, D., M.S. Min, K.C. Lasater, J.Y. Song, J.H. Suh,
S.H. Son, and R. H. Kaplan. 2012. The Conservation
of Amphibians in Korea. Chapter 4 in Issue No.
1 “Commonwealth of Independent States, Mongolia,
China, Korea, Japan”, edited by H. Heatwole, I. Das
and J. W. Wilkinson in vol. 11 of the series “Amphibian
Biology”, edited by H. Heatwole. Surrey Beatty & Sons
Pty. Ltd., Baulkham Hills, NSW, Australia. In press.
Lee, J.H., N.Y. Ra, and D. Park. 2011. Five-year
monitoring of herpetofauna in Woraksan national park.
Journal of Ecology and Field Biology 34: 127-133.
Min, M.S., S.Y. Yang, R.M. Bonett, D.R. Vieites, R.A.
Brandon, and D.B. Wake. 2005. Discovery of the first
Asian plethodontid salamander. Nature 435: 87-90.
Yang, S.Y., J.B. Kim, M.S. Min, J.H. Suh, and Y.J.
Kang.2001. Monograph of Korean Amphibia. Academy
Book, Seoul, South Korea.
Abbreviated History of the Korean
Working Group of the ASG
Sept 18, 2001 - Professor Mi-Sook Min
contacted by Professor Kaplan about
DAPTF and provides personal contact
information with her Professor and
Kaplan’s former colleague.
Sept. 26, 2001 - Professor Suh-Yung
Yang contacted by Professor Robert Kaplan
and discussion resulted in the hiring of a
Korean post-baccalaureate Gihye Kim to
work on a Korean translation of the DAPTF
FrogLog in Kaplan’s lab at Reed College in
Portland, Oregon.
December 20, 2001 - Link to first
Korean language mirror page of the
DAPTF FrogLog written by Gihye Kim in
the laboratory of Kaplan was launched.
January 4, 2005 - Professor Daesik Park
agrees to co-chair the Korean working
group with Professor Kaplan and refines
the Korean website. http://academic.reed.
edu/biology/korea_daptf/.
July 1, 2006 - Metamorphosis of the
DAPTF into the Research Section of the
Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG) was
launched.
August 2008 - First members of the
Korean Working Group of the ASG formed.
Members include: Robert Kaplan (cochair);
Daesik Park (co-chair); Mi-Sook
Min (member); Jae-HwaSuh (member)
and Jae-Young Song (member).
September 2010 - Professor Jim
Collins visits the Columbia River Gorge
in Portland, Oregon to give a lecture to
the Division of Sciences at Reed College,
and to talk about the ASG and increased
international involvement in the Republic
of Korea.
Robert H. Kaplan (Co-Chair) Korean
Amphibian Specialist Group
Author details: Robert H. Kaplan,
Department of Biology, Reed College,
Portland, Oregon 97202, USA (taricha@
reed.edu).
South Asia (minus
Sri Lanka)
The Amphibian Specialist Group–South
Asia (ASG–SA) regional network
currently has 214 members with many
involved in amphibian research part time
and a few full time. The region has seen,
since the setting up of the Amphibian
Network of South Asia (ANSA) in 1995,
a phenomenal increase in interest in
the group with particular interest in
taxonomic and distribution studies.
Increasing numbers of young researchers
have contributed significantly in new
descriptions and new records of species,
especially in the Western Ghats region.
The hotspot has shown an increase in
endemicity in species and genera, with the
most recent description of a new genus of
bush frogs, Raorchestes. Similarly, the
northeastern Indian region has several new
descriptions including that of caecilians.
A recent threat to the region is from
the release of The African Clawed Frog
Xenophis laevis into natural habitats by
aquarium hobbyists. The species is a
relatively new entrant into the South Asian
market through traders as an aquarium
pet. Several thousand individuals are
sold in most major cities. Although quite
attractive, the frog is released by hobbyists
due to its aggressive nature and due to lack
of knowledge on keeping them in captivity.
Known for being a source for the spread of
chytrid fungus, the ASG–SA is currently
involved in a rapid assessment of the
volume of trade, its effects, releases into
the wild and developing a national policy
on placing a ban on the species, import.
The network is updating its database on
amphibian distributions in the region to
revisit assessments in 2012 after a gap of
10 years when the last assessment was
carried out under the Global Amphibian
Assessments. Presently, 380 species
are recognized in South Asia with
several new species being discovered or
reviewed for their taxonomic position.
Sanjay Molur (Co-Chair) South Asia
Amphibian Specialist Group
Laos
and Cambodia
The amphibian faunas of Laos and
Cambodia have long been poorly known,
primarily because these two countries
have never had national herpetologists
and all previous work done there has
been by visiting foreign scientists. I am
pleased to report that this has changed.
Mr. Neang Thy, a biologist with the
Ministry of Environment, Phnom Penh,
and the non-governmental organization
Fauna & Flora International, began
training on field surveys of amphibians in
Cambodia with me in 2003, and has since
worked extensively with L. Lee Grismer
(La Sierra University, USA) and Jodi J. L.
Rowley (Australian Museum, Australia).
Thy’s keen interest and dedication to
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