Amphibians in the Region of Murcia (SE Iberian peninsula ... - Raco

34 Egea–Serrano et al.IntroductionEnvironmental alteration as a consequence ofanthropic activity is considered to have contributedto the decline of numerous amphibian populationsthroughout the world (Wake, 1991; Galán, 1997;Pechman & Wake, 1997; Marco, 2002a, 2002b). Acomplete inventory of amphibian species present ina determined territory, as well as its distributionrange, is of priority interest. Such information wouldprovide a basic tool to establish the regional conservationstatus of the different species (UICN,2003) and consequently, to develop managementprogrammes to ensure their conservation (Palomo& Antúnez, 1992). Monitoring efforts have enabledconservation status to be established on wide spatialscales (Pleguezuelos et al., 2002). Nevertheless,determining distribution and conservation statusat a regional scale is also necessary sincethese parameters can vary greatly for a given speciesfrom one region to another (Gärdenfors et al.,1999, 2001).In addition to species conservation, another targetin conservation biology is to prioritize areas onthe basis of their biological value (Sutherland, 2000),selecting those which show the highest priority.Such areas could represent a valuable tool forestablishing conservation and management programmes.As regards amphibians, some studieshave established important areas for herpetofaunaconservation in the Iberian peninsula (Santos et al.,1998; Mateo, 2002). These studies include theRegion of Murcia consider amphibian and reptilespecies together, and no such studies establishpriority areas in this territory as a function of amphibianspecies present alone.The Region of Murcia in the southern Iberianpeninsula is considered one of the most importantareas in the Mediterranean region for its amphibianspecies diversity and/or endemic amphibians(Borkin, 1999). It is characterized by an arid climate(Vidal–Abarca et al., 1992), which makes itunfavorable for amphibians due to hydrologicalstress and lack of breeding habitats that suchclimatic conditions represent. Moreover, these factorsmake the amphibian species present in theRegion of Murcia more vulnerable to land usechanges affecting this area (Martínez & Esteve,2003) as they involve a severe habitat degradationprocess. Several studies dealing with amphibianbiology and distribution (Miñano et al., 2003; Egea–Serrano, 2005; Egea–Serrano et al., 2005a, 2005b,2005c, 2005d, 2005e, 2005f) have been performed.Nevertheless, to date, there has been no studyconcerning the risk of extinction of amphibians inthe Region of Murcia.The objectives of the present study were todevelop a methodology based on the biological andecological constraints and distributions of amphibianspecies to evaluate the risk of extinction of thespecies present in the Region of Murcia and toestablish areas whose conservation should be consideredpriority.Material and methodsThe study area is restricted to the Region of Murcia(SE Iberian peninsula). This territory includes mostof the Segura River basin, one of the most arid of theIberian peninsula (Vidal–Abarca et al., 1987) and,probably, of Europe (Geiger, 1973). Eleven ecologicalsectors have been recognised in this basin (Vidal–Abarca et al., 1990), most of them exposed to a dry,hot and arid climate. However, during the last threedecades land uses in the study area have beenincreasingly devoted to extensive agricultural irrigationpractices (Martínez & Esteve, 2003), while traditionalland uses (non–irrigated agricultural farms)are restricted to the northwestern region of the studyarea (Pérez & Lemeunier, 2003).Following Andreone & Luiselli (2000) and Filippi& Luiselli (2000), 10 biological and ecologicalvariables were analysed. These variables includeaspects dealing with the distribution, demography,ecology and taxonomy of the species present inthe study area. Data for these variables wereobtained from the bibliography, as well as from theexperience of the authors (table 1). Independentvariables were categorised, ranging from the lowest(category 0) to the highest (categories 2, 3, 4,10, depending on the variable) risk of extinction.The variables considered in this study are relatedas follows, as well as their categories and therationale for the choice of these scores.Species presence in the Region of Murcia, basedon data presented by Egea–Serrano et al. (2005b,2005c): 0. Present in >50% of the study area surface;1. Present in 10–50%; 2. Present in 5–10%; 3.Present in 200 eggs/newborns; 1. 50–200; 2. 10–50; 3.