Discovering Amphibian Diversity and Building Conservation Capacity in Vietnam Principal investigator: Dr Jodi J. L. Rowley (Australian Museum)

The Annam Wart Frog (Limnonectes dabanus) An incredibly strange frog species known only from Vietnam and adjacent Cambodia. While females look like “normal” frogs, males of the species sport an enormous bump on their heads. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

The Purple-spotted Warted Frog (Theloderma stellatum) A beautiful but rarely encountered frog, as it spends most of its time high in the forest canopy. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

Major threats Globally, a staggering one-third of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction and almost half are experiencing population declines. In many countries, the plight of amphibians has deservedly received a great amount of scientific and public attention, but Southeast Asian amphibians have been almost entirely overlooked. Rather than representing a region of relatively low conservation priority for amphibians, Southeast Asia requires immediate amphibian conservation actions. Confronted with the highest deforestation rate on the planet, and huge over-harvesting pressure, Southeast Asian amphibians are being driven towards an extinction crisis. Project significance At present, almost one-fifth of Southeast Asian amphibians are listed as threatened, and the amphibians of the region remain poorly-known that we don’t even know how many amphibian species are present. Current estimates of amphibian species numbers are serious underestimates, with new species are being continuously discovered. For the amphibians that are currently known from Southeast Asia, we lack even basic natural history information for most species. 36% of all amphibian species recorded from Southeast Asia are so poorly known that they

The biggest threat to Vietnamese amphibians is habitat

loss and modification. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

are listed as Data-deficient, 11% higher than the global average for amphibians. Geographic distributions are also poorly known, with many species known only from a single location. Large areas in Southeast Asia remain unsurveyed. Our lack of knowledge of this highly threatened group of animals hinders even the most basic amphibian conservation in Southeast Asia. Current progress Our team consists of a passionate group of researchers and students working together towards amphibian conservation in Southeast Asia. Our research strives to gain a better understanding the diversity and conservation status of amphibians in Southeast Asia, particularly in one of the most topographically diverse and populous countries in the region – Vietnam. We are also passionate about facilitating long-term amphibian biodiversity conservation by mentoring local amphibian biologists. Central to our research are scientific expeditions to remote, unexplored, montane forests. We reach expedition sites via a combination of cars, motorbikes, canoes, and (mostly) hiking, and explore high-elevation streams on foot. We camp in the forest and search streams and forests at night for amphibians, taking digital images, sound recordings, DNA samples and voucher specimens to allow formal identification and new species descriptions. Major outcomes So far, our expeditions have resulted in the discovery of ten new species of amphibian. Support from OPCFHK in 2008-2009 directly resulted in the discovery and description of the Orange-bellied Leaf-litter Toad (Leptolalax croceus), and facilitated the description of the bizarre Vampire Flying Frog (Rhacophorus vampyrus), a species with “fanged” tadpoles (read more here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/11/110107-new-species-vampire-flying-frog-tadpoles-fangs-science-animals/)

Amphibian survey team, central Vietnam, 2009. ©Jodi J. L.

Rowley

Our camp in the forests of Southern Vietnam. ©Jodi J. L.

Rowley

New species described: the Orange-bellied Leaf-litter Toad

(Leptolalax croceus) was discovered by our team during a 2009 OPCFHK-funded expedition in the forests of central Vietnam. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

(Left) As amphibians in Vietnam are most active at night, we spend the nights searching forests, streams and ponds using head-lamps. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley (Right) Our expeditions involve crossing streams, climbing mountains and scaling waterfalls, in search of amphibians. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

Capacity building is an integral part of all aspects of our project, and our team consists of a number of students that are success stories from previous support. In 2008-2009, funding from OPCFHK made it possible for two members of our team to successfully complete Masters projects on Vietnamese amphibians. Now that we have a great team of researchers and students working together, we have obtained further support from OPCFHK. We are building on our previous work discovering and documenting the amphibians of Vietnam, and further developing local scientific and conservation capacity in Vietnam. We hope to inspire biodiversity conservation through our exploration of unexplored forests and the unique amphibians they contain.

Miss Duong Thi Thuy Le and Miss Phuong Thi Hung

examining a snake found in the forest. Both students were supported by OPCFHK and successfully completed their M. Sc. theses on Vietnamese amphibians. ©Jodi J. L. Rowley

Publications Rowley, J. J. L., Huy, H., Duong, L. T. T., Vinh, D. Q., Trung, C. T. (2010). A new species of Leptolalax (Anura:

Megophryidae) from Vietnam and further information on Leptolalax tuberosus. Zootaxa 2660: 33-45 Rowley, J. J. L., Tran, L. T. T. D., Dao, T. A., Stuart, B., Huy, H. D. (2010). A new tree frog of the genus

Rhacophorus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from southern Vietnam. Zootaxa 2727: 45-55