Conservation Efforts for Two Threatened Malagasy Poison Frogs

Events - Seminars in Biodiversity & Evolution

25 Jan 2023 - Devin Edmonds, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA | 14h30 - CIBIO-InBIO’s Auditorium, Campus de Vairão

Conservation Efforts for Two Threatened Malagasy Poison Frogs

CASUAL SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

Madagascar is the frog capital of the world. The island supports an estimated 500+ endemic frog species, of which around 400 have been described. Alarmingly, many of Madagascar’s unique amphibians are at high risk of extinction, mainly due to habitat loss from deforestation. Some of the island's most well-known frogs are the Malagasy poison frogs in the genus Mantella. They have been used as flagship species and even appear on the country’s currency. This talk focused on conservation and research efforts for two of the most highly threatened Mantella species, including developing a breeding facility for M. aurantiaca and enacting a species-based conservation action plan for M. cowanii.

Devin Edmonds has been working on conservation efforts in Madagascar for more than a decade. During 2010-2016 he helped launch a breeding facility for threatened frog species with the local Andasibe-based community group Mitsinjo. Later, he worked as the Conservation Program Manager for the Lemur Conservation Foundation. He earned a master’s degree in 2020 studying the demography of two small isolated Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata) populations. Currently, Devin is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois focused on filling the research needs in a conservation strategy for the threatened Malagasy frog Mantella cowanii. He has written three books and authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications. To recognize his contributions towards Madagascar amphibian conservation, the frog Stumpffia edmondsi was named in his honor.

[Host: Angelica Crottini, Biogeography and Evolution - BIOEVOL]