martes, 1 de agosto de 2017

New Publication on Ferreret, the Majorcan midwife toad !


Pinya, S., Tavecchia,G. and Valentín Pérez-Mellado, V. Population model of an endangered amphibian: implications for conservation management  Endangered Species Research, 34: 123–130, doi.org/10.3354/esr00835

From Wikipedia.com
Abstract: Amphibian populations are declining worldwide, but for many taxa, robust estimates
of demographic parameters to assess population state or trends are scarce or absent.
robust estimates of adult apparent survival of the endemic Majorcan midwife toad Alytes muletensis using individual capture-recapture data collected over 4 yr in a 60 m2 cistern. Moreover, we combined the vital rates into a stage-structured population model to estimate the ex pected longterm growth rate of the population. Apparent survival estimates of males and females were similar (0.737 ± 0.042 and 0.726 ± 0.045, respectively) indicating that the egg-carrying behavior of males, typical of this species, does not reduce its survival probability. We found evidence of a low local survival of juveniles compared with adults, most likely due to permanent dispersal. Adult population size estimation provided higher tadpole:adult ratios than previously reported for this endangered species, suggesting an overestimation of the previous adult population size. Model projections suggested a stable population, since λ, the expected asymptotic growth rate of the population, was close to 1.00.

Full text here