Reduce impact of amphibian trade

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

76%
Certainty

40%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Amphibians are traded for a number of reasons including consumption, the pet trade, for zoo animals and scientific purposes. For example, it was estimated that 15 million live, wild-caught amphibians entered the USA legally in 1998–2002, millions of which were for the pet trade (Schlaepfer et al. 2005). Removal of large numbers of amphibians from the wild can have significant effects on populations.

The movement of animals also increases the risk of spreading infectious diseases. For example, there is increasing evidence that trade is partly responsible for the recent spread of chytridiomycosis Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and amphibian ranaviruses (e.g. Daszak et al. 2003; Gratwicke et al. 2009; Schloegel et al. 2009).

Evidence for interventions designed to reduce the threat from diseases is discussed in ‘Threat: Invasive alien and other problematic species – Reduce parasitism and disease’.

Daszak P., Cunningham A.A. & Hyatt A.D. (2003) Infectious disease and amphibian population declines. Diversity and Distributions, 9, 141–150.

Gratwicke B., Evans M., Jenkins P., Kusrini M., Moore R., Sevin J. & Wildt D. (2009) Is the international frog legs trade a potential vector for deadly amphibian pathogens? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8, 438–442.

Schlaepfer MA, Hoover C, Dodd KD Jr (2005) Challenges in evaluating the impact of the trade in amphibians and reptiles on wild populations. Bioscience, 55, 256–264.

Schloegel L., Picco A., Kilpatrick A., Davies A., Hyatt A. & Daszak P. (2009) Magnitude of the US trade in amphibians and presence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and ranavirus infection in imported North American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). Biological Conservation, 142, 1420–1426.

Key messages

One review found that reducing trade in two frog species through legislation allowed populations to recover from over-exploitation.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A review in 2011 (Altherr, Goyenechea & Schubert 2011) found that reducing trade in green pond frog Euphlyctis Hexadactylus and the Indian bullfrog Hoplobatrachus tigerinus through legislation allowed populations to recover from over-exploitation. Both species were categorized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as stable in the 2010 IUCN Red List. Populations of both species had crashed in India and Bangladesh following unsustainable use in the frog leg trade. Over three years of monitoring in India, it was estimated that 9,000 tonnes of frogs were removed from the wild for frogs’ legs. In 1985, green pond frogs and Indian bullfrogs were listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). India banned export of frogs’ legs in 1987 and Bangladesh followed in 1989.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Altherr S., Goyenechea S. & Schubert D.J. (2011) Canapés to extinction: the international trade in frogs’ legs and its ecological impact. Pro Wildlife Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute report.

Please cite as:

Smith, R.K., Meredith, H. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Amphibian Conservation. Pages 9-64 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Amphibian Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Commercially breed amphibians for the pet trade Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Reduce impact of amphibian trade Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	1	Synopsis Link
Use legislative regulation to protect wild populations Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	2	Synopsis Link