Whistling invaders: Status and distribution of Johnstone’s Whistling frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei Barbour, 1914), 25 years after its introduction to Colombia

By

Leonhardt, Franziska
Jimenez-Bolaño, Juan David
Ernst, Raffael

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

45

Pages

39-54

Subjects

alien amphibians , Anura , Colombia , Distribution , disturbed areas , invasion status , new records , population genetics

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.45.33515

 

Abstract

Despite increased attention to the problem of alien amphibian invasions, systematic assessments of the actual invasion status and potential, required to estimate possible environmental and economic impacts of introduced species, are often missing. A prime example is Johnstone’s Whistling Frog (Eleutherodactylusjohnstonei), a Caribbean native that now occurs widely throughout the South American mainland, including Colombia. We conducted the first systematic and comprehensive countrywide assessment of the introduction status of the species in Colombia, combining both intensive field surveys, as well as a first population genetic analysis. The species was strictly confined to urban habitats with specific environmental conditions (plant nurseries and private gardens) and did not show any signs of dispersal into the extra-urban matrix. Genetic data support previously hypothesised independent introduction events in the Andes and along the Caribbean Coast and shed light on potential dispersal pathways. The results of this study challenge both the active spread, as well as the broad environmental tolerance hypothesis previously suggested, to explain the observed range extension. A critical reassessment of the categorisation of the species as highly invasive under IUCN-ISSG standards is required.