PARENT SESSION
Thursday, August 10, 1:30-5:00 pm
COS 100 - Conservation ecology II
L-12, Lobby Level, Cook Convention Center
Presiders: N Nicholas
Genetic resource banking and assisted reproduction for anurans: one component of the toolbox for addressing declining amphibian populations.
Kouba, Andrew *,1, Browne, Robert1, Seratt, Jessica1, Carr, Meghan1, Palmer, Jason2, Paddock, David3, 1 Memphis Zoo, Memphis, TN2 Sybille Wildlife Research Unit, Laramie, WY3 Saratoga National Fish Hatchery, Saratoga, WY
ABSTRACT- A recent global amphibian assessment, discovered that nearly one-third of the worlds 5,743 species are threatened with extinction. It is estimated that as many as 168 species may already be extinct with 43% of those remaining declining in population. As a hedge against extinction, many species are being retrieved from the wild in advance of a rapidly spreading fungal disease. Because amphibians are declining from pristine and protected areas, in part due to rapidly spreading diseases, it has been difficult to design and implement effective conservation strategies. If there are to be any success stories from this extinction crisis it will require a multidisciplinary and collaborative toolbox for saving our threatened amphibian biodiversity. One component of this toolbox is to create a genetic resource bank (GRB). In 2005, the Memphis Zoo generated the first Fowler toad (Bufo fowleri) tadpoles created by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) using frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Moreover, nearly 2,000 endangered Wyoming toad (Bufo baxteri) tadpoles were created by IVF and subsequently released into the wild by USFWS biologists. This marks the first time reintroduction efforts for an endangered amphibian have benefited from such technologies. We are currently working with biologists at the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery and Sybille Wildlife Research Unit in Wyoming to bank down a good portion of this species genetics. During this process we have collected extensive data on hormonal induction of spermiation and ovulation, sperm motility, concentration and survivability to freezing. As more conservation programs are established for declining amphibian populations, it will be imperative that we establish assisted reproduction techniques and GRBs for animals difficult to breed in captivity.
Key words: genetic resource banks as conservation tools, Assisted Reproduction techinques for reintroduction