Research

Coffe and poison dart frog

Structurally rich shade-coffee and –cocoa plantations can harbor a significant number of amphibian species. However, species compositions are not necessarily identical with those of pristine forests. Small-scale forest fragmentation can have positive effects on species diversity. Safeguarding biodiversity in fragmented landscapes thus requires a large-scale landscape approach. Social-ecological production landscapes could thus become a key element in conservation biology in the Anthropocene. Fincas de Intercambio de Conocimiento FINCO, are one of the strategies currently tested that aim at facilitating knowledge transfer between scientist, farmers and conservationists (shade coffee on exhibition is one prominent product)

Funded through: DFG-FZT 118 & COLCIENCIAS

Publications:

Brüning, L. Z., Krieger, M., Meneses-Pelayo, E., Eisenhauer, N., Pinilla, M. P. R., Reu, B., & Ernst, R. (2018). Land-use heterogeneity by small-scale agriculture promotes amphibian diversity in montane agroforestry systems of northeast Colombia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 264, 15-23.

Ernst, R. & Reu, Björn (2019). Food for thought: Agroforstwirtschaft und Biodiversitätsschutz in kolumbianischen Bergregenwäldern. Natur Forschung Museum 149 (1-3), 20-25.

The cutting edge of sustainability

To date roughly 200 Mio. ha of forest in approximately 80 different countries have been certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) criteria. According to their mission statement FSC promotes environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. But can commercial timber harvesting and biodiversity conservation really be reconciled in the face of global climate change and observed unprecedented rates of global forest loss? There are no easy answers: Very often species richness and diversity remain unchanged after selective timber harvesting. However, functional and phylogenetic diversity can be altered dramatically. They can decrease, as is the case in the investigated communities of the Upper Guinea Forest Hot Spot, West Africa or even increase as in the communities of Guiana Shield Frontier Forests of Northern Amazonia. Here, artificial habitats created by harvesting machinery can buffer diversity loss, particularly during climatic extreme events promoting selected species while others still go extinct.

Funded through:  DFG ER 589/1-1 & ER 589/2-1

Publications:

Ernst, R., Linsenmair, K. E., & Rödel, M. O. (2006). Diversity erosion beyond the species level: dramatic loss of functional diversity after selective logging in two tropical amphibian communities. Biological Conservation, 133(2), 143-155.

Hölting, M., Bovolo, C. I., & Ernst, R. (2016). Facing complexity in tropical conservation: how reduced impact logging and climatic extremes affect beta diversity in tropical amphibian assemblages. Biotropica, 48(4), 528-536.

Ernst, R., Hölting, M., Rodney, K., Benn, V., Thomas‐Caesar, R., & Wegmann, M. (2016). A frog’s eye view: logging roads buffer against further diversity loss. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(7), 353-355.

Caribbean invaders

Johnstone’s Whistling Frog, Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, a native of the Lesser Antilles, has a long history of human mediated range expansion, dating back to at least 1880. Today, E. johnstonei can be considered one of the most widely and successfully expanding invasive amphibian species, outperformed probably only by the cane toad Rhinella marina and the American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus. Despite this wide distribution, active dispersal beyond non-natural, human modified habitats could not convincingly be shown to be a realistic scenario and threats to native biota imposed by direct interactions appear to be limited. However, the co-introduction (nested invasion) of potentially pathogenic microorganims associated with E. johnstonei (E. johnstonei microbiome) can pose yet undetected threats. In this project we aim to reconstruct the origins and dispersal pathways of E. johnstonei by integrating data from native island populations into existing data sets from non-native areas and to address the problem of nested-invasions by comparing frog-specific microbiomes both within and across native and non-native distribution ranges.

Funded through: DGHT Peters Fonds

Publications:

Leonhardt F., Keller A., Arranz Aveces C., Ernst R. (2023). From Alien Species to Alien Communities: Host- and Habitat-Associated Microbiomes in an Alien Amphibian. Microbial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-023-02227-5

Leonhardt F., Arranz Aveces C., Müller A., Angin B., Jegu M., Haynes P., Ernst R. (2022). Low genetic diversity in a widespread whistling alien: A comparison of Eleutherodactylus johnstonei Barbour, 1914 (Eleutherodactylidae) and congeners in native and introduced ranges NeoBiota 79: 31-50. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.79.86778

Ernst, R., Massemin, D., & Kowarik, I. (2011). Non-invasive invaders from the Caribbean: the status of Johnstone’s Whistling frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei) ten years after its introduction to Western French Guiana. Biological Invasions, 13(8), 1767-1777.

Leonhardt, F., Jimenez-Bolaño, J. D., & Ernst, R. (2019). Whistling invaders: Status and distribution of Johnstone’s Whistling frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei Barbour, 1914), 25 years after its introduction to Colombia. NeoBiota, 45, 39.

Fire salamander – species protection right at our frontdoor

Amphibians are among the world’s most endangered vertebrates. In addition to habitat loss, increasing pollution and climate change, two skin fungi that are pathogenic to amphibians (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd and B. salamandrivorans, Bsal) have contributed to massive population collapses and extinction events in recent decades. Even our best-known native amphibian, the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra ssp.), is increasingly threatened by Bsal. As its center of distribution is in Germany, we have a global responsibility to conserve the fire salamander.

Saxon alliance for the protection of the fire salamander

Together with the Dresden University of Applied Sciences and the University of Leipzig, we are establishing a monitoring and early warning system to protect the fire salamander in the Saxon Switzerland National Park region as part of an initiative funded by the Saxon State Ministry of Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture. The Saxon populations are of particular importance for the protection of the species, as the highly aggressive pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), which was introduced to Germany in 2013, has not yet been detected here. Using standardized field surveys and a citizen science initiative, we examine historical and current fire salamander occurrences and develop models of habitat suitability and changes. In addition, we screen selected populations for Bsal and characterize them in terms of population genetics. In this way, particularly vulnerable populations can be identified and protected through long-term monitoring.

Let’s research united!

With every accidental observation of a fire salamander, you help us to record the current distribution and make a valuable contribution to species conservation. Together with the Saxon Switzerland National Park Center and the HTW Dresden, we have launched the citizen science initiative “Fire salamander, where are you?”, which allows you to report fire salamanders to us easily using an online form. Ideally, we need a photo with a clearly recognizable dorsal pattern of the animal, the exact location and date of discovery. Please be aware that the protection of the animals has priority: do not touch the animals and do not enter the water. Please also report any animals found dead.

Click here for the citizen science initiative “Fire salamander, where are you?”
Here you can report fire salamanders directly to us.