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1 February 2012 Will Amphibians Croak under the Endangered Species Act?
Brian Gratwicke, Thomas E. Lovejoy, David E. Wildt
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Abstract

Herpetologists often complain that, despite amphibians' being one of the most threatened vertebrate classes, there is a dearth of funding and capacity to tackle the global crisis afflicting them. We compared the average funding per species listed under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) to quantify funding favoritism across vertebrate classes in the United States and compared ESA listings with NatureServe evaluations of endangerment in order to examine listing bias. We found that, on average, listed US amphibians receive one-quarter of the ESA funding that other vertebrate classes do. This inequality is compounded by listing bias, with 82% of the amphibians found to be at risk by NatureServe remaining unlisted under the ESA. We recommend that federal, state, and private conservation groups take reactive andproactive measures to build capacity to sustain this important class of vertebrates for future generations.

© 2012 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions Web site at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
Brian Gratwicke, Thomas E. Lovejoy, and David E. Wildt "Will Amphibians Croak under the Endangered Species Act?," BioScience 62(2), 197-202, (1 February 2012). https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.2.13
Published: 1 February 2012
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KEYWORDS
amphibian
conservation
Endangered Species Act
funding
prioritization
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