Richmond biologist part of international team to study frogs in Peru
By Randy Fitzgerald
Senior Writer, University Communications
University of Richmond biology professor Rafael de Sá will leave his laboratory in Richmond this summer to become part of an international team studying the biodiversity of frogs in the tropical Andes, mostly in Peru.
Frogs, particularly high-altitude frogs, are quite diverse, yet they are under decline and many are going extinct, de Sá says. That is why he and the team are making the trek to Peru but also may include Bolivia and Ecuador.
Also, scientists tend to know less about the high-altitude frogs, because, de Sá says, "it's easier to get to the jungle than to climb mountains."
The team, which also includes a German scientist and two Spanish scientists, received a grant of 175,000 euros to study the Andes frogs. The grant is to the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid from the National Science Council of Spain. As part of the project, a Spanish doctoral student from Madrid will come to Richmond to work with de Sá.
de Sá probably will join the team in the Andes next summer and during his 2006-07 sabbatical year. He plans to make trips from two to three weeks to six to seven weeks. The team will take day trips to the mountains as well as camp out.
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Rafael de Sá shows off one of his amphibian friends. |
"Amphibians are subject to two opposite trends," de Sá says. "On the one hand, they are disappearing at a faster rate than any other group, as a consequence of habitat destruction, water pollution, climatic change and emerging infectious diseases. On the other hand, the number of new species described every year is increasing steadily since the 1950s."
"The tropical Andes are considered the most important hotspot of biodiversity, and amphibians are extremely diverse there," de Sá says. "Many new species have been described in the last decades, but fast declines and extinctions have also been reported."
"The field of taxonomy is experiencing some controversial debates in recent times," de Sá says. The recognition of so many new species has led to some scholars doubting species lists. In fact, the term "taxonomic inflation" has been coined to describe the phenomenon. The problem, de Sá believes, is that "there are fewer and fewer taxonomists able to recognize and properly identify species."
There may be a need, he says, to "develop tools that allow unequivocal identifications of species. DNA sequencing would be a solution, and searching for universal 'barcodes' on which to base a DNA-taxonomy has been proposed as a necessity."
The team will try to discover and describe new species and see whether listings of new species over the last couple of decades are scientifically sound, whether taxonomic inflation or biological reality is at play. That is an important question to ask, he believes, "when doing research on a diverse and threatened group in a mega-diverse area."
To find out, the team will develop a bioacoustic tool to establish differences and similarities among species as a way of identifying them. The female frogs of some species hear only the mating calls of males of their own species, de Sá says.
The expected results and benefits of the team's work, according to de Sá, will be in the discovery and description of new species and the clarification of the taxonomic status of others. The scientists hope to increase the collections of genetic material, specimens and sound recordings at the national museum in Madrid and other institutions.
De Sá hopes the team's research will lead to "a better understanding of the diversity and evolution of Andean amphibians, which will be instrumental for conservation policies."
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