Desert Rain Frog Threats
Desert Rain Frog Threats
Desert Rain Frog Threats
Breviceps macrops
Alan Channing
This is the second in a series of reports resulting from work under subproject
07-844 through Arizona State University, funded by the CEPF.
INTRODUCTION
The Desert Rain Frog Breviceps macrops belongs to a genus of strange
burrowing frogs (Fig 1). They are rotund with short legs and paddle-shaped
feet, and able to survive in an arid coastal desert in the Succulent Karoo
Biome. Precipitation here is mostly in the form of mist, and averages 45-114
mm per year in the areas where the frog is known (Mucina et al 2006, Jürgens
2006), with occasional rainfall increasing this to at least 146 mm (Channing &
Van Wyk 1987). The biology of this species was reviewed by Minter (2004).
The species is found mostly on white coastal dunes (Fig 2), which run parallel
to the coast in a narrow interrupted band sometimes only 50 m wide, with
occasional larger dune fields. It occurs entirely within the coastal diamond
mining areas of north-eastern South Africa and south-eastern Namibia.
Figure 2. Dune habitat of the Desert Rain Frog
Diamonds are found on the bedrock, below the sand overburden. They are
mined by removing the sand, hand-collecting the diamonds or mechanically
removing the diamondiferous gravel, and then replacing the sand. After the
sand is replaced, the vegetation does not recover naturally in these disturbed
areas (Carrick & Krüger 2007). The mines around Kleinzee have been
attempting to keep the topsoil separate in this process, so that it can be
spread over the deeper sands when the worked-out mine is backfilled. The
disturbance to the soil structure is absolute, although work is progressing to
determine the best ways to rehabilitate these old mines. South African
legislation enacted in 1991 (The Minerals Act) requires that the land surface
be restored (Carrick & Krüger 2007). As far as I can determine, there has
been no study on rehabilitating the animals on old mine sites, although almost
all the Namaqualand reptiles, mammals and amphibians are fossorial, and
hence threatened by large-scale soil disturbance. A history of mining and
plant restoration in Namaqualand is provided by Carrick & Krüger (2007).
Current opinion is that the frog habitat is threatened by “extensive loss to strip
mining” (Minter 2004), leading to population fragmentation.
METHODS
Distribution
The distribution of the Desert Rain Frog was determined from Namibian
records held by M. Griffin (Namibian Ministry of Environment & Tourism),
with published records, supplemented with my records based on recent
fieldwork. The frog occurs almost entirely within restricted diamond mining
areas, so the records in this area are opportunistic, and under-represent the
expected distribution.
RESULTS
Distribution
The localities where Breviceps macrops have been recorded are shown in fig
5.
The extent of the vegetation units where Breviceps macrops occurs are
shown in Fig 5 (from Mucina et al 2006). The southern extent of the
Namaqualand Coastal Duneveld unit is not shown.
Namibian populations
The taxonomy of the Breviceps records in Namibia remains questionable.
Some specimens attributed to B. macrops may be the widespread B.
adspersus, or perhaps B. namaquensis, the inland relative of B. macrops.
This is under investigation, but for the purposes of this report, the
identification of Namibian records will stand.
DISCUSSION
Quality of the distribution records
The identity of the specimens reported from Namibia has not been confirmed,
and this is an aspect of the problem that is presently under investigation. The
distribution of the species is entirely within the restricted diamond mining
areas, resulting in an under-reporting of localities.
Rehabilitated mines
It appears that the vegetation on mines can be rehabilitated, at least as far as
initial experiments show (Hälbich 2003). The results reported by Hälbich
(2003) are based on work at the Namaqua Sands mine, situated just south of
the range of the Desert Rain Frog. A subsequent study (Blood 2008) pointed
out that the functional diversity of the rehabilitated vegetation was a limiting
factor, and there was a lack of plant species diversity. Natural recovery of
vegetation does not occur on mines in Namaqualand, due to the poor rainfall
and soils. The difficulties and successes of mine rehabilitation in
Namaqualand are reviewed by Carrick & Krüger (2007). No fossorial reptiles
or amphibians were found on rehabilited mines at Kleinzee.
The 104 km of coastal mining in Namibia has destroyed the hummock dune
system where these frogs are found. The area has been stripped to bedrock,
but not backfilled, allowing sea-water to seep through and produce a series of
small impoundments just above the previous high water mark. It is doubtful
whether the frogs could bypass or recolonize this section of the coast.
Mucina et al (2006) report that almost 10% of the SKs1 vegetation unit
(Richtersveld Coastal Duneveld) has been transformed by diamond mining.
The mines in both Namibia and South Africa are coming to the end of their
productive lives, but although the threats of diamond mining to this species
will cease in the near future, the threats of inappropriate uses of the habitat,
such as strips of housing developments along the coastline, may pose even
greater threats.
Conservation status
The species is currently assigned to the VU vulnerable status of the IUCN
(Minter et al 2004). This study indicates that the extent of occurrence is 733.1
km2, with the area of occupancy 204.4 km2. This meets the IUCN (2000)
criteria of EN endangered (B1a,biii; B2a, biii).
The results of this study suggest that the Desert Rain Frog should be re-
evaluated, and placed in the Endangered category.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded under subcontract 07-844 through Arizona State
University, funded by the CEPF. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a
joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility,
the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A
fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity
conservation.
De Beers mining (Paul Kruger and Nadia Williams) kindly permitted access
into the mining areas at Kleinzee and Kooingnaas. Peter Carrick provided an
opportunity to visit the active mines. Additional funding was provided by the
University of the Western Cape, and the National Research Foundation. Mike
Griffin of the Ministry for the Environment and Tourism in Namibia kindly
shared locality records from Namibia.
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