Frog farming: Increase or drives loss of amphibians species diversity?

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Kamalaporn Kanongdate

Mahidol University, Thailand

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

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Loss of amphibian species, especially in natural wetlands globally, has increasingly come into sharp focus. Host of factors may account for habitat loss for amphibian with exploitation of wetlands remaining one of the key contributing factors. Furthermore, some species of amphibians serve as a source of food in some countries such as Thailand, Spain, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and USA. The harvest of favorite species (mostly frog: Rana rugulosa) from the wild to meet demand, may adversely affect the population balance in natural habitat, and consequently the exporting market. One solution to overcome this situation is the promotion of frog farming using Thailand as a case study. The main aim of frog farming is to increase the population of Rana rugulosa in order to meet market demand whilst simultaneously curbing the potential loss of species in the natural habitat. However, it is unclear whether this approach is likely to increase amphibian species diversity in natural habitats when the focus is on only few selected species. In Thailand, common amphibians found in the nature include 34 species, Even though frog farming is well promoted, the focus has been on only one species (Rana rugulosa). In addition, there seems to be no empirical evidence to suggest that the population of R. rugulosa is increasing in wetlands of Thailand. For this reason, clear regulatory objectives with respect to conservation plan are suggested: frog farming to meet market demand and/or for amphibian biodiversity conservation.

Biography

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Kamalaporn Kanongdate obtained her PhD in 2012 from the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Germany. Currently she is a lecturer and researcher at Mahidol University, Thailand. Her field of research lies in biodiversity assessment and conservation, wetland ecology, environmental management and administration. She is also interested in policy of biodiversity conservation analysis and development.

Email: abaytana82@gmail.com