Distribution and Conservation of the Mexican Endemic Highland Burrowing Treefrog, Smilisca dentata

The Upland Burrowing Tree Frog, Smilisca dentata, is classified as “Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) primarily due to its restricted distribution and the degradation of its habitat, despite the absence of quantitative analysis of its potential distribution and the impact of land use change on its habitat. In this study, we report four new population localities for the species. We estimated the extent of occurrence (EOO) and, utilizing a maximum entropy algorithm, the potential distribution area with ecological niche modeling (ENM). The potential distribution generated from abiotic (i.e., climatic) constraints was employed to quantify those areas with primary (natural, original) vegetation, areas with land use change due to anthropogenic impact, and the degree of fragmentation. We report four new localities for the species. The estimated EOO was 5,189.47 m2 and the potential distribution with ENM was 29,390 m2. However, this is reversed when land use change is considered, given the considerable reduction in the area of natural vegetation preferred by this treefrog. The distribution obtained by ENM is reduced, primarily due to the impact of agriculture. The amount of the potential distribution is reduced to 2,337 km2 when the natural and secondary vegetation of Natural Grassland and Crasicaule Scrub are considered. But, if we only considered the natural vegetation, suitable habitat is drastically reduced to 472 km2 and the habitat is described as fragmented and discontinuous. The findings of this study will help to accelerate the implementation of conservation measures for S. dentata.