Abstract
Invasive species have impacted biodiversity all around the world. Among various ecosystems, islands are most vulnerable to these impacts due to their high ratio of endemism, highly specialized adaptation, and isolated and unique fauna. As with other subtropical islands, Taiwan faces constant risk of biological invasions and is currently ranked as one of the countries most affected by invasive amphibians and reptiles. In this paper, a comprehensive checklist of all known exotic amphibians and reptiles is provided, including twelve species which have successfully colonized Taiwan and six species with a controversial status. We provide an update on the knowledge of all these species including their distribution, colonization history, threats to native animals, and population trends based on literature records, fauna surveys, and data collected during invasive species eradication and control programs. A list of species with high invasive potentials is also provided. This study reports, for the first time, a comprehensive survey of invasive herpetofauna in Taiwan, which should provide a valuable reference to other regions which might suffer from similar invasion risk.
Highlights
Invasive species have been listed as one of the major threats to global biodiversity (Charles and Dukes 2008, Bellard et al 2016, Early et al 2016)
We provide an up to date and detailed checklist of exotic amphibian and reptile species which have successfully colonized Taiwan
We collected all available information on invasive amphibians and reptiles in Taiwan, including a thorough search of the literature, and data collected during fauna surveys from several ongoing invasive species eradications, control, and research programs
Summary
Invasive species have been listed as one of the major threats to global biodiversity (Charles and Dukes 2008, Bellard et al 2016, Early et al 2016). Insular species are usually kept isolated from their mainland relatives, adapt to specific niches on the islands, and represent a high ratio of endemism by being distributed in a comparatively narrow range. These species are considered at greatest risk from biological invasions, and explains in part why a majority of human-induced extinction has occurred on islands during the last several centuries (Fritts and Rodda 1998, Blackburn et al 2004, Wyatt et al 2008). We made some broad assumptions on their future trends based upon observations and data collected in field We hope this will provide a valuable reference for conservation managers both in Taiwan and in other regions that face similar invasion risks
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