Abstract
The Suweon treefrog (Dryophytes suweonensis) is an endangered species with an important evolutionary significance. However, the current rate of decline projects the extinction of the species within a few decades in the Republic of Korea. The species is presently exclusively inhabiting rice paddies and is not present in any protected area, although it would be relatively easy to designate protected area under the RAMSAR convention and correct the current negative population dynamics. We present the points of importance for the conservation of the Suweon Treefrog, list the site of importance and introduce an agricultural model allowing for its conservation as well as continued rice production and economic income. Actionable recommendations: - Establishment of protected areas - Pesticide and herbicide ban - Vegetation mowing limit
Highlights
The Suweon Treefrog (Dryophytes [Hyla] suweonensis; Duellman et al, 2016) is an endangered species in the Republic of Korea (IUCN, 2018) due to a low extent of occurrence (Borzée et al, 2017a), fragmented population (Borzée, 2018) and continuing decline in area of occurrence (Borzée et al, 2018a)
The designation of agricultural wetlands as protected area and their continued harvest may be conducted under the guidelines stipulated in the RAMSAR convention and governmental funding following those provided for “agrienvironment” support programmes in the UK, where funding is matched to a score based on defined environmental benefits (Baker et al, 2011)
This recommendation is based on the fact that the breeding activity of D. suweonensis is synchronized with the regulated hydroperiod resulting from the flooding of rice paddies for rice cultivation (Borzée et al, 2018b), which has so far resulted in adequate population recruitment
Summary
The Suweon Treefrog (Dryophytes [Hyla] suweonensis; Duellman et al, 2016) is an endangered species in the Republic of Korea (IUCN, 2018) due to a low extent of occurrence (Borzée et al, 2017a), fragmented population (Borzée, 2018) and continuing decline in area of occurrence (Borzée et al, 2018a). D. suweonensis is not present in any protected area (Borzée et al, 2017a) and is only known to breed in rice paddies (Borzée and Jang, 2015), while original potential habitats might have included wetlands with low vegetation including Alopecurus sp. The ACAP recommends first to refine the definition of “Critical Habitat” for the target species and develop a list of standards for the identification of important sites. Short term recommendations include identifying organic agriculture movements to explore potential development and working with authorities to change legislation. They include developing outreach material on the effects of locally applied pollutants on amphibian and human health at the stakeholder level, here rice farmers. The policy recommendations made here are in-line with these global recommendations
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