A new population of the threatened torrent-frog Hylodes sazimai and other possible suitable sites based on ecological niche modeling

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most degraded biomes in Brazil and that makes it a global biodiversity hotspot. The torrent-frog genus Hylodes is endemic to this region and eight of its species are threatened with extinction to some degree. Hylodes sazimai, one of the threatened species, is facing conservation challenges that range from destruction of its restricted habitat to global climate changes. In this study, we used phylogenetic analyses and ecological niche modeling approaches to assess a newly discovered population, the spatial distribution of this species, and reassess its conservation status. The phylogenetic analyses recovered the new population within H. sazimai with strong support and the ecological niche modeling had a satisfactory performance, highlighting suitable areas for the species. However, even with this newly found location the threat category in the national and state level assessment did not change, due to the still small extension of occurrence and plethora of threats to its conservation in nearly all known populations. We recommend an update to the international level assessment to better reflect the current conservation state of the species. Finally, we advocate for the preservation of water bodies and riparian forests throughout the species range of distribution. Furthermore, we encourage the search for new areas of occurrence in forested areas that have water bodies focusing on the areas brought by the modeling as suitable for the species and advocate for the use of phylogenetic analysis to accurately distinguish between the similar species within the genus.