Global Ecology, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, P.O. Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia.
School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, P.O. Box 789, Albury, New South Wales, 2640, Australia.
Conserv Biol. 2021 Feb;35(1):24-34. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13501. Epub 2020 Jun 27.
Amphibian populations globally are in decline. One great threat is the abstraction of water resources that alter surface-water hydrology. Conservation actions aimed at restoring or manipulating surface water are employed as a management tool, but empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these approaches is scarce. In this systematic review, we summarized the global experience of manipulating water for amphibian conservation. We explored examples of manipulating water to conserve amphibian species and communities. Approaches varied in their frequency of implementation and in their success. Extending hydroperiod to match larval requirements showed encouraging results, as did off-season drying to control predators. Spraying water into the environment showed several potential applications, but successes were limited. Despite some promising interventions, we identified few (n = 17) empirically supported examples of successful water manipulation to benefit amphibians. It is unclear whether this stems from publication bias or if it is an artifact of language selection. However, manipulating water shows some potential in amphibian conservation, particularly at sites with a proximal water source and in regions where aridity is increasing due to climate change. Regardless of the scale of the intervention or its perceived probability of success, high-quality reporting of empirical results will further understanding of how water manipulations can benefit threatened amphibian populations.
全球范围内的两栖动物种群正在减少。一个巨大的威胁是水资源的抽取，这会改变地表水的水文学特征。旨在恢复或操纵地表水的保护行动被用作一种管理工具，但这些方法的有效性的经验证据很少。在这项系统评价中，我们总结了全球为保护两栖动物而操纵水资源的经验。我们探讨了为保护两栖物种和群落而操纵水资源的例子。这些方法在实施频率和成功率方面存在差异。延长水期以满足幼虫需求的方法显示出令人鼓舞的结果，在非繁殖季节干燥以控制捕食者的方法也同样有效。向环境中喷水显示出了一些潜在的应用，但成功的例子有限。尽管有一些有前景的干预措施，但我们只确定了少数（n = 17）经过实证支持的成功操纵水资源以造福两栖动物的例子。目前尚不清楚这是由于出版偏见还是由于语言选择的影响。然而，水资源操纵在两栖动物保护方面显示出了一些潜力，特别是在有近水源的地方，以及在气候变化导致干旱加剧的地区。无论干预的规模或其预期的成功率如何，高质量地报告实证结果将进一步了解水资源操纵如何使受威胁的两栖动物种群受益。
