Information and Suggestions for Contributing to AmphibiaWeb Submitting a written species account Species conservation status Description Distribution and Habitat Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors Trends and Threats Relation to Humans Comments Possible reasons for amphibian decline References Submitted by Affiliation Formatting your text Submitting range maps Submitting photos, videos, and sound files Submitting a written species account Please contact us first! We will make sure the account(s) you want to write have not already been written or claimed by someone. There are two ways to submit an account: 1) Contact us via e-mail to confirm that the account has not already been submitted by someone else. Download the account template, and return the completed information to us. 2) Fill out the form directly on the web (Berkeley users only), which can be done by direct entry or by cutting and pasting the information from a word processing program if desired. Below is information on components of the species accounts. Further guidelines are compiled in a downloadable document, especially useful for students. Species status: How imperiled is each species? Conservation status is an important part of each species statement. The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) conducts ongoing assessments for amphibians. AmphibiaWeb automatically includes the latest IUCN-defined status, although many species are considered Data Deficient and new species in particular have not been evaluated at all. IUCN Red Book status. More detail about these categories can be found here. Data Deficient (DD) Least Concern (LC) Near Threatened (NT) Vulnerable (VU) Endangered (EN) Critically Endangered (CR) Extinct in the Wild (EW) Extinct (EX) Depending on how endangered a species is, and whether its continued survival is threatened by collection for commercial trade, countries may place restrictions on export and/or import of amphibians. These restrictions are covered under an international agreement, known as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Species protected by CITES are assigned to Appendix I, II, or III, according to the degree of protection they need. Search for species listed by CITES here. CITES status: Appendix I: species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Appendix II: species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. Appendix III: species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. National status One place to check whether a species has been placed on a national Red List is nationalredlist.org. For species in the United States, you can check the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website for information: Home page: http://www.fws.gov/ Endangered species page: http://endangered.fws.gov/index.html Regional status Please note if a species is protected in a particular region of the country in question. One place to search regional Red Lists is nationalredlist.org. Within the United States, search state information on endangered species. In California, for example, check the California Department of Fish and Game site. Description Please provide a diagnosis (the distinguishing characters defining the species, including how to tell it apart from similar species), and a description of the adult form (morphology, coloration) and larval form (if known). Distribution and Habitat Describe the known distribution and habitat of the animal, including the elevational range. Enter all countries and states in which a species exists. The more complete you are, the better people will be able to search for locality information later. If a species ranges from California, U.S.A., to British Columbia, Canada, you should also include the states of Oregon and Washington in your distribution text. Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors This section allows the author to point out important and interesting aspects of each species, including life history, breeding biology, a description of the calls if known. To get a good feeling for this section we suggest you look at some of the species accounts already available. Trends and Threats This section allows the author to relate any known or suspected trends in abundance. It also allows the author to discuss particular threats in depth. Relation to Humans This section simply attempts to link something about a particular species to humans. With conservation in mind, we hope this will help people connect with amphibians. In some cultures, humans associate with certain amphibian species in special ways: for instance, amphibians may be thought of as good or bad omens, or exploited as a food source, or used to help acquire foods (rubbing dendrobatid skin toxins on darts for kiling animals. These associations are important. Comments Please include the species authority (the citation for the original paper describing the species) in this section, and also as a full citation in the reference list. Other information such as phylogenetic relationships, karyotypes, derivation of the name, etc., can also go in this category. Possible reasons for amphibian decline If this species is declining, the author is asked to choose between possible reasons for the decline. Multiple factors may be selected. Submitted by: The author's name Affiliation The author's institutional affiliation References 1) Please include literature references in your species statements. AmphibiaWeb author format is last name, then initials for all authors (e.g., Wake, D. B., Savage, J., and Hanken, J.). 2) Each reference has a number to identify it in the AmphibiaWeb system. Please look to see if your chosen references have already been entered into AmphibiaWeb by clicking on the reference search link. a) If your reference is found, please include the reference number along with the full citation at the end of your account, or insert the number of the reference into the "Relevant Literature" box on the species account webform (Berkeley users only) The AmphibiaWeb system will then automatically be able to list the citation at the end of the account. b) If your reference is not found, please use this form to add the reference to our literature database (Berkeley users only), or just include the list of references with your account (all other users). Adding the reference will generate a new reference number, which you should enter into the "Relevant Literature" box in the species account webform. c) The format for the reference numbers in the "Relevant Literature" box in the species accounts is this: [44][129][132][162][163][164][165][192][193] Formatting your text If you are entering in text directly to the webform, please use basic html to format your account. The main tags necessary are those for paragraph breaks: <p> and the use of italics for species names: <i>Bufo boreas</i> Here is a website with more information on html. Range maps AmphibiaWeb now has dynamic mapping for amphibian species, which incorporate expert estimates of ranges from IUCN and data points from vouchered museum specimens via VertNET. For new species, the type locality is mapped. However, we also welcome static range maps. Range maps should be gif or jpeg files. There are no size restrictions, but maps should be easily viewable on an average-sized monitor. Map names should have no spaces in them, and should contain the genus and species names, for example: Hyla_regilla.jpeg, Hydromantes_brunus1.gif, Hydromantes_brunus2.gif. These names should be entered in the "range map" field on the species account webform. To submit range maps to AmphibiaWeb, contact us. Photos, videos and sound files We need photos of amphibians, as well as videos and sound files. (However, accounts can be contributed without photos, videos or sound files.) You can submit your own photos, videos, and sound files of species for which other people have written the accounts. Photos, videos, and sound files need to be submitted with good associated data, including the photographer's name, the date the photo or video/sound file was recorded, the correct identification, and the location where the photo/video/sound file was made. Videos can be embedded from YouTube or if submitted directly, need to be in MPG or MOV format. Sound files can be in MP3 or WAV format. We need digital copies of the photos. Photos should be saved as jpegs and sized to approximately 500 x 750 ppi. Alternatively, we can resize jpegs for you if they are larger than 500 x 750 ppi. If you can't make digital copies, contact us and we will help scan your slides. You will still have to provide the additional data associated with the photos. Photos and associated data are uploaded online via a webform. They are entered into CalPhotos, to which AmphibiaWeb species accounts link. To upload photos, you must first be registered in the photographer database. You will then receive a password to use on the photo upload form. For additional information, and to register as a photographer, go to this page. Once you are registered as a photographer, you can add photos on this page. For additional help, contact us.