The Amphibian and Reptile Extinction Crisis: Status, Drivers, and Future Directions

Amphibians and reptiles face an unprecedented global extinction crisis, with a significant proportion of species threatened with disappearance. Amphibians are among the most imperiled vertebrate groups, experiencing widespread population declines and extinctions driven by an array of factors. While reptiles were historically considered less vulnerable, recent assessments reveal their equally precarious status, with many species experiencing rapid declines across diverse ecosystems. These declines represent not only a tragic loss of biodiversity but also a severe disruption to ecosystem services, given their crucial roles as predators, prey, and indicators of environmental health. Understanding the multifaceted nature of this crisis is paramount for effective conservation action.This Research Topic adopts an explicitly integrative and forward-looking perspective. We aim to move the discourse beyond the mere documentation of declines toward the identification of specific solutions and leverage points for conservation. We seek to address the persistent and escalating extinction crisis by prioritizing synthesis and comparative studies that yield actionable outcomes. While we acknowledge mechanistic stressors, we explicitly seek contributions that link these factors to demographic processes and population-level outcomes. The goal is to stimulate discussions that emphasize quantitative approaches, such as long-term monitoring and multiple-stressor frameworks, to integrate ecological understanding with genomic tools, technological advancements, and socio-economic considerations to foster more resilient conservation outcomes.A core theme of this collection is the critical role of habitat loss and land-use change. We encourage submissions that examine these drivers across various spatial and temporal scales, reflecting their status as primary catalysts of modern declines alongside climate change and disease. Furthermore, we aim to strengthen the future directions of the field by inviting research that utilizes predictive approaches, scenario-based analyses, and decision-support tools designed to directly inform conservation planning and policy.Scope and Information for Authors: We invite research that advances our ability to combat the amphibian and reptile extinction crisis through synthesis and evidence-based action. Specific themes include, but are not limited to:• Impacts of habitat loss and land-use change across spatial and temporal scales as a primary driver of decline.• Predictive modeling and scenario-based analyses to forecast population viability and inform long-term policy.• Synthesis and comparative studies that identify broad patterns and actionable conservation leverage points.• Research on past extinction events (e.g., paleoecology, historical ecology), and their implications for understanding and mitigating current crises• Updated status assessments and population trends• Novel insights into disease dynamics (e.g., chytrid fungus, ranaviruses)• Impacts of climate change, pollution, and emerging contaminants, with a particular interest in the translation of individual-level effects into conservation-relevant insights• Application of integrative and quantitative modeling and multiple-stressor frameworks to population data• Effectiveness of protected areas and ex situ conservation• Community-based conservation initiatives• Technological applications in monitoring and management• Genetic diversity, population genomics, and chromosomal assessments for evaluating extinction risk, adaptive potential, and informing translocation and breeding programs• Interdisciplinary approaches bridging ecology, and socio-economics for future conservation planning and policy. Topic editors: Paula Ribeiro Anunciação, Duminda S B Dissanayake, FRANCIS ISSELIN, Laurent Boualit Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77999/the-amphibian-and-reptile-extinction-crisis-status-drivers-and-future-directions