 A general decline in living amphibian species has been linked with the fungal disease chytridiomycosis . A higher proportion of salamander species than of frogs or caecilians are in one of the at @-@ risk categories established by the IUCN . Salamanders showed a significant diminution in numbers in the last few decades of the 20th century , although no direct link between the fungus and the population decline has yet been found . The IUCN made further efforts in 2005 as they established the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan ( <unk> ) , which was subsequently followed by Amphibian Ark ( <unk> ) , Amphibian Specialist Group ( ASG ) , and finally the umbrella organization known as the Amphibian Survival Alliance ( ASA ) . Researchers also cite deforestation , resulting in fragmentation of suitable habitats , and climate change as possible contributory factors . Species such as <unk> <unk> and <unk> <unk> that had been abundant in the cloud forests of Guatemala and Mexico during the 1970s were found by 2009 to be rare . However , few data have been gathered on population sizes over the years , and by intensive surveying of historic and suitable new locations , it has been possible to locate individuals of other species such as <unk> townsendi , which had been thought to be extinct . Currently , the major lines of defense for the conservation of Salamanders includes both in situ and ex situ conservation <unk> are efforts in place for certain members of the Salamander family to be conserved under a conservation breeding program ( CBP ) but it is important to note that there should be research done ahead of time to determine if the Salamander species is actually going to value from the CBP , as researchers have noted that some species of amphibians completely fail in this environment . 
