Non-native Amphibians Introduced to China in the past 60 years

Biological invasion is among the major components of global change with high impacts on biodiversity, economy, and social sustainability. Acomprehensive collection of non-native species introduction data is not only critically important to help reduce invasion risks at early stages, but also will provide key ecological information to evaluate the probability of invasion success. However, there has long been relatively limited information on non-native species introductions especially for those countries with rapid development and high pressures in preventing biological invasions such as China. These introduction information is particularly rare for some cryptic taxa such as amphibians, which have strong ecological adaptability, high reproduction capacity, close association with human activities such as pet trade, aquaculture, and religious release, and are high-risk vectors of the notorious chytridiomycosis that are causing rapid decline of global amphibians.<br>Here, we aimed to fill this data gap by constructing the first comprehensive database of non-native amphibian introductions in China baed on an intensive review of relevant databases and published papers, including gray literature, customs materials, local markets and online platforms, using 8 languages across the globe. We collected information on the common name, introduction time, introduction location, introduction quantity, and pathway of 140 non-native amphibian species that has been recorded to have been introduced to China between 1959 and 2025, with a total of 1260 records of species introduction events. We show that the pet trade is the predominant pathway for non-native amphibian introductions in China. The primary source regions for these species are concentrated in some biodiversity conservation hotspots such as South America, North America, and Mesoamerica, with Guangdong, Taiwan, and Hong Kong serving as the major hubs for their introductions. The non-native amphibian introductions in China are undergoing increase after 2000 with an accelerating trend since 2015.biological invasion; amphibian; species introduction; globalization; risk analysis