Kadaba Shamanna, Seshadri and T, Ganesh (2013) Can Canopy-Dwelling Frogs Be Monitored from the Ground? A Case from Western Ghats of India. In: Treetops at Risk: Challenges of Global Canopy 387 Ecology and Conservation. Springer.

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Abstract

In the larger context of global climate change, the forest canopy, with its direct interface with the atmosphere, stands to be most affected (Nadkarni and Solano 2002 ). Anurans in particular are unique organisms to model their impacts under climate change scenarios. Minor changes to the moisture availability or temperature have profound impacts on the breeding success of anurans (Gibbs and Breisch 2002). Further, unprecedented declines in amphibian populations were recently reported from the tropics, in part due to increasing incidences of fungal infections (Stuart et al. 2004). Establishment of inventories and long-term monitoring for amphibians is advocated (Bickford et al. 2010). While monitoring anurans using their vocalizations has been widely practiced, no such programs exist in the canopy. Anurans show temporal and spatial patterns in vocalizing. Often, manual acoustic surveys are challenging due to lack of human power, harsh weather conditions, and diffi culty of identifying species with certainty. But automated sound recorders (ASR) which can be deployed in harsh field conditions for long durations are increasingly used to monitor wildlife (See Oseen and Wassersug 2002 ; Waddle et al. 2009 ). The system also provides permanent data in the form of recordings which can later be subject to multiple analyses by different observers or using complex algorithms on a computer program. In this chapter, we report on ASRs to monitor canopy-dwelling frogs. The Western Ghats of India is considered a critical site for species radiation of amphibians (Roelants et al. 2007 ). So far, over 150 anurans have been documented from the forest matrix of the Western Ghats, including recent descriptions of new species (Seshadri et al. 2012 ). But studies on the natural history, ecology, and behavior have been limited. The landscape is undergoing rapid changes leading to forest loss, degradation, and fragmentation (Puyravaud et al. 2010 ). A protocol for long-term monitoring program for anurans was developed in the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), Southern Western Ghats. The protocol was designed and tested in the site for three seasons and is potentially applicable in different habitat matrices across the Western Ghats and elsewhere. Specifi cally, the objectives were to determine if vocalizing of anurans in the canopy is different from ground level and how such variation occurs across 24 h periods between the canopy and ground.

Item Type: Book Section
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Amphibians, Long term monitoring, Automated sound recording, Diel activity patterns.
Subjects: A ATREE Publications > H Book Chapters
Divisions: SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation > Resilient Urbanscapes
Depositing User: Ms Suchithra R
Date Deposited: 01 Dec 2025 04:11
Last Modified: 01 Dec 2025 04:11
URI: http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/1229

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