In Kalakad forests, a project to bring out amphibian ecology

Perhaps for the first time in the country, researchers of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment have initiated a project to monitor the presence of frogs and toads in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats to preserve these endangered species serving as indicators of climate change.

• The Ashoka Trust is based at the Agasthyamalai community conservation centre at Manimuthar.
• The researchers plan to exploit the behaviour of frogs and toads by placing automated sound recorders and climate data loggers in the forests to record the calling of males at night to attract females for breeding. They will analyse the data in relation to climate and the frog species found in an area and discern the patterns after a few years of monitoring.
• Among amphibians, frogs and toads are exceptions: they are without tails while being adults. They are collectively called anurans. India is a home to 277 species of anurans, and close to 150 species have been listed as 'threatened.'
• If the predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are to come true, many more anurans may be pushed to the brink of extinction. Sensitive to temperature and moisture in the atmosphere, amphibians also serve as indicators of climate change. This will be the first effort at monitoring the amphibians for long-term population dynamics.