Anurans in mixed-use landscapes

PhD Student: Vijay Karthick

Program: Western Ghats 

Guide: Dr. Anand Osuri and Dr. Rohit Naniwadekar

Habitat degradation and land-use change for agriculture are leading drivers of global biodiversity loss. There is also the growing threat from climate change which, in synergy with land-use change, can prove a ‘double whammy’ for biodiversity. In the case of anurans, a group that is sensitive to environmental change and not adequately covered by protected areas, mixed-use agricultural landscapes are important for conservation. This is especially the case in the Western Ghats, a region of incredible anuran diversity and endemism, in which just 12% of land is formally protected.

My PhD project examines how land-use and climate shape amphibian communities and acoustic behaviour in the coffee-growing Malenadu region of the central Western Ghats. This region grows two varieties of coffee – arabica grown under dense shade, and robusta grown under more open canopies – spanning from high-rainfall zones in the west to drier zones in the east. I am studying how taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of anuran communities, and populations of certain species, vary across coffee types and climates, in relation to natural rainforests. I am also studying the factors that influence anuran calling behaviour—an important indicator of breeding activity—including land-use, climate, body condition, and the number of calling neighbours. Lastly, I am using remote audio loggers to understand seasonal calling patterns of multiple anuran species and how they respond to changes in land-use and climate.

The increasing intensity of human activities has led to a significant loss of biodiversity. The proposed study will help deepen our understanding on the community reassembly of anurans within agroforest landscapes by specifically examining how some species adapt to habitat change while others do not. Moreover, the study will identify key habitat attributes that sustain anuran diversity in coffee agroforests that can inform coffee farmers about anuran conservation needs. It will also examine the consequences of contemporary environmental stress on the structure of phylogenetic and functional diversity of anurans. The use of passive acoustic monitoring to understand species calling phenology would expand possibilities for an acoustic-based anuran monitoring. This approach will be particularly useful for monitoring lesser-known anuran species of high conservation priority in the Western Ghats.

Vijay is known for his sharp tech-savvy brain. He did his masters from Bharti Vidyapeeth in Wildlife Conservation Action and previously he had an engineering background.

When not doing his night trails he loves to read natural history books and do photogarphy. He is also avid in recording and listening to soundscapes.

Vishal Sadekar, Abhinav K V, Vignesh Poojary, Siva Dass, Ranjith, Kiran S