Dancing frogs of Western Ghats among most threatened amphibians globally

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

The dancing frogs that are endemic to the Western Ghats are the most threatened amphibian genus of India, according to the Wildlife Trust of India.

Details:

Global Amphibian Assessment report released by: IUCN’s Species Survival Commission’s Amphibian Specialist Group.
More than 41% of the amphibian species are threatened with extinction. In India, 139 of the total 426 species were categorised as ‘Critically Endangered’, ‘Endangered’ or ‘Vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
Of the 24 species of the frogs belonging to the Micrixalus genus that were assessed, two were found to be critically endangered and 15 were endangered.
It is also the fifth most threatened genus in the world with 92 per cent of its species in the threatened category.
Frogs are valuable in the food chain and also provide other ecological services. Protecting the natural habitats and preserving their optimal living conditions is thus vital to save the last of these species.

Dancing frogs:

The dancing frogs that are found near the streams do a unique display to mate. The males stretch up their hind legs one at a time and wave their webbed toes in the air in a rapid motion akin to a dance.
This is to attract mates as well as ward off competition, probably preferred because their mating calls are drowned out by the gurgling of the streams.
This act is called “foot flagging” and gives the species their name.
They prefer habitats in areas with thick canopy cover of at least 70-80 per cent.
Multiple anthropogenic stresses have impacted the population of the dancing frogs.
- Micrixaluskottigeharensis (commonly called the Kottigehar Dancing Frog) is threatened by invasive species like the mosquito fish, land use change, variation in temperature and humidity, extreme weather events such as floods and excess rainfall, infectious diseases, water pollution, light pollution, and infrastructure projects such as dams.
After the dancing frogs, the Nyctibatrachidae (night frogs) are the most threatened with 83.9 percent of its species threatened across the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Amphibian recovery project:

Wildlife Trust of India’s Amphibian Recovery Project in the Munnar Landscape of Kerala is actively working to recover the population of threatened amphibians by addressing the challenges that cause the risk of extinction, threat mitigation through strategically planned conservation action, capacity development and training, advocacy and information sharing implemented by a stakeholder network.

Wildlife trust of India (WTI):

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is an Indian nature conservation organisation.
WTI was formed in November 1998 in New Delhi, India, as a response to the rapidly deteriorating condition of wildlife in India.
WTI is a registered charity (non-profit organization) in India (under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961).
WTI currently focuses its resources on six priority landscapes – northeast India, western Himalayas, terai, southern Ghats system, central India and terrestrial ecosystems. One of its projects is to protect the Sarus crane.
The Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation is a wildlife care facility that is run by Wildlife Trust of India and Assam Forest Department, with financial support from International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The Udanti Tiger Reserve in Gariaband district, Chhattisgarh, is run by Wildlife Trust of India and the Chhattisgarh forest department.

Source: DownToEarth