Population Density, Distribution And Habitat Associations Of Callulina Shengena: An Endemic Frog Species In The Eastern Arc Mountains

ABSTRACT

Population density and habitat associations are fundamental aspects for conservation and

management of wildlife species such as Callulina shengena. Being a Critically

Endangered warty frog in the Eastern Arc Mountains, such vital information was missing

and therefore demonstrated substandard conservation measures. Documented here are the

information on population density, distribution, habitat traits, associations and threats with

the aim of enhancing proper management of the C. shengena. Active searching was done

in Chome Nature Forest Reserve in 12 plots during wet and dry seasons. Plots were

searched thoroughly and when the species was encountered, the information about that

site were recorded which included GPS location, altitude, percentage canopy cover,

distance from water source, disturbance level, temperature and the amount rainfall. There

was significant difference in population density of C. shengena between wet and dry

seasons. Places that exhibited higher density of C. shengena had largely shady areas close

to slowly moving fresh waters. Also the population density was higher in wet season

suggesting that rainfall and temperature had influence on C. shengena distribution. It was

found that C. shengena was highly distributed in the mid altitudes (1951 - 2050 m.a.s.l),

of the western part of the forest where there was slow moving waters nearby. About 55%

of C. shengena population was close to the forest boundary and this exposes C. shengena

to higher chances of depopulation due to increased human activities in the forest, either

legally or illegally. The Chome Nature Forest Reserve was observed to

experience threats mainly from illegal logging, gold mining and human trails and the

development of tourism activities. The government should put more

emphasis on the societal knowledge about the resources and wildlife found in the reserve

to maximize the conservation efforts to the protected areas.

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