BENGALURU: A team of researchers from the state have collated all information of the amphibians in the state. They have found that the number of species present in Karnataka has increased from 92 species in 2015 to 102 now in the year 2024. Researchers also pointed that of these 102, 31 are endemic species.
This list includes Nyctibatrachus karnatakaensis (Kudremukh Wrinkled Frog); Raorchestes echinatus (Spiny Bush Frog); Microhyla laterite (Laterite Chorus Frog); Micrixalus kottigeharensis (Kottigehar Torrent Frog); Raorchestes honnametti (Honnametti Bush Frog) are endemic to Karnataka, said the research paper.
“This finding will help the state government agencies and other states take up better planning and protection measures. The environment and forest departments are working on identifying and declaring a state frog, and this research paper, now in public domain, will help,” said K S Chetan Nag, from Centre for Urban Ecology, Bio-Diversity, Evolution and Climate Change (CUBEC), Jain (Deemed- to- be-University) and co -author of the research paper.
The research paper titled- Amphibians of agro-climatic zones of Karnataka with an updated checklist for the state- was also been published in the Records for Zoological Survey of India on September 26. The team included researchers from Genetics Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Yuvaraja’s College, University of Mysore, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune and Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru.
Researchers in the paper noted that the first amphibian species described from Karnataka was in 1853. Since then, amphibian discoveries in Karnataka has seen a drastic rise. The amphibian checklist for Karnataka was first made in 2013 with 88 species, later in 2015 it accounted for 92 species and now it is 102 species.
“In the present checklist, the species diversity has been categorised based on the state’s agro-climatic zones. Our studies suggested that the highest species diversity was encountered in the hilly agro-climatic zones of Karnataka with 89 species, followed by the southern transition zone with 24 species; the least species diversity was encountered in the North Eastern transition zone and North Eastern dry zone with six species diversity. Among the threatened species category four species were categorised as critically endangered, 14 as endangered and five species as vulnerable,” the paper stated.
Habitat fragmentation is a severe threat to the dispersal of amphibians, and their survival as they require both land and water for their survival and completion of the life cycle. Provisions of water bodies in the vicinity of agricultural landscapes support the viable populations of already available species in these regions.
Pond ecosystems and wetlands ecosystems available within these agro-climatic zone need immediate conservation measures for the conservation of amphibians in Karnataka, pointed the study.