Agroforestry promoted as sustainable, but Amboli frogs stare at terrain loss

Keri: Rapidly expanding agroforestry has taken its toll on the nestlings of Amboli bush frogs in the northern expanse of the Western Ghats.

Research conducted by Himanshu Lad, Ninad Gosavi, Vijayan Jithin and Rohit Naniwadekar has found that agroforestry, often promoted as a sustainable agriculture practice, has affected the demography, microhabitat use, body condition of the bush frogs.

After comparing the above parameters of two endemic species of shrub frogs — Amboli bush and Bombay bush — it has been revealed that both exhibited extremely skewed sex ratios, with three females for 100 males.

Amboli species had lower densities and poor recruitment and exhibited altered microhabitat use in cashew plantations compared to low-elevation forests.

Although adult male Amboli bush frog densities in rubber plantations were similar to those in low-elevation forests, they exhibited altered microhabitat use and smaller body sizes than in forests, indicating poor body condition.

Using distance sampling, the researchers demonstrated that the abundances of the two species differed across elevation categories, with Amboli frog more common in low-elevation forests and Bombay frog more prevalent in high-elevation cover.

The research paper was published in a London-based magazine, Animal Conservation, in September 2024, under the title “Effects of land use change and elevation on endemic shrub frogs in a biodiversity hotspot”.

Though agroforestry is often advocated as a sustainable alternative for better land management and improved production, in tropical regions conversion into agroforestry plantations leads to forest and biodiversity loss.

Presence of Amboli bush frog species has been reported from the rich forested areas of the Chorla Ghat in Goa to Castle Rock of Karnataka, besides the forests of Amboli and Amba Ghats of Maharashtra. Whereas the Bombay bush frogs’ presence is reported from few forested areas.


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