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a truck loaded with harvested reeds, making it’s way to a paper
pulp factory. With many unique species making reeds their home,
including ones that remain yet to be described, we may never
know what we’re losing in terms of our biological heritage. These
are truly, the real ‘lost species’.
Harvested reeds (Ochlandra spp.) being loaded onto a truck, at a forest reserve.
Photo: E. Kunhikrishnan
Distribution map of ten new frog species discovered in 2011 from the Western Ghats
of India. © Robin Abraham
Other dominant threats to frogs are the conversion of habitat
to monocultures, and more recently, to resorts catering to the
burgeoning tourism industry, which are mushrooming in many
mountain habitats. The discharge of untreated sewage mixed with
oils and detergents, from resorts into hill streams is responsible
for the mortality of tadpoles of many endemic frog species.
The challenge now is to make progress past cataloguing species
and identify ways to conserve and sustain this wonderful diversity
into the future. Individuals like Dr. Anil Zachariah are inspiring
models to emulate while making critical examinations on the
problems faced by amphibians today, which needs to be of a
multidimensional nature. Frogs are ideal mascots for integrating
the conservation of varied habitats since the life history of
many species includes an aquatic youth and a land dwelling
adult phase. To effectively conserve them, we need to preserve
streams, swamps, forests, grasslands and even reed brakes,
among other threatened habitats, both inside and outside existing
protected areas. If members of civil society can contribute to the
identification and description of these remarkable creatures, then
surely the responsibility in helping to appreciate and conserve
them can come too.
Author Details: Robin Abraham can be contacted at
robinabrahamf50@gmail.com
Dead tadpoles in a stream near a tourist resort adjacent to critical amphibian habitat.
Photo: Sandeep Das
Indiscriminate harvesting of wild reeds is also now understood to
be a major hazard for some of the specialized forms of frogs. For
instance, one of the team members, Sandeep Das, while sipping
tea outside a tea-stall on a highway, was surprised to hear the
call of Raorchestes manohari. When he started following the
source of the call, he was alarmed to find the calls coming from
Literature cited
1. Mittermeier, R.A., Gil, P.R., Hoffman, M., Pilgrim, J., Brooks, T., Mittermeier,
C.G., Lamoreux, J., Da Fonseca, G.A.B. (2004) Hotspots Revisited: Earth’s
Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions. CEMEX.
Conservation International, and Agrupacion Sierra Madre, Monterrey, Mexico,
392pp
2. Zachariah, A., Dinesh, K.P., Radhakrishnan, C., Kunhikrishnan, E., Jafer Palot,
M. & Vishnudas, C.K. (2011) A new species of Polypedates Tschudi (Amphibia:
Anura: Rhacophoridae) from southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India. Biosystematica,
5(1): 49-53
3. Zachariah, A., Dinesh, K.P., Kunhikrishnan, E., Das, S., Raju, D. V.,
Radhakrishnan, C., Jafer Palot, M. & Kalesh, S. (2011) Nine new species of frogs of
the genus Raorchestes (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from southern Western
Ghats, India. Biosystematica, 5(1): 25-48
4. Günther, A. (1876) Third report on collection of Indian reptiles obtained by
British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 567-577
5. Biju, S.D. & Bossuyt, F. (2005) A new species of frog (Ranidae, Rhacophorinae,
Philautus) from the rainforest canopy in the Western Ghats, India. Current Science:
175-178
6. Biju, S.D. and Bossuyt, F. (2006) Two new species of Philautus (Anura, Ranidae,
Rhacophorinae) from the Western Ghats, India. Amphibia-Reptilia: 1-9
FrogLog Vol. 98 | September 2011 | 21