Amphibian monitoring in Kakamega Forest, Kenya

• Main Author: Wairimu, Vincent Muchai
• Other Authors: Channing, A.
• Language: en
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Amphibians; Bias; Declines; Estimators; Habitat; Kakamega; Monitoring; Rainfall; Species richness,; Transect
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11394/3140

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) === Since the late 1970 there has been increased concern of amphibian decline and extinction. Several causes for the worldwide declines have been suggested and include ultraviolet radiation, predation, pollution, climate change, diseases and habitat modification. To counter this, more research on the subject has been encouraged of which long term monitoring has been suggested as a research method. The study was conducted in Kakamega Forest in Kenya, which is the country's remnant of the once vast Guineo-Congolian forest. A rectangular transect whose sides measured 600 m in total was established and transect walks were carried out every two weeks for two consecutive days between 2002 and 2006. 24 species were targeted in the study and were sampled through VES and AES and data recorded in a GPS and later downloaded. In this study I examined the influence of rainfall, temperature, habitat and moon phases on the activity of frogs in Kakamega Forest. I also determined under which weather conditions sampling was more efficient. When monitoring was carried out by two observers I tested whether their data were similar. Data were analysed using non-parametric methods (Kruskal-wallis and Tukey test), species abundances analysed using EstimateS..Out of the 24 targeted species only 14 were recorded, with a total of 535 specimens being counted mostly at night. Most frogs in Kakamega Forest were more active in temperatures between 20 and 25oC. There was not much variation and there was no frog activity when the temperature was extremely high. There was rainfall throughout the year and there was no significant differences in the number of frogs counted in rainfall above 200 mm or below 200 mm. There was no significant difference in the number of specimens found in the different vegetation segments in the forest. More amphibians were caught under cloudy, rainy and clear conditions at night than under any weather condition during the day. During the day, more amphibians were caught during cloudy conditions than when it rained or when there was no cloud cover. There was no difference in catch among night conditions and there was no difference between clear and rainy days In Kakamega Forest, night is the best time to sample amphibians. In terms of weather it is best to sample when it is cloudy both during the day and at night. There were no differences in sampling abilities between two observers tested under similar weather conditions.