Comparative study on the Anuran Communities (Amphibia Anura) in Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Philippines

Abstract

The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary harbors numerous species of Anurans (Amphibia Anura) that have highly threatened habitats. The species of anurans were observed in different vegetation types such as Terminalia forest, sago palms, and rice fields in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur on May and October 2008. Result showed abundant, diverse, endemic, and threatened anuran species. Nine species of frogs with 148 individuals were documented. The sago forest had the highest anuran population with 76 inviduals (3 species) followed by 41 (5 species) in the Terminalia forest and 31 (3 species) in the agricultural areas adjacent to sago stands. Of these, 66.7% are Philippine endemics. However, the remaining 33.3% are threatened by natural habitat conversion. Naturally grown sago stands are ultimately a habitat for several anurans found only in the Philippine archipelago. O. laevis and L. leytensis are identified as sago forest indicators. Indeed, their absence or decline in population over time may have detrimental impact on the survival of the sago stands in the Agusan wetlands. The anuran species are highly habitat specific. Indeed, sago stands harbor endemic and unique anuran species that need to be conserved and protected.

Habitat Assemblage of Amphibians from Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia

“…For instance, Chalcorana labialis prefer to inhabit pristine to semidisturbance clearwater streams (Berry, 1975;Inger and Stuebing, 1989;Shahriza et al, 2011;Shahrudin et al, 2011;Ibrahim et al, 2012Ibrahim et al, , 2013Dasi and Shahriza, 2020). Moreover, Polypedates leucomystax and Polypedates discantus can be found in wetlands, marsh, forests, and human housing areas (Frith, 1977;Rujirawan et al, 2013;Ehwan et al, 2016;Shahrudin et al, 2017;Relox and Camino, 2018).…”