Long-term surveys of pond occupancy and seasonal dynamics of the golden Mantella frog from Mangabe-Ranomena-Sahasarotra Reserve
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17899029Keywords:
Conservation, Humid Forest, Mantella aurantiaca, Monitoring, Protected areaAbstract
We conducted an eight-year monitoring of the golden mantella frog, Mantella aurantiaca, from the Mangabe-Ranomena-Sahasarotra reserve with the objective of assessing its status within the reserve. We surveyed breeding ponds and the adjacent forests to study the evolution of pond occupancy and seasonal movement of the species. A diurnal search was carried out along transects from the breeding ponds and the adjacent forest within this reserve. Animal presence and the number of encountered individuals were recorded. In addition, ponds status based on the impact of threats was also assessed, and they were classified into three categories such as good, intermediate, and bad. Our results indicated that the number of recognized ponds within the reserve increased during the survey period, and ponds occupied by the golden mantella follow the same path. The proportion of pond status changed every year, and we noticed that the number of good ponds increased during the last five years. Sex and age of encountered animals vary between seasons of survey and the topography of the transect. Despite the improvement of its conservation status on the IUCN Red List, the golden mantella is still under pressure from forest destruction and gold mining.
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