Health Status of Amphibians from an Urbanizing Community and a Forest Zone, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract:

Urbanization has been reported to adversely affect the health status of amphibians. We examined the health status of four amphibian species (Ptychadena spp., Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, Sclerophys spp. and Hylarana galamensis) from an urban settlement (Rumuesara) and a forested location (Agbada), using the condition factor, CF. Higher condition factor values of Ptychadena spp. were obtained in specimens from Agbada while the CF of H. occipitalis was higher in specimens from Rumuesara, although the differences were not statistically significant. Generally, CF was higher in male specimens from both locations. No significant differences were found between sexes except in Ptychadena species from Agbada where it was significantly higher in the females. Condition factor of all species investigated was greater than one. Pearson correlation between snout-vent length and body mass was statistically significant (P<0.01), indicating good health status of the amphibians from both locations. Urbanization did not significantly affect the CF of amphibians from Rumuesara when compared with that of specimens from the forested location, Agbada.