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<p>Urbanisation is accelerating across biodiverse tropical regions, yet its impacts on frog communities remain poorly documented, particularly in rapidly expanding cities of the Global South. We examined amphibian diversity, community structure, and trait–environment relationships along a 30-km urbanisation gradient in Udupi, a tier-2 city located in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Using field surveys across 23 sites during two monsoon seasons, we recorded 947 individuals representing 19 frog species. We evaluated community-level patterns and trait–environment associations to assess how environmental conditions and anthropogenic stressors influence different frogs residing in forests and cities. Species richness and Shannon diversity peaked at the urban–forest edge, indicating that moderately urbanised landscapes can retain amphibian diversity. Community composition differed significantly among city, edge, and forest sites. Fossorial, arboreal, and direct-developing species were associated with higher elevations, cooler microclimates, and greater microhabitat availability farther from the urban centre, whereas generalist species tolerant of disturbance dominated city sites. Functional traits such as larger male body size and specialised reproductive modes were linked to reduced urban tolerance, suggesting trait-mediated vulnerability to habitat modification. Overall, our findings demonstrate that functional traits provide critical insight into amphibian responses to urbanisation beyond richness patterns, highlighting the importance of habitat heterogeneity, elevation, and microhabitat retention for amphibian persistence. These results offer empirical guidance for amphibian-sensitive urban planning in rapidly developing tropical cities.</p>

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Trait-mediated responses of frog communities to urbanisation in a tropical biodiversity hotspot, the Western Ghats of India

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月1日

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  • Madhushri Mudke,
  • Aravind NA

摘要

Urbanisation is accelerating across biodiverse tropical regions, yet its impacts on frog communities remain poorly documented, particularly in rapidly expanding cities of the Global South. We examined amphibian diversity, community structure, and trait–environment relationships along a 30-km urbanisation gradient in Udupi, a tier-2 city located in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Using field surveys across 23 sites during two monsoon seasons, we recorded 947 individuals representing 19 frog species. We evaluated community-level patterns and trait–environment associations to assess how environmental conditions and anthropogenic stressors influence different frogs residing in forests and cities. Species richness and Shannon diversity peaked at the urban–forest edge, indicating that moderately urbanised landscapes can retain amphibian diversity. Community composition differed significantly among city, edge, and forest sites. Fossorial, arboreal, and direct-developing species were associated with higher elevations, cooler microclimates, and greater microhabitat availability farther from the urban centre, whereas generalist species tolerant of disturbance dominated city sites. Functional traits such as larger male body size and specialised reproductive modes were linked to reduced urban tolerance, suggesting trait-mediated vulnerability to habitat modification. Overall, our findings demonstrate that functional traits provide critical insight into amphibian responses to urbanisation beyond richness patterns, highlighting the importance of habitat heterogeneity, elevation, and microhabitat retention for amphibian persistence. These results offer empirical guidance for amphibian-sensitive urban planning in rapidly developing tropical cities.