Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation
Agriculture can have different effects on wildlife depending on land-use type and extensive/intensive practices. The aim of this study was to establish the significance of rice fields in Central Bulgaria as anuran habitats. We used Audiomoth acoustic loggers to record calling activity at three sites...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/106 |
| _version_ | 1797359214836842496 |
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| author | Simeon Lukanov Andrey Kolev Blagovesta Dimitrova Georgi Popgeorgiev |
| author_facet | Simeon Lukanov Andrey Kolev Blagovesta Dimitrova Georgi Popgeorgiev |
| author_sort | Simeon Lukanov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Agriculture can have different effects on wildlife depending on land-use type and extensive/intensive practices. The aim of this study was to establish the significance of rice fields in Central Bulgaria as anuran habitats. We used Audiomoth acoustic loggers to record calling activity at three sites near the city of Plovdiv—one shallow pond and two rice fields—from June to September in 2022 and 2023. We registered the three most widespread species in the region—<i>Bufotes viridis</i>, <i>Hyla orientalis</i> and <i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i>—and created pattern-matching models for them using the free web interface Arbimon, which enabled us to perform presence/absence counts and abundance estimates. At the beginning and the end of the rice vegetation period, water samples were collected and analysed for 62 substances. Substance concentrations were compared between ponds and with LC50 data from the available literature. We registered 19 and 21 substances in 2022 and 2023, respectively, with concentrations within the accepted limits, and although some metals were near risk levels, this was not reflected in the presence counts or the abundance estimates. The results indicated that frog activity was not related to any of the registered substances, but that it was positively correlated with daily rainfall and was higher in the rice fields. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85235f53d4c34a21bfecb813a74e2505 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-85235f53d4c34a21bfecb813a74e25052024-01-10T14:50:19ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-12-0114110610.3390/ani14010106Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for ConservationSimeon Lukanov0Andrey Kolev1Blagovesta Dimitrova2Georgi Popgeorgiev3Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1000, BulgariaFaculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia 1164, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1000, BulgariaNational Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1000, BulgariaAgriculture can have different effects on wildlife depending on land-use type and extensive/intensive practices. The aim of this study was to establish the significance of rice fields in Central Bulgaria as anuran habitats. We used Audiomoth acoustic loggers to record calling activity at three sites near the city of Plovdiv—one shallow pond and two rice fields—from June to September in 2022 and 2023. We registered the three most widespread species in the region—<i>Bufotes viridis</i>, <i>Hyla orientalis</i> and <i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i>—and created pattern-matching models for them using the free web interface Arbimon, which enabled us to perform presence/absence counts and abundance estimates. At the beginning and the end of the rice vegetation period, water samples were collected and analysed for 62 substances. Substance concentrations were compared between ponds and with LC50 data from the available literature. We registered 19 and 21 substances in 2022 and 2023, respectively, with concentrations within the accepted limits, and although some metals were near risk levels, this was not reflected in the presence counts or the abundance estimates. The results indicated that frog activity was not related to any of the registered substances, but that it was positively correlated with daily rainfall and was higher in the rice fields.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/106agriculture<i>Bufotes viridis</i><i>Hyla orientalis</i>passive acoustic monitoring<i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i> |
| spellingShingle | Simeon Lukanov Andrey Kolev Blagovesta Dimitrova Georgi Popgeorgiev Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation Animals agriculture <i>Bufotes viridis</i> <i>Hyla orientalis</i> passive acoustic monitoring <i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i> |
| title | Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation |
| title_full | Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation |
| title_fullStr | Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation |
| title_short | Rice Fields as Important Habitats for Three Anuran Species—Significance and Implications for Conservation |
| title_sort | rice fields as important habitats for three anuran species significance and implications for conservation |
| topic | agriculture <i>Bufotes viridis</i> <i>Hyla orientalis</i> passive acoustic monitoring <i>Pelophylax ridibundus</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/106 |
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