Breeding Ecology and Population Status of Kenyan Amphibians

Abstract

Although amphibians significantly contribute to energy flow in ecosystem, recent studies show that over 1800 amphibians are at risk of extinction globally and about fifth (235) of species in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction. The results show that coastal biodiversity hotspots including Shimba Hills National Reserve (30 species of anuras) and Taita Hill ecosystem complex (24 species) are leading in amphibian biodiversity and level of endemism. Moreover, the distribution of Afrixalus slylvaticus in Shimba Hills Ecosystem was almost equal in both land tenure types (51% in protected and 49% in community land). However, the species was more abundant during the wet season than dry (58 and 42%, respectively) which represented a statistical significant difference (t-value = −3.38, p-value = 0.002, DF = 30). However, the level of endemism declines drastically inland and towards the drier parts of the country. Most amphibian ecosystems in Kenya are facing perturbation from rapid human population growth, expansion of urban and agriculture areas, unplanned infrastructural and unregulated use of riparian zones. This pace of amphibian loss and decline calls for immediate collaborative actions. Reversing the trend requires dire commitment from conservationists and communities.

1. Introduction

This chapter introduces the first annotated status of breeding ecology and conservation status of amphibians in Kenya. The chapter provides a review of recent surveys on the status of habitats and population of amphibians as well as drivers of their population change in areas within the global biodiversity hotspots in Kenya. It also presents the possible course of action for reversing the trend of amphibian decline. The names of most species are given in scientific and where local names are used, explanation is provided. A literature survey and primary data are combined to provide a comprehensive review of the status of Kenyan Amphibians.

2. Research methodology

The population status of amphibians in Kenya was assessed in major biodiversity hotspots that include coastal forests, inland semi-arid areas, central region of Kenya, Western, and lower Eastern. The coastal forests of Kenya are part of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa biodiversity hotspot. The distribution of amphibians on the costal forest was assessed in south costal forest in Shimba Hills National Reserve (SHNR) Ecosystem, other central areas of the coast (Rehabilitated quarries near Mombasa) and inland drier forests in Taita Hills Ecosystem. In the leading biodiversity hotspot(s) ecological surveys were conducted for 60 days in the months of dry season and another 60 days wet season.

The sampling was done along six transects distributed equally both in protected and unprotected areas. The unprotected parts were characterized by human activities ranging from agro-ecosystems to settlements and infrastructure. During the fieldwork, visual encounter surveys (VES) [1, 2] were used where all potential microhabitats of the species were searched. The survey was conducted along the river transects (1000 m) but the sampling protocol was adjusted in some areas with terrain limitation or pools of water where line transect was limiting. The number of individuals encountered within 10 m of each side of the transect line was captured, marked, morphometric/biometric and population attributes recorded. Marking was done using toe clipping as adopted by [3]. In other biodivrsity hotspots in Kenya, the status of amphibians were documented using the previous surveys conducted by other scholars and ugmented by the review of their IUCN status online.

3. Results

3.1 Status of wetlands in Kenya

The major cause of decline in wetlands and amphibian habitats in Kenya is human activities particularly land use land cover changes. Other significant drivers include: natural calamities; drought, drop in ground water level, erosion, pollution resulting from industrial as well as domestic waste particularly Lake Nakuru and Agrochemicals from horticulture farms e.g. in Naivasha. Moreover, in other leading watersheds such as Tana River waste from urban centres and agricultural projects along the river channel contribute heavily to its pollution and decline in amphibian biodiversity. In most of these wetlands and lotic systems, characteristics of nutrient and chemical inflow is evidenced by the growth of invasive plant species for example Salvinia molesta in Lake Naivasha and Water Hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) in Lake Victoria, algal blooms, prolific growth of macrophytes, frequent death of fishes, and emergence of murky foul water. Another cause of wetland degradation is over-exploitation through water abstraction, drainage to create land for agriculture, burning, timber and other wood species collection as well as fishing. All these activities are common in almost all wetlands in Rift Valley as evidenced by decline in papyrus cover in Loboi and Saiwa swamps, decline in fish harvest in Lake Naivasha, serious fluctuations of eater in Lake Elementeita, Naivasha and Lake Nakuru as well as frequent drying up of many swamps in the region. The major landform features in Kenyan biomes are central plains, coastal strip, the rift valley, ancient block mountains and rift valley lakes. Riverbanks and wetlands provides habitats for many amphibian species and among the notable rivers and wetlands in Kenya are shown in Figure 1. The Ramsar Convention recognizes several wetland areas in Kenya as Ramsar wetlands of international significance such as Tana River Delta, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha, Lake Bogoria, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Baringo. Ramsar defined wetland as “an area covered by fen, marsh, water or peat and can be natural or artificially modified and can be partly or throughout the year with static or free flowing water that are either salty, blackish and it include areas of marine water whose at low tide the depth does not exceed 6 meters” [4].

Figure 1.

Map showing major wetlands in Kenya © Munguti, KEMFRI.

It is worth nothing that frogs require moisture of any kind during breeding, for eggs and larvae stage to develop (tadpoles) prior to metamorphosis [5, 6]. However, most species in Africa have evolved astonishing behaviors and lifestyle in face of perturbations from anthropogenic activities to avoid dehydration and manage breeding [7]. As a result, some are no longer reliant on the river banks, lake shores and marshes as those have been degraded and some are now breeding on land especially with little rain and often hibernate underground during dry spells where soil retain some moisture and some in fact developed wrapped cocoons [6]. However, in most undisturbed habitats, amphibians freely float their spawn in water or moist soil or reeds (see Figure 2). Unlike reptilian or bird eggs that have a protective outer layer, frog eggs are enclosed in a gelatinous envelope. Eggs then hatch into tadpoles, an aquatic stage that is completely dependent on water to survive and grow. Aquatic ecosystems are therefore key to the success of amphibian populations but, unfortunately, local freshwater systems are being degraded.

Figure 2.

Spawn of Afrixalus slyvaticus in Shimba Hills (Source: Author 2016).

3.2 Population status

3.2.1 Status of Afrixalus sylvaticus in Shimba Hills

The Shimba Hills stand out as the most amphibian and reptile species rich area in Kenya, predominantly due to the endemic and near-endemic species. The Shimba Hills Ecosystem (SHE) are a dissected plateau that is located between 4°09′–4°21′S and 39°17′–39°30′E in Kwale County on the Kenyan coast. There are currently 30 known amphibians (28 anurans and two caecilians) in this ecosystem, which includes 11 families and 15 genera [8]. The area is one of the biodiversity hotspot with highest level of endemism, and face considerable threats relative to the remaining area [9]. For example, two of the endemic and endangered amphibian species in Shimba Hills Ecosystem (SHE) are A. sylvaticus (Left) and Hyperolius rebrovermicalatus (Right) (See Figure 3A and B), as well as one snake species Elapsoidea nigra. Moreover, the habitat is the only home of sable antelope species in Kenya.

Figure 3.

A & B: Picture of Afrixalus sylvaticus and H. rebrovermicalatus.

From the surveys of one species (A. sylvaticus) we conducted in 2018 in SHE ecosystem, it was evident that many parameters influences the distribution and abundance of amphibians in this ecosystem [10]. One key aspect is the heterogeneous habitats in the SHNR—the area consists of six forest types and woodland and grassland habitats within the reserve [11, 12] which allows for the variety of species from different biogeographic zones. In our survey for example, we conducted both in community land and in protected area and the species distribution was almost equal in both land tenure types (51% in protected and 49% in community land). However, the species was more abundant during the wet season than dry (58 and 42%, respectively) which represented a statistical significant difference (t-value = −3.38, p-value = 0.002, DF = 30). In terms of period and time of the survey, it was evident that more individuals of A. sylvaticus were encountered during morning sampling than the other sampling periods though there was no statistically significant difference (F-Value, 0.25 DF = 2, p-value = 0.781). Weather also plays a part in the species sightings, as during the cool and rainy period, we captured the highest number of individuals (47%) as compared to the cool and dry period (8%) where we captured only five individuals [10]. The results are shown in Table 1.

Parameter	Category	N	Mean	SE(±)	StdDev (±)	Min	Max	(%)
Season	Dry	25	1.042	0.0417	0.204	1	2	42
	Wet	34	1.417	0.103	0.504	1	2	58
Land tenure type	Protected area	30	1.364	0.064	0.326	1	2	51
	Community area	29	1.115	0.105	0.492	1	2	49
Time of survey	Evening	18	1.286	0.125	0.469	1	2	31
	Morning	21	1.235	0.106	0.437	1	2	36
	Night	20	1.177	0.095	0.393	1	2	34
Weather	Cool and dry	5	1.667	0.333	0.577	1	2	8
	Cool and rainy	28	1.167	0.078	0.381	1	2	47
	Hot and dry	8	1.000	0.000	0.000	1	1	14
	Warm and dry	18	1.385	0.140	0.506	1	2	31

Table 1.

Shows population size and related parameters of A. sylvaticus.

3.2.2 Species diversity in Taita Hills ecosystem

Another area within the coastal lowlands rich in amphibians and highest level of endemism is the Taita Hills complex which is located in southern Kenya and it constitutes the northernmost portion of the crystalline block faulted Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM). It belong to the 34 worldwide biodiversity hotspots [13, 14]. According to [15], three (two caecilians and one frog species) out of the 26 species recorded in Taita Hills ecosystem, are endemic and are associated with montane forest. These include Boulengerula taitana, Boulengerula niedeni and Callulina dawida as shown in Table 2.

Species	IUCN status
Taita Hills endemics
B. niedeni [16]	Critically Endangered (CR) B1a&b (iii).
B. taitana (Loveridge, 1935)	Vulnerable (VU).
C. dawida [17]	CR B1a&b (ii, iii)
Other montane forest associated species
Xenopus borealis (Parker, 1936)	Least Concern (LC)
Arthroleptis xenodactyloides (Hewitt, 1933)	LC
Amietia angolensis (Bocage, 1866)	LC
Mertensophryne taitana (Peters, 1878)	LC
Hyperolius glandicolor (Peters, 1879)	LC
Hildebrandtia macrotympanum (Boulenger, 1912)	LC
Leptopelis concolor Ahl, 1929	LC
Other non-montane species
Amietophrynus garmani, A. gutturalis, Amietophrynus xeros, Phrynomantis bifasciatus, Hemisus marmoratus, Ptychadena anchietae, Ptychadena mascareniensis, Ptychadena mossambica, Ptychadena schillukorum, Phrynobatrachus scheffleri, Pyxicephalus adspersus, Tomopterna cryptotis, Hyperolius tuberilinguis, Kassina senegalensis, Chiromantis kelleri, and Chiromantis petersi	LC

Table 2.

Amphibian species diversity in Taita Hills ecosystem.

3.2.3 Species diversity in Bamburi rehabilitated mines

In comparison to these two amphibian rich ecosystems, the survey done in coastal ecosystem that represent a secondary growth after rehabilitation shows low diversity and species richness. In survey conducted in 2013 in rehabilitated mines in Bamburi, central areas of the coast, 12 species were found [18] distributed across nine genera (N = 1994). From the assessment done, there was strong association of two species Phrynobatrachus acridoides (46%) and P. anchietae (44%) with rehabilitated mines in Bamburi mines near Mombasa as shown by their dominance. Although the alpha diversities were higher among these species in central areas of Mombasa, the species abundances were relatively low (compared to SHNR and Taita Hills) and distribution was uneven due to fluctuations in resource, quality of breeding sites, among other factors [18] as shown in Table 3.

Species	n	IUCN Status	Population trend
Phrynobatrachus acridoides (Cope, 1867)	923	LC	Unknown
P. anchietae (Bocage, 1867)	879	LC	Unknown
P. schillukorum (Werner, 1907)	59	LC	Unknown
Amnirana galamensis (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841)	46	LC	Unknown
Kassina maculata (Dumeril, 1853)	23	LC	Unknown
Chiromantis xerampelina (Peters, 1954)	18	LC	Unknown
Xenopus muelleri (Peters, 1844)	14	LC	Unknown
Hyperolius pusillus (Cope, 1862)	11	LC	Unknown
Pyxicephalus edulis (Peters, 1854)	7	LC	Decreasing
Hyperolius argus (Peters, 1854)	7	LC	Unknown
H. tuberilinguis (Smith, 1849)	4	LC	Unknown
Bufo gutturalis (Power, 1927)	3	LC	Increasing

Table 3.

Amphibian population in rehabilitated mines in Bamburi area.

3.2.4 Species diversity in Meru National Park

Towards inland ecosystems, as survey conducted in lower eastern ecosystem in Tana River Primate National Reserve, the species diversity was comparatively becoming low. In total 16 amphibians (all anurans) were recorded in 2002 [19]. Moreover, within the drier central parts of the country a survey conducted in Meru national park [20] revealed that species diversity is further declining as only 11 species distributed across seven genera inhabit the area were identified. Although the IUCN status of all species is Least Concern (LC), the population trend of most species remain unknown and low levels of endemism (Table 4). In the breeding seasons, the sex ratio is balanced although the males are dominant (as in H. glandicolor) which indicted that breeding takes place [3].

Species (family)	IUCN Status	Population trend
Xenopus laevis	LC	Increasing
Amietophrynus maculatus (Bufonidae)	LC	Stable
A. garmani (Bufonidae)	LC	Unknown
Amietophrynus gutturalis (Bufonidae)	LC	Increasing
P. bifasciatus (Microhylidae)	LC	Unknown
H. marmoratus (Hemisotidae)	LC	Unknown
H. glandicolor (Hyperoliidae)	LC	Unknown
Phrynobatrachus natalensis (Phrynobatrachidae)	LC	Stable
Ptychadena porosissima (Ptychadenidae)	LC	Unknown
P. mascareniensis (Ptychadenidae)	LC	Unknown
P. anchietae (Ptychadenidae)	LC	Unknown

Table 4.

Species diversity and IUCN status in Meru National Park.

3.2.5 Species diversity in Kakamega forest

In another biodiversity hotspot located in the western part of the country, the amount of rainfall increases as compared to central region and the species richness increases. The number of species in Kakamega forest increases to 24 species (anurans only) as altitude increases to 1650 m above sea level as compared to 11 in Meru NP where the altitude of highest point is 850 m asl. More importantly, the level of endemism also increases in Kakamega Forest and its environs [21] as shown in Table 5 below.

Species	IUCN status	Population trend
Xenopus victorianus Ahl, 1924	LC	Increasing
Bufo kisoloensis Loveridge, 1932	LC	Unknown
Bufo maculatus Hallowell, 1854 sensu lato	LC	Stable
Phrynobatrachus graueri (Nieden, 1911)	LC	Unknown
Phrynobatrachus. sp. (aff. Mababiensis FitzSimons, 1932)	Unknown	Unknown
P. natalensis (Smith, 1849) sensu lato	LC	Stable
Afrana angolensis (Bocage, 1866)	LC	Decreasing
Amnirana albolabris (Hallowell, 1856) sensu lato	LC	Unknown
P. anchietae (Bocage, 1867)	LC	Unknown
Ptychadena porosissima (Steindachner, 1867)	LC	Unknown
Ptychadena taenioscelis Laurent, 1954	LC	Unknown
P. mascareniensis (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) sensu lato	LC	Unknown
P. oxyrhynchus (Smith, 1849) sensu lato	LC	Stable
Hoplobatrachus occipitalis (Günther, 1859)	LC	Stable
Afrixalus osorio (Ferreira, 1906) sensu lato	LC	Stable
A. quadrivittatus (Werner, 1908 “1907”) sensu lato	LC	Unknown
Hyperolius acuticeps Ahl, 1931	LC	Unknown
H. kivuensis Ahl, 1931	LC	Unknown
H. lateralis Laurent, 1940	LC	Unknown
H. viridiflavus (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)	LC	Unknown
Hyperolius cinnamomeoventris Bocage, 1866 sensu lato	LC	Unknown
Kassina senegalensis	LC	Unknown
Leptopelis sp.	Unknown	Unknown
Leptopelis bocagii	LC	Unknown

Table 5.

Amphibian diversity in Kakamega forest.

3.3 Major drivers of amphibian habitat degradation

Human activities contribute directly or indirectly to amphibian decline. In Kenya, for instance, unregulated industrial, rapid human population growth, expanding urban and agricultural areas, poor infrastructure and residential waste pose major threats to rivers, lakes and wetlands. This is predicted to decrease the resilience of ecosystem and biodiversity while increasing the prevalence of water borne diseases and parasites. This will result in the decline and extinction of amphibian species across the globe. In some urban areas, for instance, the insufficient basic services such as solid waste removal, untreated sewerage being discharge to water ways often causes water pollution and destruction of amphibian ecosystems.

Notably, human activities have drastically reduced species habitats and degrade their ecosystems. From our survey in Shimba Hills Ecosystem for example, the bush burning (as shown in Figure 4), drainage of wetlands, livestock grazing and plantation of exotic tree species (Eucalyptus sp.) has degraded species habitats and limit areas of occupancy of species such as Afrixalus sylvaticus that had been recorded in rice schemes in former habitats in Kaloleni.

Figure 4.

Bush burning as method land clearing in SHE (Source: Author 2017).

4. Discussion

4.1 Status of Wetlands and Amphibian habitats

Notably, the collection of amphibians in East Africa started as early as 1900s, by the colonial officers, explorers and Missionaries from Germany and Britain [7]. During these colonial time, German scientists and explorers created the first account of amphibians in the region [7]. Since then, the growth of molecular analyses using simplified biochemical techniques such as DNA sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) of DNA has facilitated the identification of more species and thus phylogenic studies has since flourished [22]. Global biodiversity hotspots are areas with high species richness and endemism but also faces a significant threats vis-à-vis the remaining area [13]. In terms of biodiversity hotspots, at global stage, there are 35 biodiversity hotspots, and we have two in Kenya [23]. One is the Eastern Afromontane hotspot which is represented by the Taita Hills including mountain and highland areas in central region (Aberdare Ranges, Mt. Kenya, and Nyambene Hills) and western parts (Kakamega Forest, Nandi Forests, Cherangani Hills, and Mau Hills). The second is the coastal forests of eastern Africa Kenya represented by the coastal forests of Kenya, namely Shimba Hills and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.

While Eastern Africa biodiversity hotspot are famed for its high biodiversity and endemism [24, 25], there exists data deficient and strong taxonomic biases in the existing literature and thus there is need for details review of the knowledge gaps through research. The rich biodiversity in the region is attributed to variety of land forms which includes mountains, rift valley, and wetlands [26]. This has fostered the evolution of endemic species of amphibians associated with these habitats. At global stage, wetlands covers an area of about 6 percent of the earth surface and in Kenya it covers 3–4% of the land surface (14,000 km²) but often extend up to 6 percent during rainy season and 80% of these wetlands are found outside protected areas. Despite many ecological functions that these wetlands including providing habitats for many species of amphibians, they are regarded as wetlands and have been degraded through conversion to agricultural lands, settlements and industrial use. Moreover most wetlands in Kenya have suffered from pollution, catchment destruction and overexploitation. The continued degradation is attributed to lack of awareness and appreciation of the values of these wetlands as well as inconsistent policy implementation. The management of wetlands in Kenya have been influenced by many players that include government agencies such as fisheries, rural development, environment, public works and Agriculture as well as private developers, local fishermen and farmers alongside local and international development organizations. Although wetlands are among the most biologically productive ecosystems globally, local communities often regard it as a wasteland, nuisance, habitat for pests and diseases vectors such as bilharzia, flukes, mosquitoes, ticks, etc. As a consequence, wetlands have been threatened by anthropogenic activities and the cover percent of wetlands areas have declined by about 40 percent and so does the flow rate (discharge) of major rivers by about 30 percent [26] and lakes experienced dramatic fluctuations in water levels with cases of drying out especially in Rift valley lakes.

4.2 Population status

The status of amphibians’ population globally shows a serious declining trend, and 41% of 6638 known world’s amphibian species are threatened with extinction [27, 28]. More precisely, the recent study revealed that over 1800 amphibians face extinction [29]. The class Amphibia are under the division of vertebrae animals and are classified into three orders namely; Order Caudata (salamanders and newts – not found in sub-Saharan Africa), Order Anura (frogs and toads) and Order Gymnophiona (caecilians). Taxonomically, the amphibians in East Africa are classified into two orders: the order Gymnophiona which includes the caecilians- whose members have annuli that resembles earth worms with moist and shiny skin and do not have legs. They occur globally within the tropics and in east Africa, two families occur. Their habitat is mainly buried in damp soil within forests biome. The second order is the anura whose members are mainly toads and frogs. The order comprises of tailless amphibians mainly frogs. Over 20 families of frogs have been documented globally and 8 families occur in East Africa. Relatively few tadpoles (40%) from East African frogs have been described. About 194 frog species and 9 caecilians have been documented in East Africa [30] and over 100 species in Kenya [7]. Although most of these species occur elsewhere in Africa, about 20 are endemic to Kenya [8]. The largest of the species in Kenya is the huge African Bullfrog, P. edulis, who inhabit areas around Tsavo National Parks and can weigh over 1 kg and Snout-Vent Length (SVL) is over 14 cm while the smallest species is the Unguja Puddle Frog, Phrynobatrachus ungujae who weigh less than 2 g and its SVL is only 1.6 cm [7].

4.3 Drivers of population decline

Amphibians and reptiles suffer from anthropogenic stress ranging from negative perceptions to impacts of development. Although amphibians are important part of ecosystem many people have negative perception of amphibians and reptiles. They play significant ecosystem functions such as acting as insect and other arthropods pests control, acting as excellent indicators of success in habitats restoration or highlight the degradation of habitats as they are sensitive to changes in the environmental conditions and pollution [14]. As part of ecosystem function, amphibians themselves act as food for secondary consumers such as birds and mammals and thus act as chain for energy transfer from lower tropic level to the higher levels. Toxins from pollutants can easily enter their permeable skins. For example, in an environment where frogs are dying off, this is probably a sign of pollution which have potential effect on humans as well. They also have known and unutilized culinary potential, economic and medicinal values. The skin of some frogs have been discovered to have complex substances such as peptides which have amazingly been used to treat various skin conditions in humans. Going forward, it is predicated that many toxic substances will be found in the skin of most amphibians [28].

Throughout the world, amphibians are suffering an alarming decline due to climate change, increase in ultraviolet radiation and most importantly environmental degradation or shift in land use land cover types [29]. Although most species of frogs have evolved to withstand perturbations, some frogs are becoming less tolerant to factors that was previously in their habitats such as chytrid fungus [31]. Another factor contributing to amphibian habitat destruction is the surface mining as seen in Bamburi area—former mining zones of limestone for cement making. This surface mining not only contribute a direct mechanical threat to amphibians, but is also contribute to water pollution, as well as their habitat. Moreover, some amphibians have been affected by invasive amphibians’ species who have considerably pose ecological and socio-economic impact.

4.4 Possible solutions

• Environmental education serves to avert negativity surrounding amphibians.

• Moreover, the support for more amphibian and reptile parks can help draw members of public face to face with amphibians and reptiles and dispel the stereotypes and negativity surrounding amphibians.

• Local engagement in conservation initiatives such as ecotourism ventures, wildlife farming and sustainable practices may provide some sustainable solutions.

• Since the major cause of amphibian decline is the destruction of their habitats, concerted efforts should be focus on wetlands. Since most wetlands occur outside protected areas, some form of extension services should be put in place to create awareness in these areas. While wetlands should be managed as multiple use resource, wetland sanctuaries in areas rich in biodiversity should be established and declare as protected areas or public resource that is governed by public policy.

• Further approaches can include the creation of integrated management authorities through cooperation among all organizations related to wetlands. This should include conservationists, interest holders, government and non-governmental agencies, and ecologists. In order to realize these recommendations, an effective management policies for wetlands should be set up, or reinforced and review the existing policies and where wanting, enact by-laws to protect wetlands from external discharge from industrial effluents, and municipal effluents, commercial and service operations; Repair, servicing of motor vehicle and disposal of industrial chemicals and expired drugs, disposal of waste oils, solid wastes like garbage and plastics, mining activities, damming and irrigation, power generation, agrochemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, livestock grazing and watering.

• Personnel for wetland management should also be trained on management and information disseminate skills on the importance of wetlands and amphibian biodiversity within these wetlands.

5. Conclusion

In the assessment of amphibians’ biogeography in major biodiversity hotspots in Kenya, it is evident that their distribution and diversity is influenced by habitat, location of the area, anthropogenic activities in the habitat as well as their level of endemism. Notably, human activities such as land use changes greatly influence the species diversity and richness. For example, in rehabilitated mines in Bamburi, the noted species patterns are possibly due to unfavorable conditions for the tenancy of amphibians that ranges from shelter, the complexity of food web, breeding, hydrological cycle, dispersal corridors in the neighborhood and the edge effect. Moreover, it was evident coastal biodiversity hotspots including Shimba Hills National Reserve and Taita Hill complex ecosystem are leading in amphibian biodiversity and level of endemism. The level of endemism declines drastically inland and towards the drier parts of the country. Anthropogenic activities and climate change is however degrading their habitats and contributing to amphibian decline locally and globally. For example, the notable human activities in most wetland areas in Kenya are, rapid human population growth which has consequently led to unregulated industrial effluents, expanding urban and agricultural areas, poor infrastructural planning and residential waste pose major threats to rivers, lakes and wetlands. Other agents of habitat degradation is the bush burning as a way of land preparation, livestock grazing, drainage of wetlands, and plantation of exotic tree species (Eucalyptus sp.). A concerted efforts are needed to reverse these trends causing amphibian population to decline. Therefore, reversing these trends requires adequate commitment from both government and communities involved.