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Last Updated:: 08/01/2015
Researchers studying impact of roads, pipelines on toads
MADURAI: Two researchers have launched a study in Tamil Nadu on the impact of linear barriers such as roads, pipelines, power lines, canals on toads.
For the study, Preeti Sharma, a master's student from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, and Rupsy Khurana, a junior research fellow from Lab for Conservation of Endangered Species of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, radio-tagged a toad and released it in the Srivilliputhur area of Virudhunagar district.
The students would radio-tag one more toad for the study.
According to them, amphibians around the world are threatened by habitat loss, diseases and development projects.
The study would focus on linear barriers on the movement of toads. "It has been revealed across globe that such linear barriers cause genetic bottleneck in amphibian populations. Such genetic depression will lead to total extinction in the long run. We have taken a common Asian toad (duttaphrynus melanostictus) distributed in India and South East Asia and study the impact of road in human dominated landscape in Tamil Nadu," Preeti said. They will extend the study to the entire state in the coming days.
T K Ashok Kumar, wildlife warden of Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, said it was a curious study.
"Most of the time we don't see significance of small species like toad which could have large scale impact on environment. Hope this study comes out with lot of interesting facts", he said upon releasing radio-tagged toad.
Source
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Researchers-studying-impact-of-roads-pipelines-on-toads/articleshow/45762406.cms