Drivers of amphibian diversity in disturbed wetlands of Kenya’s central highlands

Drivers of amphibian diversity in disturbed wetlands of Kenya’s central highlands | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Drivers of amphibian diversity in disturbed wetlands of Kenya’s central highlands A. Massagli, C.M. Warui, P. Njenga, M. Nicholson, A. Gichira, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8652300/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Amphibians are the most threatened class of vertebrates, facing severe global declines driven largely by anthropogenic pressures such as wetland drainage. As key bioindicators, monitoring anuran populations is essential for assessing habitat degradation. Here, we examine how human activities—including noise pollution—affect water quality and habitat conditions, and how these factors influence anuran abundance, diversity, and distribution in disturbed highland wetlands in Kiambu County, Kenya. Auditory surveys and spotlight searches were conducted between June and August to monitor anurans, alongside measurements of ambient noise, water-quality parameters, and habitat classification. Diversity, abundance, and rarity were quantified using the Shannon diversity index, Pielou’s evenness, and the Index of Relative Rarity (IRR). Species–habitat associations were analysed using correspondence analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and generalised linear models (GLMs). GIS overlay analysis was used to assess habitat preferences. We recorded 11 frog species from seven families. Species diversity was higher in the Brackenhurst and Tigoni wetlands (both H′ = 1.63) than in the degraded wetland (H′ = 1.34). The IRR indicated greater rarity in the less disturbed sites (Tigoni: 0.23; Brackenhurst: 0.18) than in the degraded site (0.08). Multiple regression identified pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) as significant predictors of diversity, explaining 72% of the observed variation. Overall, water quality emerged as a key driver of community structure, while anthropogenic noise was associated with reduced anuran diversity and abundance. These findings support the need for broader spatiotemporal monitoring to inform wetland management and amphibian conservation. Anurans wetlands ecology bioindicators monitoring tea plantations Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 30 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 29 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 25 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8652300","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586998321,"identity":"5314f67e-9ad3-4ee6-83ac-46843983280b","order_by":0,"name":"A. 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As key bioindicators, monitoring anuran populations is essential for assessing habitat degradation. Here, we examine how human activities—including noise pollution—affect water quality and habitat conditions, and how these factors influence anuran abundance, diversity, and distribution in disturbed highland wetlands in Kiambu County, Kenya.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuditory surveys and spotlight searches were conducted between June and August to monitor anurans, alongside measurements of ambient noise, water-quality parameters, and habitat classification. Diversity, abundance, and rarity were quantified using the Shannon diversity index, Pielou’s evenness, and the Index of Relative Rarity (IRR). Species–habitat associations were analysed using correspondence analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and generalised linear models (GLMs). GIS overlay analysis was used to assess habitat preferences.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe recorded 11 frog species from seven families. Species diversity was higher in the Brackenhurst and Tigoni wetlands (both H′ = 1.63) than in the degraded wetland (H′ = 1.34). The IRR indicated greater rarity in the less disturbed sites (Tigoni: 0.23; Brackenhurst: 0.18) than in the degraded site (0.08). Multiple regression identified pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) as significant predictors of diversity, explaining 72% of the observed variation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall, water quality emerged as a key driver of community structure, while anthropogenic noise was associated with reduced anuran diversity and abundance. 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