Do frogs really eat cardamom? Understanding the myth of crop damage by amphibians in the Western Ghats, India.

Autor: Kanagavel, Arun, Parvathy, Sethu, Nirmal, Nithula, Divakar, Nithin, Raghavan, Rajeev
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Zdroj: AMBIO - A Journal of the Human Environment; Oct2017, Vol. 46 Issue 6, p695-705, 11p
Abstrakt: In the Western Ghats of India, amphibians are culled at cardamom plantations since they are perceived to consume cardamom. To better understand the relationship between amphibians and cardamom, a study was undertaken at these plantations, which harbor numerous threatened and range-restricted amphibians. We undertook questionnaire surveys with 298 respondents at 148 plantations across southern India. Time-activity budget and diet analysis surveys were undertaken to determine whether amphibians really consumed cardamom. The conception that amphibians eat cardamom was found to be widespread especially among small-sized plantations, leading to negative perceptions and a lack of interest in amphibian conservation. The plantation community perceives a substantial economic loss due to amphibians, even though this is non-existent as revealed by our field surveys. These perceptions would lead to a continued intolerance of amphibian presence in plantations. A suitable outreach initiative re-affirming facts and spreading awareness on the positive role of amphibians would need to be conducted to negate this age-old myth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index
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