*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

**Figure 2.** *Spawn of* Afrixalus slyvaticus *in Shimba Hills (Source: Author 2016).*

**Figure 3.** *A & B: Picture of* Afrixalus sylvaticus *and* H. rebrovermicalatus*.*

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 rebrovermicalatu*s (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.

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**.
