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A Study on Determining Amphibian Awareness in Uzungöl (Trabzon) Residents

Year 2025, Issue: 8, 1 - 19, 29.06.2025

Abstract

Amphibians are a class of vertebrates situated between fish and reptiles, displaying a widespread distribution and represented by approximately 8743 species worldwide. In recent years, a significant decline in the number of amphibian species and populations has been observed. The causes of this decline have been reported as climate changes, habitat destruction, unregulated river-lake shoreline and road construction, road mortality, the presence of invasive species, the excessive usage of agricultural pesticides, and various pathogenic diseases. In the Uzungöl region, Trabzon, the species Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) exposing to a high frequency of road mortality due to the increased number of people and vehicles during the spring and summer seasons, as noted in the literature. In this study, it is aimed to assess the knowledge of Uzungöl local people and tourists about different amphibian species and B. bufo, to identify the causes behind the decline in species and population numbers, and to determine whether local people are aware of the high road mortality rates around the lake. To achieve this, a cross-sectional survey consisting of two parts was conducted with 93 participants (36 women and 57 men), and the results were statistically analysed. The analyses showed that amphibian awareness was related to education level, residence status, and age but not to gender. Additionally, the local people were found to have more knowledge about the species compared to tourists. As a result, preventive measures aimed at protecting amphibians, especially B. bufo, were identified for the tourism-intensive Uzungöl region.

References

  • Alford, R. A., & Richards, S. J. (1999). Global amphibian declines: a problem in applied ecology. Annual review of Ecology and Systematics, 30(1), 133-165.
  • Amphibia Web. (2024). Information on amphibian biology and conservation, [web application], Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. https://amphibiaweb.org/. Accessed 13 January 2025.
  • Anđelković, M., & Bogdanović, N. (2022). Amphibian and reptile road mortality in special nature reserve Obedska Bara, Serbia. Animals, 12(5), 561.
  • Beebee, T. J. (2013). Effects of road mortality and mitigation measures on amphibian populations. Conservation Biology, 27(4), 657-668.
  • Beebee, T. J. C., & Griffiths, R. A. (2005). The amphibian decline crisis: A watershed for conservation biology? Biological Conservation, 25, 271-285.
  • Brzeziński, M., Eliava, G., Żmihorski, M. (2012). Road mortality of pond-breeding amphibians during spring migrations in the Mazurian Lakeland, NE Poland. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 58, 685-693.
  • Bülbül, U., Eroğlu, A.İ., Kutrup, B., Kurnaz, M., Koç, H., and Odabaş, Y. (2019). Road kills of amphibian and reptile species in Edirne and Kırklareli Provinces of Turkey, Sinop Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, 4(2), 109-121.
  • Clevenger, A. P., Chruszcz, B., Gunson, K. E. (2003). Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Biological Conservation, 109(1), 15-26.
  • Cooke, A. S. (1988). Mortality of toads (Bufo bufo) on roads near a Cambridgeshire breeding site. Bulletin of the British Herpetological Society, 121, 789-824.
  • Dursun, C., Özdemir, N., Gül, S. (2023). Road mortality report of the genus Bufo in northeastern Türkiye. Biology Bulletin, 50(4), S746-S755.
  • Elzanowski, A., Ciesiołkiewicz, J., Kaczor, M., Radwańska, J., Urban, R. (2009). Amphibian road mortality in Europe: a meta-analysis with new data from Poland. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 55, 33-43.
  • Franch, M., Silva, C., Lopes, G., Ribeiro, F., Trigueiros, P., Seco, L., Sillero, N. (2015). Where to look when identifying roadkilled amphibians? Acta Herpetologica, 10(2), 103-110.
  • Frost, D. R. (2024). Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. Electronic Database accessible at https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php. Accessed 13 January 2025
  • Green, D. M., Lannoo, M. J., Lesbarrères, D., Muths, E. (2020). Amphibian population declines: 30 years of progress in confronting a complex problem. Herpetologica, 76(2), 97-100.
  • Hartel, T., Moga, C. I., Oellerer, K., Puky, M. (2009). Spatial and temporal distribution of amphibian road mortality with a Rana dalmatina and Bufo bufo predominance along the middle section of the Târnava Mare basin, Romania. North-Western Journal of Zoology, 5(1), 130-141.
  • IBM Corporation (2013). IBM SPSS statistics for Windows, version 21.0. IBM Corporation, New York.
  • IUCN (2024). The IUCN Red list of threatened species Web: www.iucnredlist.org, (Erişim 24 Kasım 2024).
  • İnkaya, S., & Avcı, M. (2013). Uzungöl Çevresinde Bitki Örtüsünün Dağılışı. 1. İstanbul Uluslararası Coğrafya Kongresi, 20-22 Haziran, İstanbul, S: 1039-1048.
  • Karunarathna, S., Ranwala, S., Surasinghe, T., Madawala, M. (2017). Impact of vehicular traffic on vertebrate fauna in Horton Plains and Yala national parks of Sri Lanka: some implications for conservation and management. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 9(3), 9928-9939.
  • Koç-Gür, H., Bülbül, U., Öztürk, İ., Kutrup, B. (2020). High mortality of amphibians and reptiles on Pazar-Hemşin highway in Black Sea Region of Turkey: Contemporary Studies in Natural Sciences. S. Benzer, S., B. Topuz, (Eds.), 1-11, Akademisyen Kitabevi, Ankara.
  • Langton, T. E. S. (1989). Tunnels and temperature: results from a study of a drift fence and tunnel system at Henley-on-Thames, Buckinghamshire, England. Amphibians and Roads, Proceedings of the Toad Tunnel Conference, 1 January 1989, Shefford, England: pp: 145-152.
  • Luedtke, J.A., Chanson, J., Neam, K. (2023). Ongoing declines for the world’s amphibians in the face of emerging threats. Nature, 622, 308-314
  • Matos, C., Sillero, N., Argaña, E. (2012). Spatial analysis of amphibian road mortality levels in northern Portugal country roads. Amphibia-Reptilia, 33(3-4), 469-483.
  • Meek, R. (2012). Patterns of amphibian road-kills in the Vendée region of western France. The Herpetological Journal, 22(1), 51-58.
  • Morelli, F., Benedetti, Y., Szkudlarek, M., Abou Zeid, F., Delgado, J. D., Kaczmarski, M. (2023). Potential hotspots of amphibian roadkill risk in Spain. Journal of Environmental Management, 342, 118346.
  • Orłowski, G. (2007). Spatial distribution and seasonal pattern in road mortality of the common toad Bufo bufo in an agricultural landscape of south-western Poland. Amphibia-Reptilia, 28(1), 25-31.
  • Özdemir, N., Dursun, C., Üzüm, N., Kutrup, B., Gül, S. (2020). Taxonomic assessment and distribution of common toads (Bufo bufo and B. verrucosissimus) in Turkey based on morphological and molecular data. Amphibia-Reptilia, 41(3), 399-411.
  • Pinto, T., Sillero, N., Mira, A., Santos, S. M. (2024). Using the dead to infer about the living: Amphibian roadkill spatiotemporal dynamics suggest local populations' reduction. Science of the Total Environment, 927, 172356.
  • R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria.
  • Rassati, G. (2016). Road mortality of amphibians and reptiles along two roads in the carnic alps (Friuli, north-eastern Italy) before and after asphalting. Atti del museo civico di storia naturale di Trieste, 58, 161-170.
  • Recuero, E., Canestrelli, D., Vörös, J., Szabó, K., Poyarkov, N. A., Arntzen, J. W., ... & Martínez-Solano, I. (2012). Multilocus species tree analyses resolve the radiation of the widespread Bufo bufo species group (Anura, Bufonidae). Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 62(1), 71-86.
  • Santos, X., Llorente, G. A., Montori, A., Carretero, M. A., Franch, M., Garriga, N., Richter-Boix, A. (2007). Evaluating factors affecting amphibian mortality on roads: the case of the Common Toad Bufo bufo, near a breeding place. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 30(1), 97-104.
  • Sarıkurt, S., Bülbül, U. (2023). Effects of roadkill on breeding of some amphibian species in Türkiye: International Research and Evaluations in the Field of Biology. A. Aksoy, H. Akgül (Eds.), 100-112, Serüven Yayınevi, Ankara.
  • Seger, K. R., Solé, M., Martinez, R. A., Schiavetti, A. (2019). Of people and toads: Local knowledge about amphibians around a protected area in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 14(4), 439-457.
  • Selvaraj, R. R., Murray, C., Owen, N., Turvey, S. T. (2020). Are local and traditional ecological knowledge suitable tools for informing the conservation of threatened amphibians in biodiversity hotspots? Herpetological Bulletin, 153, 3-13.
  • Sillero, N. (2008). Amphibian mortality levels on Spanish country roads: descriptive and spatial analysis. Amphibia-Reptilia, 29(3), 337-347.
  • Springborn, M. R., Weill, J. A., Lips, K. R., Ibáñez, R., Ghosh, A. (2022). Amphibian collapses increased malaria incidence in Central America. Environmental Research Letters, 17(10), 104012.
  • Stuart, S. N., Chanson, J. S., Cox, N. A., Young, B. E., Rodrigues, A. S., Fischman, D. L., Waller, R. W. (2004). Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Science, 306(5702), 1783-1786.
  • Tarrant, J., Kruger, D., Du Preez, L. H. (2016). Do public attitudes affect conservation effort? Using a questionnaire-based survey to assess perceptions, beliefs and superstitions associated with frogs in South Africa. African Zoology, 51(1), 13-20.
  • Thumsová, B., Alarcos, G., Ayres, C., Rosa, G. M., Bosch, J. (2024). Relationship between two pathogens in an amphibian community that experienced mass mortalities. Conservation Biology, e14196.
  • Tok, C. V., Ayaz, D., Cicek, K. (2011). Road mortality of amphibians and reptiles in the Anatolian part of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 35(6), 851-857.
  • Toledo, L. F., de Carvalho-E-Silva, S. P., de Carvalho, A. M. P. T., Gasparini, J. L., Baêta, D., Rebouças, R., ... & Carvalho, T. (2023). A retrospective overview of amphibian declines in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Biological Conservation, 277, 109845.
  • Verep, B., Şahin, C., Çiloğlu, E., & İmamoğlu, H. O. (2010). Uzungöl'ün İklimi ve Çevresel Sorunları Üzerine Bir Çalışma/A Study on The Climate and Environmental Problems of Uzungöl. Atatürk Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 33(4), 353-358.
  • Vergara-Ríos, D., Montes-Correa, A. C., Urbina-Cardona, J. N., De Luque-Villa, M., Cattan, P. E., Granda, H. D. (2021). Local community knowledge and perceptions in the Colombian Caribbean towards Amphibians in urban and rural settings: tools for biological conservation. Ethnobiology and Conservation, 10, 24.

Uzungöl (Trabzon) Halkında Amfibi Farkındalığının Belirlenmesi Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Year 2025, Issue: 8, 1 - 19, 29.06.2025

Abstract

Amfibiler, balıklar ile sürüngenler arasında yer alan oldukça geniş yayılış gösteren omurgalı sınıfıdır ve dünyada yaklaşık 8743 tür ile temsil edilmektedir. Son yıllarda amfibilerin tür ve popülasyon sayısında belirgin bir azalma görülmektedir. Bu azalmanın nedenleri; iklim değişikleri, habitat tahribatları, bilinçsiz şekilde yapılan dere-göl kenarı ve yol çalışmaları, yol ölümleri, istilacı türlerin ortamdaki varlığı, tarım ilaçlarının aşırı kullanımı ve çeşitli patojenik hastalıklar olduğu rapor edilmiştir. Trabzon ili Uzungöl bölgesinde yaşayan Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) türünün ilkbahar ve yaz dönemlerinde artan insan ve araç sayısından dolayı yol ölümü görülme sıklığının yüksek olduğu literatürde belirtilmiştir. Bu çalışmada Uzungöl halkının ve bölgedeki turistlerin amfibi türleri ile B. bufo hakkındaki bilgilerinin ölçülmesi, tür ve popülasyon sayısındaki azalma nedenlerinin belirlenmesi, göl etrafındaki yoğun yol ölümlerinin bölgedeki halk tarafından bilinip bilinmediğinin tespiti üzerine planlanmıştır. Bu amaçla 93 kişiye (36 kadın ve 57 erkek) iki bölümden oluşan kesitsel bir anket çalışması yapılmış ve sonuçlar istatistiksel olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Yapılan analizler sonucunda amfibi farkındalığının eğitim düzeyi, ikamet durumu ve yaş ile ilişkili olduğu fakat cinsiyet ile ilişkili olmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır. Ayrıca yerel halkın türü tanıma açısından turistlere göre daha fazla bilgi sahibi olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç olarak turizmin yoğun olduğu Uzungöl bölgesinde amfibilere ve özellikle B. bufo türünün korunmasına yönelik önlem maddeleri belirlenmiştir.

References

  • Alford, R. A., & Richards, S. J. (1999). Global amphibian declines: a problem in applied ecology. Annual review of Ecology and Systematics, 30(1), 133-165.
  • Amphibia Web. (2024). Information on amphibian biology and conservation, [web application], Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. https://amphibiaweb.org/. Accessed 13 January 2025.
  • Anđelković, M., & Bogdanović, N. (2022). Amphibian and reptile road mortality in special nature reserve Obedska Bara, Serbia. Animals, 12(5), 561.
  • Beebee, T. J. (2013). Effects of road mortality and mitigation measures on amphibian populations. Conservation Biology, 27(4), 657-668.
  • Beebee, T. J. C., & Griffiths, R. A. (2005). The amphibian decline crisis: A watershed for conservation biology? Biological Conservation, 25, 271-285.
  • Brzeziński, M., Eliava, G., Żmihorski, M. (2012). Road mortality of pond-breeding amphibians during spring migrations in the Mazurian Lakeland, NE Poland. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 58, 685-693.
  • Bülbül, U., Eroğlu, A.İ., Kutrup, B., Kurnaz, M., Koç, H., and Odabaş, Y. (2019). Road kills of amphibian and reptile species in Edirne and Kırklareli Provinces of Turkey, Sinop Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, 4(2), 109-121.
  • Clevenger, A. P., Chruszcz, B., Gunson, K. E. (2003). Spatial patterns and factors influencing small vertebrate fauna road-kill aggregations. Biological Conservation, 109(1), 15-26.
  • Cooke, A. S. (1988). Mortality of toads (Bufo bufo) on roads near a Cambridgeshire breeding site. Bulletin of the British Herpetological Society, 121, 789-824.
  • Dursun, C., Özdemir, N., Gül, S. (2023). Road mortality report of the genus Bufo in northeastern Türkiye. Biology Bulletin, 50(4), S746-S755.
  • Elzanowski, A., Ciesiołkiewicz, J., Kaczor, M., Radwańska, J., Urban, R. (2009). Amphibian road mortality in Europe: a meta-analysis with new data from Poland. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 55, 33-43.
  • Franch, M., Silva, C., Lopes, G., Ribeiro, F., Trigueiros, P., Seco, L., Sillero, N. (2015). Where to look when identifying roadkilled amphibians? Acta Herpetologica, 10(2), 103-110.
  • Frost, D. R. (2024). Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. Electronic Database accessible at https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php. Accessed 13 January 2025
  • Green, D. M., Lannoo, M. J., Lesbarrères, D., Muths, E. (2020). Amphibian population declines: 30 years of progress in confronting a complex problem. Herpetologica, 76(2), 97-100.
  • Hartel, T., Moga, C. I., Oellerer, K., Puky, M. (2009). Spatial and temporal distribution of amphibian road mortality with a Rana dalmatina and Bufo bufo predominance along the middle section of the Târnava Mare basin, Romania. North-Western Journal of Zoology, 5(1), 130-141.
  • IBM Corporation (2013). IBM SPSS statistics for Windows, version 21.0. IBM Corporation, New York.
  • IUCN (2024). The IUCN Red list of threatened species Web: www.iucnredlist.org, (Erişim 24 Kasım 2024).
  • İnkaya, S., & Avcı, M. (2013). Uzungöl Çevresinde Bitki Örtüsünün Dağılışı. 1. İstanbul Uluslararası Coğrafya Kongresi, 20-22 Haziran, İstanbul, S: 1039-1048.
  • Karunarathna, S., Ranwala, S., Surasinghe, T., Madawala, M. (2017). Impact of vehicular traffic on vertebrate fauna in Horton Plains and Yala national parks of Sri Lanka: some implications for conservation and management. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 9(3), 9928-9939.
  • Koç-Gür, H., Bülbül, U., Öztürk, İ., Kutrup, B. (2020). High mortality of amphibians and reptiles on Pazar-Hemşin highway in Black Sea Region of Turkey: Contemporary Studies in Natural Sciences. S. Benzer, S., B. Topuz, (Eds.), 1-11, Akademisyen Kitabevi, Ankara.
  • Langton, T. E. S. (1989). Tunnels and temperature: results from a study of a drift fence and tunnel system at Henley-on-Thames, Buckinghamshire, England. Amphibians and Roads, Proceedings of the Toad Tunnel Conference, 1 January 1989, Shefford, England: pp: 145-152.
  • Luedtke, J.A., Chanson, J., Neam, K. (2023). Ongoing declines for the world’s amphibians in the face of emerging threats. Nature, 622, 308-314
  • Matos, C., Sillero, N., Argaña, E. (2012). Spatial analysis of amphibian road mortality levels in northern Portugal country roads. Amphibia-Reptilia, 33(3-4), 469-483.
  • Meek, R. (2012). Patterns of amphibian road-kills in the Vendée region of western France. The Herpetological Journal, 22(1), 51-58.
  • Morelli, F., Benedetti, Y., Szkudlarek, M., Abou Zeid, F., Delgado, J. D., Kaczmarski, M. (2023). Potential hotspots of amphibian roadkill risk in Spain. Journal of Environmental Management, 342, 118346.
  • Orłowski, G. (2007). Spatial distribution and seasonal pattern in road mortality of the common toad Bufo bufo in an agricultural landscape of south-western Poland. Amphibia-Reptilia, 28(1), 25-31.
  • Özdemir, N., Dursun, C., Üzüm, N., Kutrup, B., Gül, S. (2020). Taxonomic assessment and distribution of common toads (Bufo bufo and B. verrucosissimus) in Turkey based on morphological and molecular data. Amphibia-Reptilia, 41(3), 399-411.
  • Pinto, T., Sillero, N., Mira, A., Santos, S. M. (2024). Using the dead to infer about the living: Amphibian roadkill spatiotemporal dynamics suggest local populations' reduction. Science of the Total Environment, 927, 172356.
  • R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria.
  • Rassati, G. (2016). Road mortality of amphibians and reptiles along two roads in the carnic alps (Friuli, north-eastern Italy) before and after asphalting. Atti del museo civico di storia naturale di Trieste, 58, 161-170.
  • Recuero, E., Canestrelli, D., Vörös, J., Szabó, K., Poyarkov, N. A., Arntzen, J. W., ... & Martínez-Solano, I. (2012). Multilocus species tree analyses resolve the radiation of the widespread Bufo bufo species group (Anura, Bufonidae). Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 62(1), 71-86.
  • Santos, X., Llorente, G. A., Montori, A., Carretero, M. A., Franch, M., Garriga, N., Richter-Boix, A. (2007). Evaluating factors affecting amphibian mortality on roads: the case of the Common Toad Bufo bufo, near a breeding place. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 30(1), 97-104.
  • Sarıkurt, S., Bülbül, U. (2023). Effects of roadkill on breeding of some amphibian species in Türkiye: International Research and Evaluations in the Field of Biology. A. Aksoy, H. Akgül (Eds.), 100-112, Serüven Yayınevi, Ankara.
  • Seger, K. R., Solé, M., Martinez, R. A., Schiavetti, A. (2019). Of people and toads: Local knowledge about amphibians around a protected area in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 14(4), 439-457.
  • Selvaraj, R. R., Murray, C., Owen, N., Turvey, S. T. (2020). Are local and traditional ecological knowledge suitable tools for informing the conservation of threatened amphibians in biodiversity hotspots? Herpetological Bulletin, 153, 3-13.
  • Sillero, N. (2008). Amphibian mortality levels on Spanish country roads: descriptive and spatial analysis. Amphibia-Reptilia, 29(3), 337-347.
  • Springborn, M. R., Weill, J. A., Lips, K. R., Ibáñez, R., Ghosh, A. (2022). Amphibian collapses increased malaria incidence in Central America. Environmental Research Letters, 17(10), 104012.
  • Stuart, S. N., Chanson, J. S., Cox, N. A., Young, B. E., Rodrigues, A. S., Fischman, D. L., Waller, R. W. (2004). Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Science, 306(5702), 1783-1786.
  • Tarrant, J., Kruger, D., Du Preez, L. H. (2016). Do public attitudes affect conservation effort? Using a questionnaire-based survey to assess perceptions, beliefs and superstitions associated with frogs in South Africa. African Zoology, 51(1), 13-20.
  • Thumsová, B., Alarcos, G., Ayres, C., Rosa, G. M., Bosch, J. (2024). Relationship between two pathogens in an amphibian community that experienced mass mortalities. Conservation Biology, e14196.
  • Tok, C. V., Ayaz, D., Cicek, K. (2011). Road mortality of amphibians and reptiles in the Anatolian part of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 35(6), 851-857.
  • Toledo, L. F., de Carvalho-E-Silva, S. P., de Carvalho, A. M. P. T., Gasparini, J. L., Baêta, D., Rebouças, R., ... & Carvalho, T. (2023). A retrospective overview of amphibian declines in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Biological Conservation, 277, 109845.
  • Verep, B., Şahin, C., Çiloğlu, E., & İmamoğlu, H. O. (2010). Uzungöl'ün İklimi ve Çevresel Sorunları Üzerine Bir Çalışma/A Study on The Climate and Environmental Problems of Uzungöl. Atatürk Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 33(4), 353-358.
  • Vergara-Ríos, D., Montes-Correa, A. C., Urbina-Cardona, J. N., De Luque-Villa, M., Cattan, P. E., Granda, H. D. (2021). Local community knowledge and perceptions in the Colombian Caribbean towards Amphibians in urban and rural settings: tools for biological conservation. Ethnobiology and Conservation, 10, 24.
There are 44 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Ecology (Other)
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Cantekin Dursun 0000-0001-7766-1470

Enes Kurban 0009-0003-3854-3238

Nurhayat Özdemir 0000-0002-3880-5846

Publication Date June 29, 2025
Submission Date November 24, 2024
Acceptance Date May 21, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Issue: 8

Cite

APA Dursun, C., Kurban, E., & Özdemir, N. (2025). Uzungöl (Trabzon) Halkında Amfibi Farkındalığının Belirlenmesi Üzerine Bir Araştırma. Şırnak Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi(8), 1-19.

Sirnak University Journal of Science licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Non-Derivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).