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Pond-adjacent grass height and pond proximity to water influence predation risk of pond fish by amphibians in small fish ponds of Kakamega County, western Kenya

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Abstract

The study investigated predation risk to pond-reared Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and African Catfish Clarias gariepinus by amphibians, whether this is driven by height of pond-side grass or pond proximity to surface-water source and how this varies with fish stocking options. Based on small-scale freshwater aquaculture farms in western Kenya, field surveys were conducted during three sampling seasons spread across 6 months. These involved the following: (1) a sociological survey of 29 fish farming households; (2) sampling of amphibians for density, species richness and encounter rates and (3) measuring grass height, pond dimensions and water-source proximity across 24 ponds. Overall, 131 individual frogs from three families were recorded in 78 encounters. Amphibian density increased with pond-side grass height, presumably increasing predation risk, but decreased with water-source proximity. Amphibian encounter rate also decreased with water-source proximity, but was unaffected by grass height, while species richness responded positively to pond-side grass height, but not to water-source proximity. Amphibian encounter likelihood was higher in tilapia-only than in catfish-only or tilapia and catfish ponds irrespective of habitat variables. We demonstrate here that management practices for mitigating fish loss to predatory amphibians should include trimming pond-side vegetation, siting ponds close-to-moderate distances from water-sources and including catfish in pond polycultures.

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  1. National Museums of Kenya, Directorate of National Research and Repository, P. O. Box 40658, Museum Hill, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Nickson Erick Otieno & Dominic V. Wasonga

  2. Labcatch Fish Enterprises Ltd., P. O. Box 345, Malava, Kakamega, Kenya

    Demetrius Imboko

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Otieno, N.E., Wasonga, D.V. & Imboko, D. Pond-adjacent grass height and pond proximity to water influence predation risk of pond fish by amphibians in small fish ponds of Kakamega County, western Kenya. Hydrobiologia 848, 1795–1809 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04551-8

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