Pesticide pollution in and around Thirumeni Lake, Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract :

The study was carried out in the Cauvery delta areas of selected village ponds of Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Thanjavur districts. Amphibians are considered as “Environmental sponges” because of their semi-permeable skin which allows environmental toxins. In India, 342 species of amphibians have been classified, in which 161 are still under the data deficient category which indicates the need of coordinated efforts for estimating the population and delimiting the distribution of species. The faunal diversity of amphibian in Tamil Nadu includes 76 species in which 23 species of amphibians are included under the Schedule IV as reported by Tamil Nadu Forest Department. A total of 12 amphibian species have been recorded from 31 village ponds during the study period. About 6 species of Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Euphlyctis hexadactylus, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Hoplobatrachus crassus, Fejervarya limnocharis and Sphaerotheca breviceps were belonged to the family Dicroglosidae whereas only three species of Microhyla ornata, M. rubra and Ramanella varigata were belonging to the family Microhylidae and toads of terrestrial species Duttaphrynus melanostictus and D.scaber were observed from the family Bufonidae. The only one arboreal species Polypedates maculates also encountered, which belonged to the family Rhacophoridae. Regarding amphibian diversity, about 12 species were reported from Nagapattinam, 11 species from Thiruvarur and only 10 species from Thanjavur districts.