This species lives in or near flowing water in lowland and submontane forest, and can survive in somewhat degraded habitats. It breeds in streams and in small marshes criss-crossed with tiny watercourses. The tadpoles live in clear, flowing water.

This species was previously only known from western and south-western Cameroon, in hilly country and mountains, between 250–1,100 m Asl. There are records from Mount Cameroon, and other mountains in Cameroon south of the higher parts of the Bamenda Highlands. It was uncertain whether it occurred in Nigeria at the time of the last assessment in 2004, however now it has been confirmed to be found in extreme eastern Nigeria in Obudu Cattle Ranch (M.-O. Rödel pers. comm. July 2016). Records of Astylosternus schioetzi from the northern part of Korup National Park, east to Nguti, and north to Mount Nta Ali (Lawson 1993) are based on misidentifications and refer to this species (J.-L. Amiet pers. comm.).

Conservation Actions
This species occurs in the Korup National Park.

Research Needed
More accurate species descriptions are required for the genus to aid identification of specimens (M. Hirschfeld pers. comm. July 2016).