Abstract
We surveyed herpetofauna along the poorly-explored region of two watersheds of Kumoan Himalaya, Dabka and Khulgarh. Adaptive cluster method was used to collect forest floor reptiles, and stream transect was used for stream reptiles and amphibians. In total, 18 species of reptiles were recorded in two watersheds, with 15 and nine species recorded in Dabka and Khulgarh, respectively. Forest floor density of reptiles was 87.5/ha in Dabka and 77.7/ha in Khulgarh. In terms of species, Asymblepharus ladacensis and Lygosoma punctatus density were highest in Dabka and Khulgarh, respectively. Eight species of amphibians were recorded in Dabka with a density of 9.4/ha and four species in Khulgarh with density of 5.2/ha. In both watersheds, density of Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis was highest. Reptilian and amphibian diversity of Dabka was 1.52 and 1.23, respectively, and in Khulgarh 0.43 and 0.23, respectively. In both watersheds reptile density, diversity and richness decreased with increasing elevation. Reptile density showed a weak correlation with microhabitat features such as litter cover, litter depth, and soil moisture in both watersheds. Amphibian density was positively correlated with soil moisture, litter cover, and litter depth. Comparison showed that Dabka is richer and more diverse than Khulgarh, presumably because of the undisturbed habitat, broad and slow stream, and deeper forest litter of the former.
Highlights
Amphibians and reptiles play integral roles in food webs as herbivores, predators and prey, and they connect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Schenider et al 2001; Ahmed 2010)
Herpetofauna in India have not been studied in detail (Vasudevan et al 2001), with most studies restricted to the rainforests of the Western Ghats (Myers 1942; Inger et al 1984; Vasudevan et al 2006; Naniwadekar & Vasedevan 2007; Chandramouli & Ganesh 2010; Venugopal 2010; Murali & Raman 2012; Balaji et al 2014; Bhupathy et al 2016; Garg & Biju 2017; Chaitanya et al 2018; Ganesh et al 2018; Harikrishnan et al 2018; Malik et al 2019; Ganesh & Achyuthan 2020) and northeastern India (Ahmed et al 2009; Das et al 2009; Chhetri et al 2010; Purkayastha et al 2011; Pan et al 2013; Vogel & Ganesh 2013; Roy et al 2018)
Gibbons et al (2000) enumerated six causes of global decline in herpetofauna: habitat loss and degradation, introduced invasive species, environmental pollution, disease and parasitism, unsustainable use, and global climate change. These causes are present in India where conservation strategies are mostly based on glamorous taxa such as birds and mammals, and may neglect smaller and less conspicuous vertebrates such as amphibians and reptiles (Vasudevan et al 2006)
Summary
Amphibians and reptiles play integral roles in food webs as herbivores, predators and prey, and they connect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Schenider et al 2001; Ahmed 2010). Gibbons et al (2000) enumerated six causes of global decline in herpetofauna: habitat loss and degradation, introduced invasive species, environmental pollution, disease and parasitism, unsustainable use, and global climate change. These causes are present in India where conservation strategies are mostly based on glamorous taxa such as birds and mammals, and may neglect smaller and less conspicuous vertebrates such as amphibians and reptiles (Vasudevan et al 2006). The information available mostly restricted to some protected areas, and there is a need to study amphibians and reptiles, at watersheds, which are ecological islands of these species
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