Survey of the reptiles of the montane forests near Dorrigo on the north coast of New South Wales

Abstract

Reptile surveys were conducted in the early 1990s in the Dorrigo Forest Management Area, an area formerly comprising timber-production forests managed by the Forestry Commission of New South Wales. The surveys consisted of searches for reptiles along 54 transects together with targeted surveys. Twenty-two 500 m transects were located in previously logged forest and 32 in unlogged forest. Each transect was surveyed twice at an average seven days apart in the spring-summer of 1993 by two persons simultaneously for a duration of 90 min each. A total of 26 reptile species were detected during systematic surveys and 22 reptile species during targeted diurnal searches and opportunistic sightings. The highest species richness and density of reptiles were recorded in the logged New England Hardwood and Gorge Red Gum forest types. The Moist Hardwood type, with a closed mid-canopy had the lowest reptile species richness and density. Neither species richness nor number of individuals varied significantly with loggin...