Reptile Communities Research Articles

In the Shadow of Trees: Does Eucalyptus Afforestation Reduce Herpetofaunal Diversity in Southern Brazil?

Abstract. Tree cultivation is widely stimulated due to the provision of environmental services by sequestering atmospheric carbon, but forestry is a potential danger to biodiversity, mainly when cultivation replaces originally non-forested landscapes. Due to the rapid expansion of afforestation in grassland ecosystems, we used environmental descriptors and structure of amphibian and reptile communities as a tool to assess the possible effects of forestry on wildlife. We used pitfall traps with drift fences in Eucalyptus afforestation and native grasslands of the Pampa biome from southern Brazil. Amphibians and reptile species richness was lower in afforestation than in native grasslands. Furthermore, the reptile community found in afforestation was a poor subset of the community recorded in native grasslands. Indeed, the structure of communities for both amphibians and reptiles in afforestation was highly dissimilar from the native grasslands, with major environmental descriptors that influenced this diff...

Herbaceous cover enhances the squamate reptile community in woody crops

The intensification of agriculture entails the simplification and homogenisation of the landscape, which has serious negative impacts on animal biodiversity. Herbaceous ground cover in olive groves creates heterogeneous patchworks that differ as regards how intensively farmed olive groves are structured and composed, which may lead to a decrease in this loss of biodiversity. Reptiles rapidly respond to changes in vegetation and other habitat disturbances, in spite of which, this taxa has received very little attention with regard to their vulnerability to agriculture systems. In this study, we investigated the response of a squamate reptile assemblage to different management systems in olive groves. Reptile communities were recorded in areas with three types of olive grove management systems: bare ground, natural cover crop, and monospecific cover crop. We further compared habitat structure and vegetation richness in the study area in order to verify if management systems have an impact on the frequency of occurrence and diversity of squamate reptiles species within olive groves. The community composition of reptiles differed among the three management systems, although this was modulated by the age of the olive trees. Our results show that the squamate reptile communities were more restricted in areas of intense management (bare ground) than in those with cover crops. When herbaceous covers existed, natural ground cover harboured a more diverse community. Our data suggest that while monospecific cover crops improve the frequency of occurrence of reptiles, species richness does not increase; however, more heterogeneous herbaceous ground cover (which, for instance, contain more species and are more similar to natural vegetation) would be a better solution regarding the promotion of diversity in reptile assemblages in agricultural landscapes. Finally our results may be used to improve the habitat quality of squamate reptile communities in similar woody crops like vineyards or orchards, where cover crops are beginning to be implemented.

Conserving reptiles within a multiple-use landscape: determining habitat affiliations of reptile communities in the northern jarrah forest of south-western Australia

Disturbed landscapes can provide habitat for a variety of species; however, for fauna, a strong understanding of their habitat affiliations is critical both to detect species and to develop management prescriptions to maintain their populations. We assessed habitat affiliations of common, uncommon and rare reptile species in a multiple-use landscape, the northern jarrah forest of south-western Australia. To identify predictors of reptile occurrence, we related reptile presence/absence, or relative abundance, to habitat, climatic and seasonal variables. Because the reptiles studied have cryptic behaviours and low numbers of detections, we used a combination of analyses including non-metric multi-dimensional scaling, occupancy and regression models. We identified specific habitat affiliations for the most common species and potential linkages with vegetation structure for most uncommon species. There were insufficient detections to determine habitat affiliations accurately for most rare species. Often species were detected too infrequently to determine specific habitat variables that influence occupancy and detection, and altering survey time and scale may increase detections so that habitat affiliations can be determined. However, in highly speciose landscapes, like our study area, we may not be able to wait until we have enough detections to define the habitat affiliations of all reptiles before we make management decisions. Therefore management activities that maintain habitat heterogeneity and complexity is likely to be the best strategy to conserve the most reptile species.

Local-scale models reveal ecological niche variability in amphibian and reptile communities from two contrasting biogeographic regions.

Ecological Niche Models (ENMs) are widely used to describe how environmental factors influence species distribution. Modelling at a local scale, compared to a large scale within a high environmental gradient, can improve our understanding of ecological species niches. The main goal of this study is to assess and compare the contribution of environmental variables to amphibian and reptile ENMs in two Spanish national parks located in contrasting biogeographic regions, i.e., the Mediterranean and the Atlantic area. The ENMs were built with maximum entropy modelling using 11 environmental variables in each territory. The contributions of these variables to the models were analysed and classified using various statistical procedures (Mann–Whitney U tests, Principal Components Analysis and General Linear Models). Distance to the hydrological network was consistently the most relevant variable for both parks and taxonomic classes. Topographic variables (i.e., slope and altitude) were the second most predictive variables, followed by climatic variables. Differences in variable contribution were observed between parks and taxonomic classes. Variables related to water availability had the larger contribution to the models in the Mediterranean park, while topography variables were decisive in the Atlantic park. Specific response curves to environmental variables were in accordance with the biogeographic affinity of species (Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean species) and taxonomy (amphibians and reptiles). Interestingly, these results were observed for species located in both parks, particularly those situated at their range limits. Our findings show that ecological niche models built at local scale reveal differences in habitat preferences within a wide environmental gradient. Therefore, modelling at local scales rather than assuming large-scale models could be preferable for the establishment of conservation strategies for herptile species in natural parks.

The impact of natural resource use on bird and reptile communities within multiple-use protected areas: evidence from sub-arid Southern Madagascar

Multiple-use protected areas, in which sustainable levels of extractive livelihood activities are permitted, play an increasingly important role in the global protected area estate, and are expected to rise in prevalence. However, we know little about their effectiveness at conserving biodiversity. We surveyed bird and reptile communities in three areas across a forest disturbance gradient resulting from charcoal production and shifting cultivation within a multiple-use protected area in Madagascar’s sub-arid spiny forest. We scored individual species using a Conservation Value Index (CVI; a simple metric based on rarity, threat and distinctiveness), and estimated the total conservation value of each treatment by calculating the sum of frequency-weighted CVI scores across all present species. Bird and reptile community responses to forest disturbance were idiosyncratic. Bird richness was greatest in the moderate-disturbance treatment, but the low-disturbance treatment had the superior conservation value due to higher frequencies of locally-endemic species. Reptile richness was the same in low- and moderate-disturbance treatments, but the conservation value of the latter was greater. The high-disturbance areas had lowest richness and conservation value for both groups. For birds, increasing disturbance levels were accompanied by community turnover from high-value to low-value species, a pattern highlighted by CVI that is masked by assessing species richness alone. Although some endemic species appear to be resilient to degradation, multiple-use protected areas in Madagascar may lose biodiversity since most endemic species are forest-dependent. Stricter protected area models may be more appropriate in areas where much of the high-value biodiversity is sensitive to habitat degradation.

Responses of reptiles to fire in transition zones are mediated by bioregion affinity of species

Fire has impact on reptile communities with marked shifts in community composition between burnt and unburnt areas. These shifts are often related to the preference of reptile species throughout early or late post-fire successional habitats. Areas located in transition zones between bioregions harbor complex reptile communities with a mixture of biogeographic affinities. In these biogeographic crossroads, since fire simplifies the habitat structure, we expected simpler (lower alpha diversity) and more similar (lower beta diversity) reptile communities within burnt than within unburnt localities. We have tested this hypothesis in a transition zone between the Atlantic and Mediterranean bioregions in northern Portugal. Reptiles were surveyed in five localities (8 times per locality) along fire edges in which each locality was composed of one burnt and one unburnt transect. In total, 588 reptiles from 10 species were recorded. Unburnt transects had higher alpha and beta diversity and higher relative abundance of non-Mediterranean individuals than did burnt transects. A redundancy analysis also showed contrasting responses of Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean species, the former increasing and the latter decreasing after fire. Our study demonstrates that fire reduced the complexity of the reptile community, with benefits towards Mediterranean species due to its environmental preferences and long evolutionary association to fire. In biogeographic crossroads such as the study area, the retention of long unburnt vegetation is expected to maintain more diverse reptile communities.

Structure and Composition of Reptile Communities in Human Modified Landscape in Gianyar Regency, Bali

As one of the centres of tourism in Bali, Gianyar Regency has undergone a rapid development rate which could threaten wildlife, including reptile community. This research was carried out in July to October 2014 to (1) analyse the reptile community on various gradients of human modified landscape, (2) determine the relationship between environmental character and reptiles, and (3) determine body size trend of generalist species along landscape gradient. Standard visual encountered surveys were used to observe reptile community in four human modified landscape (settlements, rice fields, farmland/cropland, and monoculture stands). We found 21 species of reptiles (n=602 individuals) and the Shannon–Wiener index for diversity was 1.78. Reptile abundance tends to decline in increasing level of modification. Water sources and vegetation cover were positively correlated to reptile community, while disturbance factors (i.e. decrease in area size and shorter distance to settlements) give negative impact to reptile community. There was no correlation between body size of generalist species of reptile (Gekko gecko) and level of landscape modification.

Species- and community-level responses to habitat spatial changes in fragmented rainforests: assessing compensatory dynamics in amphibians and reptiles

The rapid loss and degradation of tropical forests threatens the maintenance of biodiversity across different spatial scales. Nevertheless, the extirpation and population decline of some disturbance-sensitive species may be compensated for by colonization and proliferation of disturbance-adapted species, thus allowing distributions of community-level attributes (e.g., abundance and diversity) to be preserved in human-modified tropical landscapes. To test this poorly assessed hypothesis we evaluated species- and community-level responses of amphibians and reptiles to differences in forest patch (patch size, shape, and distance to water bodies) and landscape metrics (old-growth forest cover, degree of fragmentation, and matrix composition) in the fragmented Lacandona rainforest, Mexico. We found that the abundance of several amphibian and reptile species was strongly associated with forest patch and landscape attributes, being particularly higher in larger patches surrounded by a greater forest cover. Such changes at the species level generated notable changes in reptile communities. In particular, the abundance, diversity, and evenness of reptile communities were strongly related to patch size, patch shape, and matrix composition. Yet, because of compensatory dynamics in amphibians, this group showed weak responses at the community level. Despite such compensatory dynamics, our results indicate that forest loss at the patch and landscape levels represents the main threat to both amphibians and reptiles, thus indicating that to preserve herpetological communities in this biodiversity hotspot, conservation initiatives should be focused on preventing further deforestation.

Using citizen scientists to assess climate change shifts in desert reptile communities

Identifying effects of climate change, as well as other drivers of population shifts, across multiple taxa and broad spatial and temporal scales is challenging. Nevertheless these are the data that may be required to catalyze and focus management actions, separating the effects of weather from climate, and climate from a multitude of other stressors. An impediment to initiating research that fulfill these criteria is ensuring financial and institutional sustainability for an effort that necessarily could span decades. Citizen scientists have been put forth as a means for providing that sustainability, but is quality compromised when volunteers are collecting data? Here we evaluate that question for research focused on assessing the effect of environmental change across the transition between the Mojave and Sonoran Desert ecoregions of North America. While our research includes surveys for multiple taxa, here our focus is on measuring the utility of using citizen scientists for surveying diurnal reptiles. We compared data collected by two trained biologists to citizen science teams supervised by one or more biologists on the same plots. We also re-surveyed plots to determine if separate citizen science teams yielded similar results. The number of reptile species detected and the number of individuals detected increased significantly with teams of citizen scientists, and multiple sampling of individual plots showed those results to be repeatable. With carefully designed survey protocols and supervision by biologists, citizen scientists can be an important component of achieving sustainability of scientific research, without losing scientific rigor.

Mining-caused changes to habitat structure affect amphibian and reptile population ecology more than metal pollution.

Emissions from smelting not only contaminate water and soil with metals, but also induce extensive forest dieback and changes in resource availability and microclimate. The relative effects of such co-occurring stressors are often unknown, but this information is imperative in developing targeted restoration strategies. We assessed the role and relative effects of structural alterations of terrestrial habitat and metal pollution caused by century-long smelting operations on amphibian and reptile communities by collecting environmental and time- and area-standardized multivariate abundance data along three spatially replicated impact gradients. Overall, species richness, diversity, and abundance declined progressively with increasing levels of metals (As, Cu, and Ni) and soil temperature (T(s)) and decreasing canopy cover, amount of coarse woody debris (CWD), and relative humidity (RH). The composite habitat variable (which included canopy cover, CWD, T(s), and RH) was more strongly associated with most response metrics than the composite metal variable (As, Cu, and Ni), and canopy cover alone explained 19-74% of the variance. Moreover, species that use terrestrial habitat for specific behaviors (e.g., hibernation, dispersal), especially forest-dependent species, were more severely affected than largely aquatic species. These results suggest that structural alterations of terrestrial habitat and concomitant changes in the resource availability and microclimate have stronger effects than metal pollution per se. Furthermore, much of the variation in response metrics was explained by the joint action of several environmental variables, implying synergistic effects (e.g., exacerbation of metal toxicity by elevated temperatures in sites with reduced canopy cover). We thus argue that the restoration of terrestrial habitat conditions is a key to successful recovery of herpetofauna communities in smelting-altered landscapes.

The relative importance of habitat quality and landscape context for reptiles in regenerating landscapes

Restoration activities are limited by funding and logistics. To optimise restoration efforts, we need to evaluate the effects of management actions on wildlife populations. In general, site-scale habitat quality has a stronger influence on habitat use by fauna than the landscape context. However, this is yet to be empirically tested for reptiles. In this study, we used model averaging and hierarchical partitioning to compare the relative importance of site-scale habitat quality and landscape context for reptile communities and species in a regenerating woodland landscape in semi-arid Queensland, Australia. Reptiles were surveyed at 55 sites. Habitat quality was assessed using relevant variables based on published habitat-associations for each species or group. Landscape context was assessed using binary, mosaic and continuous descriptions of vegetation cover within 250m of the survey sites. We found that, in comparison to site-scale habitat quality, the composition of the surrounding landscape had little influence on reptiles, despite testing three alternative approaches for describing landscape context. Nine out of eleven reptile species and groups responded to variation in habitat quality, whereas just one species responded to variation in landscape context. Species richness, diversity, and abundance were unaffected by landscape context, but were influenced by site-scale structural complexity and vegetation type. Our findings suggest that reptiles, in general, benefit from conservation and restoration activities that focus on improving site-scale habitat quality, with increasing the amount and connectivity of surrounding vegetation of lesser value. This study also highlights the importance of better understanding the drivers of reptile distributions and abundances in dryland landscapes.

Contrasts in short- and long-term responses of Mediterranean reptile species to fire and habitat structure.

Changes in habitat structure constitute a major factor explaining responses of reptiles to fire. However, few studies have examined habitat factors that covary with fire-history variables to explain reptile responses. We hypothesise that more complex habitats should support richer reptile communities, and that species-specific relative abundance should be related to particular habitat features. From spring 2012-2014, twenty-five transects were surveyed in the Albera Region (north-east Iberia). The vegetation structure was measured and the extent of habitat types in a 1000-m buffer around each transect calculated. Reptile-community metrics (species richness and reptile abundance) were related to fire history, vegetation structure, and habitat types, using generalized additive models. These metrics correlated with habitat-structure variables but not with fire history. The number of species increased with more complex habitats but decreased with pine-plantation abundance in the 1000-m buffer. We found contrasting responses among reptiles in terms of time since fire and those responses differed according to vegetation variables and habitat types. An unplanned fire in August 2012 provided the opportunity to compare reptile abundance values between pre-fire and the short term (1-2 years) after the fire. Most species exhibited a negative short-term response to the 2012 fire except Tarentola mauritanica, a gecko that inhabits large rocks, as opposed to other ground-dwelling species. In the reptiles studied, contrasting responses to time since fire are consistent with the habitat-accommodation model of succession. These differences are linked to specific microhabitat preferences and suggest that functional traits can be used to predict species-specific responses to fire.

Combined effects of climatic gradient and domestic livestock grazing on reptile community structure in a heterogeneous agroecosystem.

Grazing plays an important role in shaping ecological communities in human-related ecosystems. Although myriad studies have explored the joint effect of grazing and climate on plant communities, this interactive effect has rarely been studied in animals. We hypothesized that the effect of grazing on the reptile community varies along a climatic gradient in relation to the effect of grazing on habitat characteristics, and that grazing differentially affects reptiles of different biogeographic regions. We tested our hypotheses by collecting data on environmental characteristics and by trapping reptiles in four heterogeneous landscapes experiencing differing grazing intensities and distributed along a sharp climatic gradient. We found that while reptile diversity increased with grazing intensity at the mesic end of the gradient, it decreased with grazing intensity at the arid end. Moreover, the proportion of reptile species of differing biogeographic origins varied with the interactive effect of climate and grazing. The representation of species originating in arid biogeographic zones was highest at the arid end of the climatic gradient, and representation increased with grazing intensity within this area. Regardless of the climatic context, increased grazing pressure results in a reduction in vegetation cover and thus in changes in habitat characteristics. By reducing vegetation cover, grazing increased habitat heterogeneity in the dense mesic sites and decreased habitat heterogeneity in the arid sites. Thus, our results suggest that the same direction of habitat alteration caused by grazing may have opposite effects on biodiversity and community composition in different climatic contexts.

Conifer-plantation thinning restores reptile biodiversity in Mediterranean landscapes

Habitat loss and transformation are the greatest threats to biodiversity. In the Mediterranean Basin, planting pines has been a widespread practice that has transformed and degraded natural habitats. Understanding the response of living organisms to these anthropogenic disturbances and their management is essential for the conservation of biodiversity. Reforestation in Spain until the end of the 20th century was conducted primarily with Pinus species at unnaturally high densities. We have analyzed the response of a reptile community to thinning management in pine plantations within the Sierra Nevada National Park (SE Spain). Surveyed plots covered a gradient of tree densities (according treatments) from unlogged plots, 50% logged trees, 66% logged trees, and surrounding areas of open landscape with sparse trees. Four replicates (plots) were considered per treatment, with 4 visits per plot. In each plot, we measured three reptile community metrics, species richness, abundance, and Pielou’s evenness. We hypothesize that reptile metrics will increase with the reduction of pine density and canopy, and an increase of solar radiation. Our results showed a negligible response after a 50% thinning, but a significant response of the reptile community after a 66% reduction. This study demonstrates that intense logging in pine plantations restores reptile diversity in the Mediterranean Basin. This is intended to serve as a model for forest management to restore biodiversity in this region.

Rapid Recovery of an Urban Remnant Reptile Community following Summer Wildfire.

Reptiles in urban remnants are threatened with extinction by increased fire frequency, habitat fragmentation caused by urban development, and competition and predation from exotic species. Understanding how urban reptiles respond to and recover from such disturbances is key to their conservation. We monitored the recovery of an urban reptile community for five years following a summer wildfire at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia, using pitfall trapping at five burnt and five unburnt sites. The reptile community recovered rapidly following the fire. Unburnt sites initially had higher species richness and total abundance, but burnt sites rapidly converged, recording a similar total abundance to unburnt areas within two years, and a similar richness within three years. The leaf-litter inhabiting skink Hemiergis quadrilineata was strongly associated with longer unburnt sites and may be responding to the loss of leaf litter following the fire. Six rarely-captured species were also strongly associated with unburnt areas and were rarely or never recorded at burnt sites, whereas two other rarely-captured species were associated with burnt sites. We also found that one lizard species, Ctenotus fallens, had a smaller average body length in burnt sites compared to unburnt sites for four out of the five years of monitoring. Our study indicates that fire management that homogenises large areas of habitat through frequent burning may threaten some species due to their preference for longer unburnt habitat. Careful management of fire may be needed to maximise habitat suitability within the urban landscape.

Kinship, inbreeding and fine-scale spatial structure influence gut microbiota in a hindgut-fermenting tortoise.

Herbivorous vertebrates rely on complex communities of mutualistic gut bacteria to facilitate the digestion of celluloses and hemicelluloses. Gut microbes are often convergent based on diet and gut morphology across a phylogenetically diverse group of mammals. However, little is known about microbial communities of herbivorous hindgut-fermenting reptiles. Here, we investigate how factors at the individual level might constrain the composition of gut microbes in an obligate herbivorous reptile. Using multiplexed 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized the faecal microbial community of a population of gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) and examined how age, genetic diversity, spatial structure and kinship influence differences among individuals. We recovered phylotypes associated with known cellulolytic function, including candidate phylum Termite Group 3, suggesting their importance for gopher tortoise digestion. Although host genetic structure did not explain variation in microbial composition and community structure, we found that fine-scale spatial structure, inbreeding, degree of relatedness and possibly ontogeny shaped patterns of diversity in faecal microbiomes of gopher tortoises. Our findings corroborate widespread convergence of faecal-associated microbes based on gut morphology and diet and demonstrate the role of spatial and demographic structure in driving differentiation of gut microbiota in natural populations.

Ecological Implications of Reptile Mesopredator Release in Arid South Australia

Abstract Few examples of mesopredator release, whereby subordinate predators increase in abundance in response to a reduction in dominant predators, have been demonstrated from reptile communities despite the important ecological role of large varanids and snakes. We tested the hypothesis that trophic cascades attributable to mesopredator release of varanids could explain the apparently perverse decline of some small reptiles following removal of exotic mammalian predators in a landscape-scale reserve in arid South Australia. We used counts of Sand Goanna (Varanus gouldii) tracks and diggings as a surrogate activity index in paddock-scale treatments with different assemblages of feral predators and reintroduced mammals. Varanus gouldii activity was five times higher in regions where cats and foxes were removed than where they were present. We hypothesize that the suppression of mammalian predators can have complex effects that extend to reptile communities and should inform conservation management decisio...

Response of a shrubland mammal and reptile community to a history of landscape-scale wildfire

Fire plays a strong role in structuring fauna communities and the habitat available to them in fire-prone regions. Human-mediated increases in fire frequency and intensity threaten many animal species and understanding how these species respond to fire history and its associated effect on vegetation is essential to effective biodiversity management. We used a shrubland mammal and reptile community in semiarid south-western Australia as a model to investigate interactions between fire history, habitat structure and fauna habitat use. Of the 15 species analysed, five were most abundant in recently burnt habitat (8–13 years since last fire), four were most abundant in long unburnt areas (25–50 years) and six showed no response to fire history. Fauna responses to fire history were divergent both within and across taxonomic groups. Fire management that homogenises large areas of habitat through either fire exclusion or frequent burning may threaten species due to these diverse requirements, so careful management of fire may be needed to maximise habitat suitability across the landscape. When establishing fire management plans, we recommend that land managers exercise caution in adopting species-specific information from different locations and broad vegetation types. Information on animal responses to fire is best gained through experimental and adaptive management approaches at the local level.

Current insecticide treatments used in locust control have less of a short-term impact on Australian arid-zone reptile communities than does temporal variation

Context Despite the regular use of pesticides to control locusts, there is a lack of information on the effects of locust-control treatments on reptiles worldwide. Exposure to pesticides poses a significant potential hazard to small reptiles, both from the direct effects of exposure, and indirectly because of their largely insectivorous diet and small home ranges. Aims Our study aimed to monitor the effects of two insecticides applied operationally for locust control in Australia. A phenyl pyrazole pesticide, fipronil, and a fungal biopesticide, Metarhizium acridium (Green Guard®), were applied aerially in either a barrier or block treatment in the absence of dense locust populations, and effects on non-target arid-zone reptiles were measured. Methods We monitored reptile-abundance and community-composition responses to treatments using a large field-based pitfall-trapping experiment, with replicated control and spraying treatments, which approximated the scale of aerial-based locust-control operations in Australia. Key results Neither reptile abundance nor community composition was significantly affected by locust-control treatments. However, both abundance and community composition as detected by pitfall trapping changed over time, in both control and treatment plots, possibly as a result of a decrease in annual rainfall. Conclusions The absence of any significant short-term pesticide treatment effects in our study suggests that the two locust-control application methods studied present a relatively insignificant hazard to reptiles at our site, based on a single application. Similar to other areas of Australia, climate and other factors are likely to be stronger drivers of reptile abundance and community structure. Implications Monitoring over an area that approximates the scale of the current locust-control operations is an important step in understanding the possible effects of current pesticide exposure on reptile populations and will inform insecticide risk assessments in Australia. However, important information on the immediate response of individuals to insecticide application and long-term effects of exposure are missing. The preliminary research reported in the present paper should be complemented by future investigations on long-term and sublethal impacts of pesticide exposure on Australian native reptiles and the possible benefits provided to reptiles by the resource pulses represented in untreated high-density locust populations.

Opposing responses to ecological gradients structure amphibian and reptile communities across a temperate grassland–savanna–forest landscape

Temperate savannas are threatened across the globe. If we prioritize savanna restoration, we should ask how savanna animal communities differ from communities in related open habitats and forests. We documented distribution of amphibian and reptile species across an open-savanna–forest gradient in the Midwest U.S. to determine how fire history and habitat structure affected herpetofaunal community composition. The transition from open habitats to forests was a transition from higher reptile abundance to higher amphibian abundance and the intermediate savanna landscape supported the most species overall. These differences warn against assuming that amphibian and reptile communities will have similar ecological responses to habitat structure. Richness and abundance also often responded in opposite directions to some habitat characteristics, such as cover of bare ground or litter. Herpetofaunal community species composition changed along a fire gradient from infrequent and recent fires to frequent but less recent fires. Nearby (200-m) wetland cover was relatively unimportant in predicting overall herpetofaunal community composition while fire history and fire-related canopy and ground cover were more important predictors of composition, diversity, and abundance. Increased developed cover was negatively related to richness and abundance. This indicates the importance of fire history and fire related landscape characteristics, and the negative effects of development, in shaping the upland herpetofaunal community along the native grassland–forest continuum.