Distributional patterns of amphibians and reptiles in Ghandruk, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Authors

  • Bivek Gautam Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Mukesh Kumar Chalise Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Kul Bahadur Thapa Himalayan Nature, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Santosh Bhattarai National Trust for Nature Conservation-Biodiversity Center, Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v27i1.14440

Abstract

In May and October 2017, we assessed the distribution and diversity of herpetofauna in the Ghandruk region of the Annapurna Conservation Area. Using the Visual Encounter Survey (VES) protocol on 11 randomly selected transects, we recorded 662 individuals of 25 herpetofaunal species (12 amphibians and 13 reptiles). Species richness and abundance declined with increases in elevation but only the correlation between elevation and abundance was significant. Neither amphibians nor reptiles were uniformly distributed among different habitats, and species richness of both amphibians and reptiles varied significantly among habitat types. The greatest amphibian species richness was in wetlands, whereas that of reptiles was highest in forests.

 

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Published

2020-04-01 — Updated on 2020-12-16

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Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2020): Reptiles & Amphibians

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Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright is held by the authors. Articles in R&A are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

How to Cite

Gautam, B., Chalise, M. K., Thapa, K. B. ., & Bhattarai, S. (2020). Distributional patterns of amphibians and reptiles in Ghandruk, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Reptiles & Amphibians, 27(1), 18-28. https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v27i1.14440 (Original work published 2020)