Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2022 | 14(2): 20576–20583
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6583.14.2.20576-20583
#6583 | Received 19
August 2020 | Final received 28 January 2022 | Finally accepted 02
February 2022
Reptilian assemblages in the
wetlands of Amboli hill complex, northern Western
Ghats, Maharashtra, India during the monsoon season
Sachinkumar R. Patil
1 & Kiran Choudaj
2
1 Department of Zoology, Jaysingpur College, Jaysingpur,
Kolhapur District, Maharashtra 416101, India.
2 Department of Zoology, Savitribai
Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra 411007, India
1 srp_zoo@yahoo.co.in
(corresponding author), 2 kiranchoudaj@gmail.com
Editor: S.R. Ganesh, Chennai Snake Park,
Chennai, India. Date of publication: 26
February 2022 (online & print)
Citation: Patil, S.R. & K. Choudaj (2022). Reptilian
assemblages in the wetlands of Amboli hill complex,
northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India during the monsoon season. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(2): 20576–20583. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6583.14.2.20576-20583
Copyright: © Patil
& Choudaj 2022. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Self-funded.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Author details: Sachinkumar Patil is currently working as an
assistant professor at the Department of Zoology, Jaysingpur
College, Jaysingpur. His research areas are
limnology, wildlife research and conservation.
Kiran Choudaj
is currently working as PhD scholar in the Department of Zoology,
Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune.
He is interested in wildlife research, mainly avian ecology.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to DST-FIST
laboratory, Jaysingpur College, Jaysingpur
for providing research facilities. Our special thanks to University Grants
Commission of India for providing research fellowship to KC (second
author). We acknowledge Dr Sameer Bajaru, Assistant Curator, Bombay Natural History
Society, India for his assistance in statistical analysis.
Abstract: We studied the reptilian
diversity in and around five man-made wetlands in Amboli
hill complex of the northern Western Ghats, in the monsoon seasons from 2011 to
2015. During the study we recorded 37 reptile species: 26 snakes, 10 lizards,
and one turtle. Several endemic, range-restricted and newly-described species
were recorded. We recorded the Indian Black Turtle Melanochelys
trijuga, which is under ‘Near Threatened’
category of IUCN Red List 2020. We observed the greatest species richness at Gavase and Dhangarmola wetlands,
followed by Khanapur, Yarandol,
and Ningudage.
Keywords: Anthropogenic activities,
biodiversity hotspot, exotic vegetation, man-made wetlands.
Introduction
India is home to approximately
610 species of reptiles, about 50% of which are endemic (Khandekar
et al. 2021). Reptile diversity of the northern Western Ghats (WG) in Kaas (Maharashtra part) comprises 57 species (Chickane & Bhosale 2012), while the Gujarat part
comprises 65 species (Patel et al. 2018), the central WG contain 71 species
(Ganesh et al. 2013) and certain parts of southern WG 46 species (Chandramouli & Ganesh 2010).
Wetlands provide important
habitats for fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Although not all reptiles
are completely dependent on water bodies, some prefer to live on the edges due
to the abundance of prey. One study of European reptiles noted 17 species at
Romanian shore (Florina et al. 2015). Some reptiles are permanently dependent
on wetlands and some are ephemerals (Griffin & Channing 1991). In India, Vyas et al. (2012) reported 25 species of reptiles in and around
the five man-made wetlands in Gujarat. As of 2012, 117 species of reptiles were
recorded from Maharashtra (Dasgupta et al. 2012). Several reptile studies have
been done in India, but there remains a deficiency of information regarding
reptiles in wetlands. The present project focused on the study of reptiles in
and around wetlands in the northern WG.
Materials and methods
Study area
The present study was carried in the Ajara Tehsil, located in the southern part of Kolhapur
district, Maharashtra (Figure 1). It is located on the eastern edge of the
Western Ghats, where the hill ranges run north-south. The forests mainly belong
to 3B/C2 – southern moist mixed deciduous forests and 2A/C2 – west coast
semi-evergreen - mixed forests, as classified by Champion & Seth (1968).
Recently, the state government of Maharashtra declared Ajara
forest as a ‘conservation reserve’. This declaration will help in conservation
of both the habitat and its wildlife. The current study was carried in five
man-made wetlands built under a ‘watershed development program’ by the
government of Maharashtra with the aim of supplying water for agriculture and
consumption (Table 1).
Methods
Reptiles were recorded using visual the encounter
survey (Campbell & Christman 1982) and
time-constrained method (Eekhout 2010). The survey
was carried in the monsoon season, from 2011–2015. In this survey, we walked
along the edge of the wetlands and searched for reptiles in and around the
sampling locations. The survey was carried out in the morning from 0830 to 1000
h; each wetland was surveyed five times per monsoon season. Every survey was
carried out for 90 minutes; all the observations were carried out by a single
observer. Rarefaction curve was generated based on the number of sightings in
the survey; along with it opportunistic sightings were used for preparation of
checklist. Reptiles were photographed using a DSLR camera (Canon 600D);
identification characters were based on consultation of standard literature
(Daniel 2002; Das 2008; Whitaker & Captain 2008). For nomenclature, we
followed Khandekar et al. (2021), effecting other
nomenclatural updates from recent publications (Ganesh et al. 2020, 2021;
Mallik et al. 2020, 2021; Deepak et al. 2021; Gowande
et al. 2021). Jaccard’s similarity index of species richness between wetlands
was calculated using PAST software (Hammer et al. 2001).
Results and Discussion
Overall 37 reptile species, belonging to 13 families
(Table 2) were recorded. Colubridae was the most
diverse family, comprising 16 species. Out of 37 species, 26 were snakes, 10
were lizards, and one was a turtle. The highest number of species were recorded
from Gavase and Dhangarmola
(36 species), followed by Khanapur (25 species), and Yarandol (22 species), while the lowest was from Ningudage (13 species). Jaccard’s similarity index on
presence-absence data of species shows that Gavase
and Dhangarmola are more similar in their reptilian
species richness (Figure 2). The alpha and beta diversity values of the
sampling sites are given in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.
The results of Whittaker’s B-diversity for reptiles
(Table 3) showed that the species composition and abundance of reptiles are
comparable at Gavase and Dhangarmola,
whereas Khanapur was slightly different from the
rest. However, a high degree of dissimilarity was observed between Gavase and Ningudage, which may
be due to the variation in the anthropogenic disturbance levels among these
reservoirs. Whittaker’s B- diversity for reptiles indicates that the selected
sites for the present study can be significantly categorized on the basis of
ecological status.
Diversity indices for reptiles (Table 4) at Gavase freshwater reservoir computed from 139 individuals
which belong to 24 taxa resulted in values having a lower dominance index
(0.084). On the other hand, Ningudage water body
value, computed based on 29 individuals, which belong to 9 taxa resulted in
readings with the maximum dominance value (0.291). The sampling sites here
arranged in the ascending order of dominance (D) index are Gavase
(0.084) <Dhangarmola (0.1) <Khanapur
(0.104) <Yarandol (0.182) <Ningudage
(0.291).
On the results obtained above, the species richness
was observed highest at Gavase water body while
lowest was noted at Ningudage water body.
Furthermore, based on trends, diversity indices observed from present study
indicate three different categories of reservoirs: those in Gavase
& Dhangarmola in category I, Khanapur
water body in category II, and Yarandol & Ningudage in category III. The results obtained for Shannon
(D), Simpson (1-D), and Shannon’s evenness value indicates that previous three
were similar values. Additionally, the latter two showed quite similar index
ratios.
The Shannon (H), Simpson (1-D), and Shannon’s evenness
indices for reptilian diversity at all the reservoirs in descending order are Gavase, Dhangarmola, Khanapur, Yarandol, and Ningudage. Individual rarefaction curves for all reservoirs
are in Figure 3.
The study of reptilian fauna revealed that minimum
individuals were observed at Ningudage water body. On
that basis, a rarefaction curve was drawn that indicates that Gavase reservoir has maximum richness while Yarandol and Ningudage water
bodies are at minimum richness levels. The results obtained from this method
are similar to that of Shannon and Simpson indices.
Reyni’s diversity profile for all reservoirs is depicted in
Figure 4. The investigation of Renyi’s diversity
profile for reptiles indicates that the Gavase is at
the top with respect to distribution of species; followed by Dhangarmola and Khanapur.
Computed lines of Dhangarmola and Khanapur
water bodies intersect each other and hence one cannot compare these sites.
Since the computed line of Ningudage is steeper, it
indicates the uneven distribution of species in that site.
Gavase and Dhangarmola wetlands
showed the highest species richness among all wetlands and have the highest
species similarity. Both these wetlands are in the same hill range; located on
hillslopes covered with forest from three sides and anthropogenic disturbances
are low. Khanapur wetland is also located in the same
hilly range, but vegetation surrounding the wetland is a monoculture plantation
of Acacia auriculiformes, and anthropogenic
activities were observed. Despite its similarity and proximity with the above
two wetlands, Khanapur wetland showed reduced species
compared to above-mentioned wetlands. Exotic plants reduce reptilian diversity
(Martin & Murray 2011), and Acacia auriculiformes
might have reduced richness of reptile species at the Khanapur
wetlands. Yarandol and Ningudage
wetlands are located away from forest area; anthropogenic activities were
considerably high due to their location near the human settlement.
The study reconfirmed that different reptile taxa
occupy various microhabitats. Among all the taxa, three species are burrowing
snakes—Grypotyphlops acutus,
Eryx johnii, and
Eryx conicus—all
these were recorded under leaf litter. Keelback snakes such as Fowlea piscator, Amphiesma
stolatum, and Rhabdophis
plumbicolor were recorded from water bodies
and fringes. Six species of arboreal snakes were observed at the study site,
viz: Boiga forsteni,
Boiga beddomei, Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha, Ahaetulla sahyadrensis, Craspedocephalus gramineus, and C. malabaricus.
Boiga trigonata, Lycodon striatus, and Lycodon travancoricus are
terrestrial and arboreal in habit. Lizards, except Monilesaurus
rouxii are predominantly ground-dwelling.
However, Calotes vultuosus
was frequently found on the trunks of trees. But for these arboreal
agamids, all other species of lizards were found under leaf litter and beneath
crevices of fallen logs on ground and crevices of rocks. This aspect was
studied to prove that non-aquatic reptiles will also benefit by conserving
certain ear-marked wetlands. During the survey only one turtle species Melanochelys trijuga was
found, which is under the ‘Near Threatened’ category of IUCN Red List (Ahmed et
al. 2020); aquatic in habit. We opine that other aquatic turtles known from
this region, such as Lissemys punctata and Nilssonia leithi could not be recorded due to lack of intensive
aquatic sampling in the water bodies.
The present study area in the Ajara
range is just 30 airline km away from Amboli, site of
several previous herpetological expeditions that reported many new lizards and
snakes, including Melanophidium khairei, Rhabdops aquaticus, Dendrelaphis girii, Calliophis castoe, Hemidactylus varadgirii and
several new species of Cnemaspis (Vogel &
van Rooijen 2011; Smith et al. 2012; Gower et al.
2016; Giri et al. 2017; Sayyed et al. 2018; Chaitanya
et al. 2019; Deepak et al. 2021). However, these species could not be recorded
during the present study, likely due to the easterly position of the Ajara range compared to Amboli,
which is situated well within the Western Ghats.
It is to be acknowledged that man-made constructions
of wetlands, especially as a result of damming, have proven to be
counter-productive for biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats (Mohite
& Samant 2012). However, scientifically-informed
management interventions consisting of artificial creating or propagation of
wetlands will help in biodiversity conservation. It is thus concluded that
man-made wetlands do support a sizeable amount of reptilian diversity.
Awareness about the biodiversity value of wetlands among the citizens is
therefore necessary for its conservation. Based on these results, we recommend
intensive biodiversity studies in the far larger Hidkal
Reservoir, situated 40 airline km west of Ajara
Tehsil, abutting the state boundary in Karnataka.
Table 1. Description of man-made wetlands.
|
|
Name of the Wetland (Coordinates) |
Submergence area (ha) |
|
|
Monsoon |
Summer |
||
|
1 |
Gavase (16.094°, 74.130°) |
37.04 |
3.79 |
|
2 |
Dhangarmola (16.058°, 74.094°) |
55.17 |
7.32 |
|
3 |
Khanapur (16.091°, 74.177°) |
20.71 |
3.13 |
|
4 |
Yarandol (16.055°, 74.179°) |
71.48 |
36.52 |
|
5 |
Ningudage (16.154°, 74.305°) |
4.28 |
2.35 |
Table 2. List of reptile species recorded at the five
wetlands.
|
|
Common, scientific name |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
|
|
Typhlopidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Beaked Worm Snake Grypotyphlops
acutus (Duméril & Bibron, 1844) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
+ |
|
|
Uropeltidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
Large-scaled Shieldtail
Uropeltis macrolepis (Peters,
1862) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
|
Pythonidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
Indian Rock Python Python
molurus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
Erycidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
Red Sand Boa Eryx johnii (Russell,1801) |
+ |
+ |
- |
+ |
- |
|
5 |
Common Sand Boa Eryx conicus (Schneider,1801) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
|
Colubridae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
Oriental Rat Snake Ptyas
mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
7 |
Banded Kukri Snake Oligodon arnensis (Shaw, 1802) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
8 |
Bronzeback Tree Snake Dendrelaphis
tristis (Daudin,
1803) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
9 |
Checkered Keelback Fowlea
piscator (Schneider, 1799) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
10 |
Striped Keelback Amphiesma
stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
11 |
Green Keelback Rhabdophis
plumbicolor (Cantor, 1839) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
12 |
Common Cat Snake Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
13 |
Forsten’s Cat Snake Boiga
forsteni (Duméril,
Bibron & Duméril,
1854) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
14 |
Beddome’s Cat Snake Boiga beddomei (Wall, 1909 ) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
15 |
Green Vine Snake Ahaetulla
oxyrhyncha (Bell, 1825) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
16 |
Brown Vine Snake Ahaetulla
sahyadrensis (Mallik, Srikanthan,
Pal, D’Souza, Shanker & Ganesh, 2020) |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
17 |
Common Trinket Snake Coelognathus
helena (Daudin, 1803) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
18 |
Montane Trinket Snake Coelognthus
helena monticolaris (Schulz,
1992) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
19 |
Barred Wolf Snake Lycodon
striatus (Shaw, 1802) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
20 |
Travancore Wolf Snake Lycodon
travancoricus (Beddome,
1870) |
+ |
+ |
- |
+ |
- |
|
21 |
Banded Racer Platyceps plini (Merrem, 1820) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
|
Elapidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 |
Common Indian Krait Bungarus
caeruleus (Schneider, 1801) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
23 |
Spectacled Cobra Naja
naja (Linnaeus, 1758) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
|
Viperidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 |
Russell’s Viper Daboia russelii
(Shaw & Nodder, 1797) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
25 |
Bamboo Pit Viper Craspedocephalus
gramineus (Shaw, 1802) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
26 |
Malabar Pit Viper Craspedocephalus
malabaricus (Jerdon,
1854) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
|
Agamidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
27 |
Sahyadri Forest Lizard Monilesaurus
rouxii (Duméril &
Bibron, 1837) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
28 |
Indian Garden Lizard Calotes
vultuosus (Harlan, 1825) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
|
Scincidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
29 |
Bronze Grass Skink Eutropis
cf. macularia (Blyth, 1853) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
30 |
Common Keeled Skink Eutropis
carinata (Schneider, 1801) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
31 |
Günther’s Supple Skink Riopa guentheri (Peters, 1879) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
|
Lacertidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
32 |
Lacertid lizard Ophisops
cf. beddomei (Jerdon,
1870) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
Gekkonidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
33 |
Yellow Green House Gecko Hemidactylus
flaviviridis (Rüppell,
1835) |
+ |
+ |
- |
+ |
+ |
|
34 |
Spotted Rock Gecko Hemidactylus
maculatus (Duméril & Bibron,
1836) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
|
35 |
Deccan Ground Gecko Cyrtodactylus
deccanensis (Günther, 1864) |
+ |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
Varanidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
36 |
Bengal Monitor Lizard Varanus
bengalensis (Daudin,
1802) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
|
|
Geoemydidae |
|
|
|
|
|
|
37 |
Indian Black Turtle Melanochelys
trijuga (Schweigger,1812) |
- |
+ |
- |
- |
- |
|
|
|
36 |
36 |
22 |
25 |
13 |
+—Present |-—Absent | A—Gavase
| B—Dhangarmola | C—Yarandol
| D—Khanapur | E—Ningudage.
Table 3. Alpha-diversity indices of reptiles among the
study sites.
|
Reservoir/ Indices |
Taxa_S |
Individuals |
Dominance_ D |
Simpson_1-D |
Shannon_H |
Evenness_e^H/S |
|
Gavase |
24 |
139 |
0.084 |
0.916 |
2.758 |
0.657 |
|
Lower |
17 |
139 |
0.0899 |
0.8683 |
2.344 |
0.5336 |
|
Upper |
23 |
139 |
0.1316 |
0.9096 |
2.652 |
0.6956 |
|
Dhangarmola |
22 |
106 |
0.1 |
0.9 |
2.613 |
0.62 |
|
Lower |
15 |
106 |
0.0899 |
0.8637 |
2.29 |
0.5541 |
|
Upper |
22 |
106 |
0.1362 |
0.9101 |
2.652 |
0.7221 |
|
Yarandol |
11 |
48 |
0.182 |
0.818 |
1.945 |
0.636 |
|
Lower |
11 |
48 |
0.0885 |
0.8307 |
2.054 |
0.6263 |
|
Upper |
18 |
48 |
0.1684 |
0.9106 |
2.607 |
0.8233 |
|
Khanapur |
18 |
74 |
0.104 |
0.896 |
2.513 |
0.686 |
|
Lower |
14 |
74 |
0.0869 |
0.855 |
2.21 |
0.5877 |
|
Upper |
20 |
74 |
0.1446 |
0.9131 |
2.661 |
0.7741 |
|
Ningudage |
9 |
29 |
0.291 |
0.709 |
1.627 |
0.565 |
|
Lower |
9 |
29 |
0.0916 |
0.8038 |
1.895 |
0.6718 |
|
Upper |
15 |
29 |
0.1962 |
0.9084 |
2.53 |
0.8804 |
Table 4. Whittaker’s B- Diversity of reptiles among
the study sites.
|
Reservoirs |
Gavase |
Dhangarmola |
Yarandol |
Khanapur |
Ningudage |
|
Gavase |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Dhangarmola |
0.0435 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Yarandol |
0.3714 |
0.3333 |
0 |
|
|
|
Khanapur |
0.1429 |
0.1 |
0.2414 |
0 |
|
|
Ningudage |
0.4546 |
0.4194 |
0.3 |
0.3333 |
0 |
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