Diversity and abundance of herpectofauna in kole wetlands, Thrissur

Abstract

Kole wetland is an internationally important Ramsar site, an Important Bird Area and a High Value Biodiversity Area. The wetland diversity is not fully assessed in our country. Herpetofauna including the amphibians and reptiles are one of the least studied groups of animals in India as well as in Kerala. In this study, an attempt was made to understand the diversity and abundance of herpetofauna in the Kole Wetlands, which is the first ever study on the herpetofauna of the Kole wetlands. The study was mainly concentrated in four locations of Kole Wetlands viz. Adat, Enamavu, Thommana and Maranchery. The study period was divided into two seasons as wet season (June to October) and dry season (November to May) in 2011 and the difference in the population was compared. Visual encounter survey was the method to study the hepetofauna. A total of 12 species of herpetofauna was recorded in the study period which includes seven species of amphibians and five species of reptiles. Among the amphibians, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus was the most abundant and frequently seen species in the Kole Wetlands and among the reptiles, Xenochrophis piscator was the most abundant in the Kole Wetlands. Two endemic species of amphibians Hylarana malabarica which is endemic to Western Ghats and Hylarana aurantiaca which is endemic to Sri Lanka and Western Ghats was reported in the study. The maximum number of species was recorded from Enamavu and Thommana. The mortality observations showed that road kill is a serious problem for the amphibians at Kole wetlands and habitat destruction as well as poaching is also negatively affecting the populations of herpetofauna at Kole wetlands. Strict conservation measures including the non-construction of any more new roads at Kole wetlands, checking the land use or habitat conversion and strict enforcement of law against poaching could only save the herpetofauna of this internationally important wetland habitat- the Kole wetlands.