Species richness estimation of reptiles in selected sites of Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract

The knowledge on the composition of reptile species at Tasik Kenyir and its vicinity is still lacking as there is no comprehensive checklist available to date. This study aimed to provide a checklist and to estimate the species richness of reptiles in recreational forests located at and around Tasik Kenyir, namely Sungai Buweh, Belukar Bukit, Sekayu, and Saok. Visual Encounter Survey (VES), pitfall trapping, and opportunistic survey methods were used in this study. From 46 sampling days between April 2015 and February 2016, a total of 118 individuals from 26 species, 19 genera and nine families of reptiles were successfully recorded. Almost half of the reptile species belongs to family Gekkonidae (42%), followed by Agamidae (23%) and Scincidae (11%). The most abundant species observed were Eutropis multifasciata (24%), Hemidactylus frenatus (16%) and Gekko monarchus (13%). Eleven of the recorded species are protected under Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and nine species are listed as Least Concern by IUCN 2016. The number of species estimated by non-parametric estimators, Chao 1 and Chao 2 were 35 and 39 species respectively. The results from this study could be useful to monitor the impact of habitat changes and human disturbances at Tasik Kenyir and the neighbouring areas.