Herpetofaunal Diversity and Conservation Status in Amchang …
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3 Results and Discussion
During the study period 22 species of amphibians representing seven families and 41
species of reptiles representing eleven families were encountered (Table 1). According to conservation concern based on categorization by IUCN redlist, amongst
amphibians a single species was vulnerable, four species were data deficient and the
rest were least concern and amongst reptiles, two species were vulnerable, 13 species
were least concern and the rest of 26 species were yet to be evaluated. According to
India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, 13 species of amphibians fall under Schedule
IV; five, three and twenty species of reptiles come under Schedule I, Schedule II and
Schedule III respectively. The remaining species are non-scheduled.
Amongst amphibians Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider 1799), Euphlyctis
cyanophlyctis (Schneider 1799), Fejervarya teraiensis (Dubois 1984), Fejervarya
nepalensis (Dubois 1975), Polypedates teraiensis (Dubois 1987) were found to be
common species. Duttaphrynus melanostictus, however was mostly restricted to the
forest edges with decreased sighting rates as we move to the core of the forest. We
have encountered Ichthyophis only four times in the entire study period. Amongst
reptiles Calotes versicolor (Daudin 1802), Hemidactylus frenatus (Dumerili and
Bibron 1836), Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider 1792), Sphenomorphus maculatus
(Blyth 1853), Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus 1758), Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider
1799) were found to be common species. Turtles were only encountered for six times
during the entire survey.
Secondary data suggests that there is a rapid decline in the vegetation cover and
biodiversity within the study area. This is supported by the data of a comparative
survey on change of land use pattern in 1989 and 2011 showing that dense forest has
increased from 1428.37 to 1619.13 ha where as moderate dense forest has drastically
reduced from 2530.18 to 1256.1 ha (Changkakati 2017). A large part of area under
moderate dense forest were used up for developmental activates such as for stone
quarries, agriculture, plantations, construction of dams. The study area and its periphery are inhabited by ethnic (mainly Karbi) groups of Assam and Nepali population.
The main mode of subsistence is agriculture and dairy production. Rice is the main
cultivated crop along with betel nut plantation. There also exist patches of bamboo
and Sal tree plantation. Fishing is practiced in ponds and small hill streams. In fact
there are many settlements which are within the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary and
its adjourning eco-sensitive zone. In year 2017, a massive eviction drive was undertaken and over 700 families were ousted from the area, which led to mass protest.
About 50% of the herpetofauna (30 species out of 63) in the study area are either not
evaluated (26 species) or under data deficient (4 species) category of IUCN redlist
pointing to the fact that more species specific study is to be undertaken to evaluate
the conservation status of each species.
Major threats to herpetofauna observed in the study area are as given below.
Habitat degradation and alteration: Many of the moderate dense forests and secondary forests are now replaced by agricultural fields and monotypic cultivation,
predominated by Sal plantation. Hills are exploited for soil, rock and timbers ever
219
3 Results and Discussion
During the study period 22 species of amphibians representing seven families and 41
species of reptiles representing eleven families were encountered (Table 1). According to conservation concern based on categorization by IUCN redlist, amongst
amphibians a single species was vulnerable, four species were data deficient and the
rest were least concern and amongst reptiles, two species were vulnerable, 13 species
were least concern and the rest of 26 species were yet to be evaluated. According to
India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, 13 species of amphibians fall under Schedule
IV; five, three and twenty species of reptiles come under Schedule I, Schedule II and
Schedule III respectively. The remaining species are non-scheduled.
Amongst amphibians Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider 1799), Euphlyctis
cyanophlyctis (Schneider 1799), Fejervarya teraiensis (Dubois 1984), Fejervarya
nepalensis (Dubois 1975), Polypedates teraiensis (Dubois 1987) were found to be
common species. Duttaphrynus melanostictus, however was mostly restricted to the
forest edges with decreased sighting rates as we move to the core of the forest. We
have encountered Ichthyophis only four times in the entire study period. Amongst
reptiles Calotes versicolor (Daudin 1802), Hemidactylus frenatus (Dumerili and
Bibron 1836), Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider 1792), Sphenomorphus maculatus
(Blyth 1853), Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus 1758), Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider
1799) were found to be common species. Turtles were only encountered for six times
during the entire survey.
Secondary data suggests that there is a rapid decline in the vegetation cover and
biodiversity within the study area. This is supported by the data of a comparative
survey on change of land use pattern in 1989 and 2011 showing that dense forest has
increased from 1428.37 to 1619.13 ha where as moderate dense forest has drastically
reduced from 2530.18 to 1256.1 ha (Changkakati 2017). A large part of area under
moderate dense forest were used up for developmental activates such as for stone
quarries, agriculture, plantations, construction of dams. The study area and its periphery are inhabited by ethnic (mainly Karbi) groups of Assam and Nepali population.
The main mode of subsistence is agriculture and dairy production. Rice is the main
cultivated crop along with betel nut plantation. There also exist patches of bamboo
and Sal tree plantation. Fishing is practiced in ponds and small hill streams. In fact
there are many settlements which are within the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary and
its adjourning eco-sensitive zone. In year 2017, a massive eviction drive was undertaken and over 700 families were ousted from the area, which led to mass protest.
About 50% of the herpetofauna (30 species out of 63) in the study area are either not
evaluated (26 species) or under data deficient (4 species) category of IUCN redlist
pointing to the fact that more species specific study is to be undertaken to evaluate
the conservation status of each species.
Major threats to herpetofauna observed in the study area are as given below.
Habitat degradation and alteration: Many of the moderate dense forests and secondary forests are now replaced by agricultural fields and monotypic cultivation,
predominated by Sal plantation. Hills are exploited for soil, rock and timbers ever