Effectiveness of different sampling techniques for surveying herpetological communities in semi-desert environments in South Namibia

B.Sc. Daniel Hernández Alonso, prom. biol.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Namibia is one of the countries in Africa where data on herpetofauna are scarce compared to other African countries and other areas of the world, with new species being described in recent years. Most of the reptile species listed in the country have not undergone any assessment by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In order to make an evaluation, it is necessary to develop an effective methodology that allows gathering knowledge from herpetofauna present in arid environments, which are abundant in Namibia and African continent. The main aim of this study was to improve the knowledge about the effectiveness of different methods used in herpetological studies in this kind of biomes, evaluating their efficacy. The study was carried out in the Nama-Karoo biome in southern Namibia between August and October 2019. The methods used were visual, stoning and fibroscope transects included in active methods, pitfall traps and coverboards arrays in passive methods and free search group encompassing all non-standardized methods. A list of 31 species of reptiles in the study area and 2 amphibians was compiled. The results showed that the most effective methods for detecting individuals and species were visual transects and free search methods in terms of capture rates for individuals and species. However, regarding the detection of certain groups, the need of using a complete set of methods was shown, being effective all the methods used, with the exception of fibroscope transects and coverboards, which were inefficient in this survey. The total sampling efficiency and comparison with other works indicate a necessity to continue surveying this area, estimating that there are still undetected species.Further research on the comparison of methods over a longer period of time and in different seasonal periods is necessary to obtain a methodological set that allows the detection of individuals and species of different taxa in a complete way, increasing the necessary information on herpetofauna in regions with lack of data.

Keywords

Nama-Karoo, rarefaction, herpetofauna, pitfall, efficacy

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 14. 5. 2020

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Francisco Ceacero Herrador, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Wildlife Management in the Tropics and Subtropics