Hidden Herps of Lake Mainit: A First Look at Amphibians and Reptiles | InformativeBD

Meconcepcion Ngilangil- Lansang,  Richie P. Lador, and Romell A. Seronay, from the institute of Philippines. wrote a Research article about, Hidden Herps of Lake Mainit: A First Look at Amphibians and Reptiles. entitled, Preliminary report on the amphibians and reptiles of Lake Mainit watershed, Northeastern Mindanao, Philippines. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES. an open access scholarly research journal on Biodiversity. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Lake Mainit is honored with plentiful assets in both upland and lake ecosystems and is one of the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) in the Philippines. A field survey of amphibians and reptiles was conducted in the four municipalities comprising Agusan del Norte portion of Lake Mainit Watershed to determine the species richness, endemicity and conservation status. The methods used were a combination of field observation, reconnaissance survey, pitfall trap method and opportunistic collection. The study found out that 17 species belonging to 13 families, with a total of 69 individuals in the four sampling areas. Polypedates leucomystax recorded the most common species and highest number of individuals followed by Platymantis corrugatus. Highest species diversity index was recorded from Santiago with H’= 1.5. Philippine endemic species were H. pustulatus, P. corrugatus, N. samarensi, M. stejnegeri, H. granducola, P. mindanensis, and S. fasciatus while the two recorded vulnerable species were H. pustulatus and M. Stejnegeri, along these lines, the event of these two species qualifies the area to be protected. In this manner, the low species richness in Lake Mainit watershed could probably go to be archived if the place is completely assessed. Conservation action is still essential to protect and conserve biodiversity in the entire areas.

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Introduction

The Philippine Archipelago is one in all the eighteen megadiversity countries that, along is ten times richer in diversity than the Galapagos Island in South American country, with over twenty thousand species of plants and animals endemic to the biological richness of the country (Heaney & Regalado, 1998; Ong et al, 2002; Diesmos & Brown, 2009; Bucol et al, 2011). It houses a spectacular and numerous assemblage of amphibians and reptiles placed at the interface between the faunal zones of the Orient and Australia, has currently jointly recognized as one of the most vital centers of herpetofaunal diversity in South East Asia, creating it so much richer, the amount of endemicity are a lot of higher and therefore the biological process history is much a lot of complicated than are assumed (Diesmos et al, 2002; Ngilangil et al, 2015).

The Mindanao Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex (Mindanao PAIC) is one giant biogeographically vital sub- province inside the Philippine terra firma (Taylor, 1928; Inger, 1954; Heaney, 1985, 1986; Voris, 2000; Brown & Diesmos, 2009; Sanguila et al, 2016). Mindanao was formed by the accretion of the islandarc associated with the east- central block and also the western continental peninsula block, separated by the Sindangan- Cotabato- Daguma lineament (Yumul et al, 2003; Sanguila et al, 2016). The central part Mindanao has giant isolated mountains that are separated from one another by substantial stretches of low- lying areas that were formed as a result conjointly of collision and geologic process events over the past ten millions years (Hall, 1996, 1998; Yumul et al, 2003, 2009; Sanguila et al, 2016).

This extremely dynamic geologic history suggests the chance of faunal limits to spreading inside early paleoislands, a mechanism which may presumably have contributed to the diversification of the primary amphibian and reptile lineages that inhabited Mindanao (Brown & Alcala, 1970; Brown & Guttman 2002; Evans et al, 2003; Sanguila et al, 2011; 2016; Brown et al, 2013; Barley et al, 2013).

Amphibians and reptiles, cold- full- blooded animals, are regarding one- fourth of all well- known vertebrate species distributed worldwide (Zug et al, 2001; Ali & Bukhari, 2018). They are good biological indicators as a result of they are more sensitive to the environment than other wildlife (Hopkins, 2007; Coritico et al, 2018) and a very important part of healthy scheme as they play a vital role in the food pyramid by maintaining the balance of food cycle thus, they provide an excellent starting point for inventorying and monitoring biodiversity. Moreover, they recycle nutrients between aquatic to terrestrial environments, and removal of those species from any scheme can cause to disturbances in predator- prey dynamics, invertebrate populations, alga communities, leaf litter decompositions, and nutrient cycling, however their population is depleting day by day because of several anthropogenic activities like intensive grazing, forest cutting and burning, mining areas restorations (McLeod & Gates, 1998; Ngilangil et al, 2015) fragmentation, and changes in microclimatic variables through a disturbed gradient within the home ground structure (Ward, 2006; Ngilangil et al, 2015).

Lake Mainit is recognized as the deepest (219.35 meters), fourth biggest (17, 060 ha), one of the cleanest lakes in the Philippines, flanked by mountain ranges at the north, east and west, with a broad aluvial plain at the south and is circumscribed by eight municipalities that comprise the Lake Mainit Watershed (LMDA, 2005; SFM Program, 2009; LMHGC- ESIA, 2013 and Padilla et al, 2015. Subsequently, Lake Mainit is honored with plentiful assets in both upland and lake ecosystems as appeared in researches and studies conducted by various institutions (Gracia, 1981; Demetillo et al, 2015). However, the forest cover of Lake Mainit has been fragmented and degraded into vast open grassland habitats, while some areas are converted into agricultural lands. Remaining forest cover in the watershed is currently threatened by various unregulated anthropogenic activities such as rural development, cryptic small-scale mining, and illegal logging of the remaining tree stands (LMDA-EMP, 2014 and Padilla et al, 2015).

Be that as it may, the information was generated quite a long while prior, which right now needs assessment and validation. Thus, this study aims to determine species distribution, abundance, endemism and conservation status of amphibians and reptiles within the sampling sites of the Lake Mainit watershed area.

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Article source : Preliminary report on the amphibians and reptiles of Lake Mainit watershed, Northeastern Mindanao,Philippines