Study of Species Richness and Structure Community of Herpetofauna

on Kondang Merak Forest, Malang, Indonesia

Ahmad Muammar Kadafi

, M. Fathoni

, Muhammad Alif Fauzi

Richo Firmansyah

, Bagus Priambodo

, Nia Kurniawan

Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Science, Brawijaya University, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia

Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Science, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia

Keywords: Herpetofauna, Structure Community, Species Richness, Diversity, Kondang Merak

Abstract: Kondang Merak Forest was known for its tourism destination, despite this area being the only coastal

protected forest in Malang. Because of tourism demand, several anthropogenic activities were recorded and

threatening the ecological balances of the forest including herpetofauna in it. Hence, we provide the

information on the herpetofauna diversity completed with the habitat type on the Kondang Merak forest. A

survey was conducted from November 2018 to June 2019 on each 6 different site points according to a

specific habitat. We analyzed the data using the importance value index and Jaccard similarity to better

known the herpetofauna community structure. A total of 38 species of herpetofauna were recorded consists

of 8 amphibians (Anura), 15 lizards (Sauria), and 15 snakes (Serpentes) species. Based on the habitat type,

we concluded that the distribution pattern and herpetofauna composition may be reflected by the biological

adaptation, environmental carrying capacity, and different landscape vegetation such as coastal area, stream,

temporary pond, secondary forest and monoculture plantation. These findings can be used as baseline data

for further study on genetic study and management strategies on the Kondang Merak forest.

1 INTRODUCTION

Kondang Merak beach was known for its tourism

spot destination in Malang by having big tides and

white-clear sand as its main attractions (Aunurohim,

2013). This destination is located in the Bantur

district, Malang Regency (Malangkab.go.id, 2017),

and categorized as a protected forest region (Luthfi

et al., 2016) comprise of mangrove ecosystem, sea-

grass vegetation, and coral reefs. However, the

previous study shows that anthropogenic activity in

a form of beach tourism, snorkeling activity, and sea

biota exploration is threatening the ecological

balance on the Kondang Merak forest (Luthfi et al.,

2016). These threats are exaggerated by the

conversion of land into agricultural plantations and

roadways crossing through the natural forest habitat

as a result of tourism demand to boost the economic

values. These threats are affecting the herpetofauna

diversity, which plays an important role in the

ecosystem as a predator of invertebrate dan small

vertebrate, and also serves as prey for birds and

mammals (Howell, 2002).

Despite of the habitat landscape conversion, another

factors such as habitat loss (Goode et al., 2005),

unsustainable removal, environmental

contamination, climate change, invasive species,

amphibian declines (Todd et al., 2010), animal trade

(Kusrini, 2009), disease and fungal parasitism on

frog (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) (Kusrini et

al., 2011) are also threatening the herpetofauna

population. The investigation through systematics

identification, taxon distribution, and habitat

association are considered key information to face

the threats and serves as baseline data (Gillespie et

al., 2005). However the data on the herpetofauna is

still lacking in a certain region.

Further, the effort on exploring the herpetofauna

diversity especially in East Java is considered

lacking. Several inventory of herpetofauna diversity

are limited to Meru Betiri National Park (Kurniawan

et al., 2018), Alas Purwo National Park (Broto &

Subeno, 2012), Ironggolo waterfall in Kediri (Hanifa

et al., 2016), Putri waterfall in Batu (Hidayah et al.,

2018), and Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park

and surroundings (Erfanda et al., 2019; Septiadi et

al., 2018). Several efforts to discover the diversity

Kadaﬁ, A., Fathoni, M., Fauzi, M., Firmansyah, R., Priambodo, B. and Kurniawan, N.

Study of Species Richness and Structure Community of Herpetofauna on Kondang Merak Forest, Malang, Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0009586100890095

In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Advanced Molecular Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering (ICAMBBE 2019) - Bio-Prospecting Natural Biological Compounds for

Seeds Vaccine and Drug Discovery, pages 89-95

ISBN: 978-989-758-483-1

on Kondang Merak were previously carried out such

as avifauna (Aunurohim, 2013). But still, the

information related to herpetofauna diversity in

Kondang Merak is lacking, resulting in forest

management inefficiency. The information about

diversity and abundance of herpetofauna can provide

basic information for a crucial decision on the

management of the Kondang Merak forest in the

future. (Riyanto, 2011). Hence, in this study, we

provide the information on the herpetofauna

diversity associated with habitat type on the

Kondang Merak forest.

2 MATERIALS & METHODS

2.1 Study Area

The survey was conducted on Kondang Merak

Beach, Bantur district, Malang Regency, East Java

(S 8

23’47”, E 112

31’08”). The region is

categorized as a protected forest consist of a

terrestrial ecosystem including lowland rainforest,

mangrove vegetation, and coastal ecosystem

including estuary zones, sea-grass vegetation, and

also coral reefs. We surveyed 6 sites that have

characteristics and potential microhabitat for

herpetofauna (Figure 1).

Figure 1: A surveyed sampling site of herpetofauna in the

Kondang Merak forest.

2.2 Habitat Characteristics

The characteristics of Kondang Merak forest consist

of site point A, an area comprised of timber (teak)

production forest (monoculture) with only a little

vegetation such as shrubs and ground cover

vegetations. Site point B, an area comprised of

temporary ponds only filled during rainy season

covered by large trees and shrubs on the side of it.

Site point C, an area comprised of tree vegetation,

shrubs, and forest floors covered by leaf litter and

small open area. Site point D, an area consists of

habitat corridors between bamboo plant and open

area. Site point E, an area comprised of karst

formation covered by tree canopies and shrubs. Site

point F, an area comprised of canopies along the

streams into the estuary zones. The documentation

of various habitat is shown in (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Documentation of various habitat that we

documented on Kondang Merak forest, A) a primary

forest disturbed by a lane crossing, B) a temporary pond

close to the forest area, C) water stream with a canopies

coverage and D) karst formation covered by small

vegetation on the coastal area.

2.3 Data Collection

The survey was conducted from November 2018 to

June 2019. We used the Visual Encounter Survey

(VES), modified with active exploration methods on

our survey (Crump & Scott, 1994). We documented

and identified an encountered herpetofauna species

following references from Das (2015), Reptile

Database (Uetz et al., 2019), and Iskandar (1998),

and count every individual that was found on each

site. We divided the species based on the

conservation status following the IUCN Redlist of

Threatened Species (IUCN, 2019), a list of

Appendices following Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species (2016), and national

laws (PERMEN 92/ MENLHK/ SETJEN/ KUM1.8/

2018).

2.4 Data Analysis

The data were analyzed to estimate the importance

index value (INP) and the Shannon-Winner diversity

index (Magguran, 1988) to know the community

structure on each different habitat (Clarke &

Warwick, 2001; Bibi & Ali, 2013). The grouping of

ICAMBBE 2019 - 6th ICAMBBE (International Conference on Advance Molecular Bioscience Biomedical Engineering) 2019

each species associated with the related habitat was

analyzed using the presence or absence matrix by

the Jaccard similarity index by

UPGMA (Unweighted pair group method with

arithmetic mean) on MVSP 3.22 software, forming a

dendrogram.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Herpetofauna Composition

Based on our survey on Kondang Merak forest in

regard to each site point and different habitat, we

successfully record as much as 38 herpetofauna

species including 8 amphibians species divided into

4 Family (Dicroglossidae, 1 species; Microhylidae, 3

species; Ranidae, 4 species; and Rhacoporidae, 2

species) and 30 reptiles species divided into 10

Family (Colubridae, 7 species; Elapidae, 4 species;

Natricidae, 1 species; Pareatidae, 1 species;

Pythonidae, 1 species; Viperidae, 1 species;

Agamidae, 1 species, Gekkonidae, 8 species;

Scincidae, 4 species; Varanidae, 2 species). The

result of abundance and frequency, indicated by

importance value index, shows that a species of R.

reindwardtii are dominating on site point B and C. A

species of C. marmoratus, C. chalconota, and P.

leucomystax are able to adapt on 3 different site

point, with the remaining species can only be

encountered on 1 or 2 site point. The detailed about

the species that we found were shown in Figure and

Table below (Figure 3, Figure 6, and Table 1 on

Appendix).



Figure 3: Species richness and diversity index of

herpetofauna in Kondang Merak forest based on

encountered species on each site point habitat.

The species richness on each site were observed as

follows; amphibians species on site point B (6

species), C (5 species), F (3 species), D (2 species),

E (1 species), with no encountered amphibians

species on site point A, reptilians species on site

point E (11 species), D (10 species), F (7 species), C

(5 species), A (2 species), and B (1 species). The

highest value of diversity index was showed by site

point E (3.7), then D (3.46), C (3.32), F (3.32), B

(2.81), while the lowest value of diversity index was

showed by site point A (1). The site points E, D, C,

and F showed the value above 3 that indicated the

high diversity, while for site points F and A

indicated the moderated diversity (Krebs, 1994). The

species richness correlated to diversity index due to

more species discovered on site, the more higher

diversity index values, vice versa. The detailed about

the value index was shown in the graphic below

(Figure 4).

Study of Species Richness and Structure Community of Herpetofauna on Kondang Merak Forest, Malang, Indonesia

Figure 4: Important value index of herpetofauna on

Kondang Merak associated with different surveyed sites

point.

Based on the grouping of herpetofauna on each site

point by using the Jaccard similarity index, it was

shown that site point A indicated a different

grouping in regard to another site. On site point A,

we only found 2 species of herpetofauna on the

habitat which was covered by monoculture

plantation teak (Tectona sp.), that tend to be dry.

While on another site point, it showed that site point

B has the similarity to site point C, it may be due to

the closely-distance between those sites and similar

canopies with only difference microhabitat which is

temporary ponds which only possessed by site point

B. The detailed of the dendrogram can be seen

below (Figure 5)

Figure 5: Dendrogram showing the clustering of

herpetofauna based on each site on the Kondang Merak

forest using the Jaccard similarity index.

Figure 6: Several documentation of encountered

herpetofauna species in Kondang Merak forest, A) P.

leucomystax, B) F. limnocharis, C) R. reindwartii, D) M.

achatina, E) tadpole M. achatina, F) A. nicobariensis, G)

V. nebulosus, H) V. salvator, I) C. marmoratus, J)

Hemydactilus found guarding their eggs, K) D. volans, L)

M. reticulatus, M) T. insularis, N). P. carinatus.

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

ICAMBBE 2019 - 6th ICAMBBE (International Conference on Advance Molecular Bioscience Biomedical Engineering) 2019

3.2 The Implication of The

Herpetofauna Conservation Status

Kondang Merak forest as a habitat of various

herpetofauna plays a role in fulfilling the needs of

foods, shelter, and reproduce (Goode et al., 2005).

Based on the diversity of herpetofauna species,

several site point needs to be maintained and

sustained, because several species is concluding into

a threatened species such as R. reindwartii (IUCN:

Near threatened), V. nebulosus (CITES: Appendix I;

protected), V. salvator (Appendix II), M. reticulatus

(Appendix II), and N. sputatrix (Appendix II). The

specific distribution pattern on different site points

in the Kondang Merak forest may be due to the

adaptation (physiology and behavior ecology) and

environmental carrying capacity of herpetofauna

(Vitt & Caldwell, 2013). The management of the

Kondang Merak forest mainly focused on the spot as

tourism sites. The officials are responsible to

maintain the Kondang Merak forest and give more

attention to the diversity in this area because this

protected forest is possessed a unique species

especially on the lowland forest ecosystem that close

to coastal vegetation (Aunurohim, 2013).

4 CONCLUSIONS

A total of 38 amphibians and reptile species were

recorded in this study, consists of 8 amphibians

(Anura), 15 lizards (Sauria), and 15 snakes

(Serpentes) species. To understand the differences in

distribution pattern and herpetofauna composition.

The differences in distribution pattern and

herpetofauna composition may be reflected in

biological adaptation, environmental carrying

capacity, and different landscape vegetation such as

coastal area, stream, temporary pond, secondary

forest and monoculture plantation. These findings

can be used as baseline data for further study on

genetic study and management strategies on the

Kondang Merak forest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would thanks to NK Research members of

Brawijaya University for supporting on the data

collecting on Kondang Merak forest and L. Septiadi,

for supporting the research.

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APPENDIX

Table 1. Species list of Amphibia and Conservation status , Notes: herpetofauna in site point, [presence; (+), absent: (-)];

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) LC: Least Concern, NT: Near Threatened; CITES (Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) (-): non appendix, (I): Appendix I, (II): Appendix II.

Spesies

Habitat Type

IUCN CITES

PP No. 20

tahun 2018

A B C D E F

Amphibia

Dicroglosidae

Fejervarya limnocharis (Gravenhorst, 1829) - + - - - + LC - NP

Microhylidae

Kaloula baleata (Müller In Oort and Müller, 1833) - - + - + - LC

-

Microhyla achatina (Tschudi, 1838) - + + - - - LC

-

Microhyla palmipes (Boulenger, 1897) - + - - - - LC

-

Ranidae



Amnirana nicobariensis (Stoliczka, F., 1870) - - - + - - LC

-

Chalcorana chalconota (Schlegel, 1837) - + + - - + LC

-

Rhacophoridae



Polypedates leucomystax (Gravenhorst, 1829) - + + - - + LC

-

Rhacophorus reinwardtii (Schlegel, 1840) - + + - - - LC

-

Reptilia



ICAMBBE 2019 - 6th ICAMBBE (International Conference on Advance Molecular Bioscience Biomedical Engineering) 2019

Colubridae



Ahaetulla prasina (Boie, 1827) + - - - - - LC

-

Boiga cynodon (Boie, 1827) - - - + - - LC

-

Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin, 1789) - + - - - - LC

-

Lycodon subcintus (Boie, 1827) - - - + - - LC

-

Psamodynastes pulverulentus (Boie, 1827) - - + - - - LC

-

Rhabdophis subminiatus (Schlegel, 1837) - - - + - - LC

-

Sybinophis geminatus (Boie, 1826) - - - - + - LC

-

Elapidae

Naja sputatrix (Boie, 1827) - - - + - - LC II NP

Bungarus candidus (Linnaeus, 1758) - - - - + - LC

-

Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) - - - - + - LC

-

Laticauda colubrina (Schneider, 1799) - - - + - - LC

-

Natricidae



Xenochrophis melanzostus (Gravenhorst, 1807) - - - - - + LC

-

Pareatidae



Pareas carinatus (Boie, 1828) - - - + - - LC



Pythonidae

Malayopython reticulatus (Schneider, 1801) - - - - - + LC II NP

Viperidae

Trimeresurus insularis (Kramer, 1977) + - - - - - LC

-

Agamidae



Draco volans (Linnaeus, 1758) - - + + - - LC

-

Gekkonidae



Cyrtodactylus marmoratus (Gray, 1831) - - + - + + LC

-

Cyrtodactylus petani (Riyanto, Grismer, & Wood,

2015)

- - - - + - LC

-

Cyrtodactylus klakahensis (Hartmann, Mecke,

Kieckbusch, Mader, & Kaiser, 2016)

- - - - + + LC

-

Gehyra mutilata (Wiegmann 1834) - - - - + - LC

-

Gekko gecko (Linnaeus, 1758) - - - - + - LC

-

Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel, 1836) - - - + + - LC

-

Hemidactylus platyurus (Schneider, 1797) - - - - + - LC

-

Hemiphyllodactylus typus (Bleeker, 1860) - - - - + - LC

-

Scincidae



Dasia olivacea (Gray, 1839) - - - - - + LC

-

Emoia atrocostata (Lesson, 1830) - - - - + - LC

-

Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820) - - - + - - LC

-

Eutropis rugifera (Stoliczka, 1870) - - + + - - LC

-

Varanidae

Varanus nebulosus (Gray, 1931) - - - - - + LC I P

Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768) - - + - - + LC II NP

Study of Species Richness and Structure Community of Herpetofauna on Kondang Merak Forest, Malang, Indonesia