A Preliminary Survey of the Amphibian Fauna in Nilgala Forest Area and its Vicinity, Monaragala District, Sri Lanka

作者：Karunarathna D M S Suranjan^*; Abeywardena U T Indika; Asela M D Chandana; Kekulandala L D C Bhathiya

来源：Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 2008, 3(2): 264-272.

• amphibians
• conservation
• endemic
• Nilgala Forest
• Sri Lanka
• threatened

Herein, we present the findings of a preliminary study on amphibian diversity in Nilgala Forest Area of the Monaragala District, which is situated in the intermediate zone of Sri Lanka. We investigated the amphibian species diversity and various threats they face in this remote, unstudied area. We recorded 20 species of amphibians, comprising about 18.8% of the total Sri Lankan amphibians described to date. Several species were new records for the Nilgala Forest Area including Philautus regius, P. fergusonianus, and Ichthyophis glutinosus. There were seven (35%) endemic species and six (30%) nationally listed threatened species observed at the site. We also observed three unidentified amphibian species in Nilgala Forest Area. Nilgala Forest Area supports high amphibian diversity. However, human activities such as burning, illegal logging, chena cultivation, and road traffic threaten the ecology of this important forest.

• 出版日期2008-11