SEASONAL DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF HERPETOFAUNA IN AND AROUND AN INDUSTRIAL CITY OF WEST BENGAL, INDIA.

Biological diversity intrinsically pedals the functioning and stabilization of an ecosystem. Among faunal diversity herpetofaunal (amphibians and reptiles) checklist serve a major role which provide the information of productivity and community dynamics. The present study was carried out at Durgapur, West Bengal, India from August 2009 to July 2011 with the objective to register the seasonal diversity and abundance of herpetofauna in and around the industrial region with special reference to the anthropogenic interventions. Diverse habitat types were surveyed applying hand capture, opportunistic spotting, road kill analysis, call survey and acquiring information from local people. Present survey revealed the richness of the Durgapur industrial area in its herpetofaunal diversity where 9 species of amphibians and 24 species of reptiles were recorded in the study area with the highest abundance observed during the rainy season. Duttaphrynus melanostictus was the most common amphibian species to register while Mycrohyla ornata was the rarest. So far as the reptilian diversity is concerned only one species of turtle (Melanochelys trijuga), eight species of lizards and fifteen snake species were recorded. An overall negative anthropogenic influence on herpetofaunal diversity, distribution and abundance was evidenced from the present study and needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]