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The Herpetofauna of the O\Ven Sitole College of Agriculture

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The Herpetofauna of the O\Ven Sitole College of Agriculture THE HERPETOFAUNA OF THE O\VEN SITOLE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, ZULULAND by LEONARD ANDRE\V CHARLES HOFFMANN Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Biology, University of Natal. Cape Town, 1990 (ii) PREFACE The fieldwork described in this thesis was carried out at the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture from March 1986 to August 1987, and in January and December 1988. The thesis is registered with the University of Natal and was supervised by Professor John C. Poynton, Department of Biology, University of Natal. This study represents original work by the author and has not been submitted in any form to another university. Where use was made of the work of others it has ,been duly acknowledged in the text. (iii) DEDICATION To Brian Coulson Gannon and members of the Fairhaven Work Party for the special attention they have given to my education. (iv) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people for their assistance and participation in collecting material for this thesis. In this regard, I wish to heartily thank the staff, students and labourers of the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture for collecting both live and dead specimens for me and directing me to where specimens could be collected. I am particularly grateful to the 1985-86 and 1987-88 classes of trainee nature conservation officers, whom I had the privilege to teach and with whom many an exciting moment was shared collecting specimens. Many of these trainees collected specimens independently, and here I would like to make special mention of N. Madamalala and Tshienzi Eugene Nemavhola of Venda, and Rulani S. Shibambu and Geoffrey Nukeri of Gazankula for the considerable contribution they made. I am also thankful to my lecturing colleagues Willem Frederick Prinsloo and Hervey Allen for their participation in the survey and for making additional records, prior to the initiation of the survey, available. Abre Steyn, previously head of the Department of Nature Conservation at the College, is also thanked for providing additional records. Mr. Fyllion Sigwebele of the Department of Animal Husbandry provided valuable information on the history of the College. Dr. Rodney Maude of Drennan, Maude and Partners, Durban, provided valuable information on the pedology and geology. I am grateful to game guard M. Manquele, trainees R. Mfeka, R.S. Shibambu and G. Nukeri, and Mr. F. Sigwebele for interesting facts, myths and fallacies regarding traditional attitudes toward, and uses of, amphibians and reptiles. Numerous people gave freely of their time and expertise in the analysis of data. Here I wish to thank Dr. W.R. Branch of the Port Elizabeth Museum for identifying problematic reptiles, particularly Leptotyphlops scutifrons scutifrons; Mr. Attie Van Wyk of the University of Stellenbosch for assistance with the sexing of reptiles; Prof. John C. Poynton for identifying amphibians; Prof. D.E. van Dijk of Stellenbosch for assistance with sexing immature frogs; Dr. M.H.C. Visser of the University of Stellenbosch, for identifying reptile endoparasites; the Directorate of Veterinary Services, Onderstepoort, for identifying reptile ectoparasites; Mr. Guy Palmer and Dr. Anthony Maddock, Chief Directorate of Nature and Environmental Conservation (CDNEC), for identifying the mammalian remains in Psammophis ohillipsii; and Mr. Mark Wright of the Department of Agriculture, Elsenberg, for identifying the invertebrate gut remains of Naja mossambica. (v) Marius Burger and Larisa Smuts of the CDNEC are thanked for their technical assistance in preparing and curating specimens. Sulet Gildenhuys, also of the CDNEC, assisted with typing the manuscript for which I am grateful. Mr. W.D. Haacke and Mrs. L. Brown, Transvaal Museum (TM), Pretoria, are thanked for providing TM specimens and copies of TM locality records. The principal of the Owen Sitole College of Agriculture; the Department of Agriculture, K waZulu Government Service; and the Department of Development Aid are thanked for the opportunity to work at the College. I acknowledge with appreciation the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for providing funds for fieldtrips. I am especially grateful to the Chief Directorate of Nature and Environmental Conservation of the Cape Provincial Administration for permission to write up this thesis during official working hours. Here specifically, I wish to extend a special thanks to my directoral supervisors, Dr. Neil Fairall and Dr. Andre Boshoff, who permitted me to make use of facilities at the Jonkershoek Research Station and Eastern Cape Research Unit respectively. Finally, I thank Prof. John C. Poynton for encouraging me to register my project for formal degree purposes, for invaluable criticism of the manuscript, and for his support and encouragement in his role of supervisor of this thesis. (vi) ABSTRACT A herpetofaunal study was undertaken at the 670 ha Owen Sitole College of Agriculture (OSCA) near Empangeni, Zululand, from 1986 to 1988. Collecting was carried out primarily opportunistically, throughout all seasons. A total of 28 amphibian taxa and 44 reptile taxa, comprising two chelonians, one crocodylid, 13 lizards and 28 snakes, were recorded. A further 11 amphibian and 42 reptile taxa may possibly occur. The majority of amphibians and reptiles display a tropical distribution, often with enormous ranges. Nineteen (68%) amphibian taxa have tropical or quasi-tropical (Poynton 1964) zoogeographical affinities and 33 (75%) reptile taxa have tropical wide ranging or tropical east coast littoral (Bruton and Haacke 1980) zoogeographical affinities. Only one amphibian taxon and four reptile taxa, all snakes, have Cape or temperate affinities. These taxa are marginal in the region, reaching their distributional limits in Maputaland. Niche segregation of amphibians occurs primarily according to water bodies. Vegetation Q.tl se does not appear to be important, with the majority of species occurring in a savanna environment; however, three species, Leptopelis natalensis, h. mossambicus and Arthroleptis wahlbergii, appear to be sylvicolous in habits and are restricted to riverine vegetation. The vast majority of taxa are summer breeders, whereas only one, Cacosternum nanum nanum, was recorded breeding in winter too. The syrnpatry of h. natalensis and Hyperolius semidiscus was confirmed in this study, and H. semidiscus and H. argus were shown to behave as good species with specifically distinct calls. Snakes are segregated according to size, mode of life, activity patterns and food. Certain species, such as Naja mossambica, have catholic diets whereas others, such as Duberria lutrix lutrix, Aparallactus capensis and Dasypeltis scabra, are specialists. The lizard fauna is differentiated according to diet, foraging strategies and habitat preferences, including substrate and vegetation. Amphibians are unselective feeders, consuming a variety of insects. Some, namely Xenopus laevis laevis and Pyxicephalus adspersus edulis, have catholic tastes and are even cannibalistic. Snakes and amphibians constitute the main prey items of snakes, whereas most lizards, with the exception of Varanus niloticus niloticus which is a generalist, feed exclusively on arthropods, especially insects. (vii) Schismaderma carens, Bufo gutturalis, Hemidactylus mabouia mabouia, Lygodactylus caoensis capensis, Mabuya striata striata, Lamprophis fuliginosus, Causus rhombeatus, Duberria lutrix lutrix and Naja mossambica are attracted to places of human habitation either for feeding or for shelter. Many amphibians benefit from artificial water bodies. No less than 19 taxa were recorded from the fish ponds, the majority of which bred there, possibly because the waters are more stable, permanent and relatively free of predators than natural water bodies. The Leguaan Tick Aponomma exornatum was recorded parasitizing adult Varanus niloticus niloticus, and the Snake Tick A. latum was found on N. mossambica and h. rhombeatus; A. latum, with an extensive subSaharan distribution, shows no predilection for any species of snake. Pentastomids and nematodes were found in a number of snakes (Atractaspis, Telescopus, Psammophis and Causus); the life cycle implications of these organisms are that mammals and snakes are intermediate hosts, though more ecological and experimental evidence is necessary. Python sebae natalens is and Kinixys natalensis, both Red Data Book - Reptile and Amphibian species, are particularly threatened, the first due to slaughter for traditional uses, the second due to agricultural activities and frequent fires. It is recommended that both these reptiles be afforded maximum protection in the 110 ha game park, which is regularly patrolled and which is subjected to infrequent fires. Generally, however, the herpetofauna has fared well at the hands of the local people, testimony to which is the high species diversity. (viii) LIST OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE (ii) DEDICATION (iii) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (iv-v) ABSTRACT (vi-vii) CONTENTS (viii-x) LIST OF FIGURES (xi) LIST OF TABLES (xii) LIST OF PLATES (xiii-xiv) CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 STUDY AREA 1.1.1 Locality, size and topography 1 1.1.2 History and land use 1 2.1.3 People and activities 4 1.1.4 Climate and weather 4 1.1.5 Water bodies 11 1.1.6 Geology, geomorphology and pedology 12 1.1.7 Vegetation 14 1.1.8 Habitats 16 1.1.9 Phillips' zonation 22 1.1.10 Rutherford and Westfall biomes 22 1.3 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 24 1.4 AIMS OF STUDY 24 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 26 2.1 Duration of study 26 2.2 People
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