Environmental Impacts, Systematics and Distribution of Herpetofauna from East Nepal

Abstract

In this thesis, various environmental impacts on the ecological zones of the East Development Region of Nepal have been covered. The studied area includes lakes, ponds, watershed areas, springs, streams and rivers, wetland habitats. Forests, forest bottom leaf litters, buffer zones, community forests, cultivated lands, abandoned and arid zones were investigated as terrestrial habitats. Location and directions of mountain ranges from Siwalik to Midland and Highland landscapes were also recorded. The monthly and annual records of temperature, humidity, light and precipitation records from each climatic station of all districts have been analyzed to assess important abiotic factors in the studied area. Impacts occurring from land-use pattern, socio-development and population growth are also discussed, with evidences of observation from this research area. Furthermore, deforestation and industrialization in the process of progressive development are one of the causes for slowly but steadily increasing pollution. The main focus on the herpetofauna of East Nepal has been the distribution situation and the human impacts, respectively. The turtle situation in East Nepal was another important problem object made during the research period. Systematic study down to species level of amphibians (Gymnophiona, Caudata, Anura) and reptiles (Chelonia, Sauria, Serpentes and Crocodylia) was made. In ethnologic aspect, the tribalzoological names were collected from the lowland, Midland and highland ethnic groups. Besides this, herpeto-batracho-coenosis is another very important aspect used to