The first herpetological survey of Verloren Valei will provide a useful baseline for future work.
Pitfall and funnel trap array as installed in Coleochloa setifera – Cheilanthes multifida grassland on Verloren Valei Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (Photograph: P.R. Jordaan)
Grassland ecosystems across South Africa are under threat from a variety of sources, making the near-pristine high-altitude grasslands of Verloren Valei an important element of the overall drive to protect our biodiversity. Apart from some ad-hoc surveys in the 1980s, there has been little attention paid to the reptile and amphibian diversity of the reserve.
It’s thus highly significant that the first structured herpetological survey was carried out in 2022. Despite unfavourable conditions thanks to a particularly cold January, the survey provides a useful baseline which will allow for conclusions to be drawn once data from further surveys accumulates.
As noted in the abstract of the scientific paper, “The survey produced records for 15 reptile and six amphibian species. These included an undescribed species of short-headed frog, genus Breviceps, as well as the first record of the Spotted Harlequin Snake, Homoroselaps lacteus, for Quarter Degree Square 2530AC. A record of the Transvaal Grass Lizard, Chamaesaura aenea, a species considered to be Near Threatened globally, was also recorded during the survey.”
