Vertebrate Zoology 59(2): 169-177, doi:

Reptiles and Amphibians in Dibbeen Nature Reserve, Jordan

SAID A. Damhoureyeh, MAYAS A. Qarqaz, Zuhair Amr^‡, NASHAT Himdan, Ehab Eid

‡ Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Damhoureyeh SA, Qarqaz MA, Amr Z, Himdan N, Eid E (2009) Reptiles and Amphibians in Dibbeen Nature Reserve, Jordan. Vertebrate Zoology 59(2): 169-177

Abstract

Twenty-one species of reptiles and amphibians belonging to nine families were recorded in this survey. These species included one amphibian, one tortoise, 12 lizards, and seven snakes. The present study is the fi rst attempt to compare between opportunistic and systematic survey methods in Jordan for reptiles and amphibians. The opportunistic survey is the method of choice when conducting a survey to assess the presence or absence of reptilian species regardless of their abundance. On the other hand, the systematic survey proved to be an excellent method to evaluate the abundance of species, expressed in the total number of observations. Ophisops elegans was by far the most frequently observed species and accounted for 28.94 % and 61.03 % of all observations when employing opportunistic and systematic surveys respectively. Additionally, this lizard was found in all types of habitats studied within the reserve.

Keywords

Reptiles, Jordan, conservation, survey methods, diversity.