SYAFUTRA ET AL.
Bio Palembanica 2.
: 134-141 .
This journal is available online at: https://ejournal.
Persistence of Herpetofauna Assemblages in Anthropogenic Landscapes: Insights from Rural Bangka Island.
Indonesia RANDI SYAFUTRA1*.
NURZAIDAH PUTRI DALIMUNTHE1.
SUJADI PRIYANSAH1,
HENDI HENDRA BAYU1.
HELVINA HANDAYANI1.
ABDUL KAMAL1,
NUR AZIZAH NAWANG WULAN1.
REANI FEBRIYANI1 & RYDHOLLAH
ARRAHMAAN1
Department of Natural Resources Conservation.
Faculty of Engineering and Science.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Bangka Belitung.
Indonesia *Corresponding Author.
Email: randi.
syafutra@unmuhbabel.
https://orcid.
org/0000-0001-8156-0613 Email: nurzaidah.
putridalimunthe@unmuhbabel.
https://orcid.
org/0000-0003-0340-5153 Email: sujadi.
priyansah@unmuhbabel.
Email: hendi.
hendrabayu@unmuhbabel.
https://orcid.
org/0009-0009-6663-6574 Email: helvinahandayani071001@gmail.
Email: abdul.
kamal@gmail.
Email: nurazizahnawangwulan@gmail.
Email: rianipayung699@gmail.
Email: rydhollaharohmaan@gmail.
Received 23 November 2025iCAccepted by G.
Widayanti: 18 December 2025iCPublished online 27 December 2025.
Abstract Rural landscapes in Bangka Island.
Indonesia, continue to sustain important ecological functions despite ongoing land-use change.
Our study investigates herpetofauna assemblages in rural areas of Bangka Island, with a particular focus on how habitat complexity shapes species distribution.
Research was conducted in two human-modified sites (Air Duren and Cengkong Aban.
within Bangka Regency.
Sumatra.
Indonesia.
Fieldwork took place over three consecutive weeks in July 2022 and employed a time-constrained Visual Encounter Survey (VES) conducted between 07:00 and 09:00 PM.
A total of 13 individuals were recorded, representing 7 species across 6 families.
Cengkong Abang exhibited greater species diversity (HA = 1.
75 vs.
and supported forest-associated taxa, likely due to its more structurally complex vegetation.
These findings indicate that retained vegetation in rural environments can function as secondary habitat for herpetofauna.
Conservation efforts should therefore emphasize the protection and enhancement of vegetation complexity within village landscapes.
Keywords: anthropogenic matrix.
Bangka Island, herpetofauna, reconciliation ecology, secondary forest.
Introduction The rapid conversion of tropical forests into agricultural and residential landscapes is a leading cause of biodiversity decline globally (Kusuma et al.
Galindo et al.
Jaureguiberry et al.
RoseroAyazco et al.
However, recent ecological theory emphasizes the importance of the "matrix", the modified landscape surrounding habitat fragments, in mediating species persistence (Ruffell et al.
Fletcher et al.
Iqbal et al.
Smith et al.
Herpetofauna .
mphibians and reptile.
are particularly sensitive to such matrix quality due to their poikilothermic physiology, limited dispersal capabilities, and dependence on specific microclimates (Cordier et al.
Inman et al.
Yustian et al.
Consequently, they serve as critical bioindicators of ecosystem health in human-modified environments (Amarasinghe et al.
Paudel et al.
Rosales et al.
Mouane et al.
Bangka Island, situated within the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, has experienced extensive land-use transformation driven by mining, agriculture, and urbanization (Wulandari et al.
Oktavia et al.
While protected areas remain the focus of conservation, the vast majority of the islandAos land cover consists of anthropogenic mosaics, mixtures of settlements, smallholder plantations, and secondary growth (Sari et al.
Winata et al.
The ecological value of these heterogeneous Persistence of Herpetofauna landscapes remains understudied, despite their potential role in supporting generalist and moderately sensitive taxa .
os ReisAaSilva et al.
Herpetofaunal research on Bangka Island remains limited, leaving a critical knowledge gap concerning the ability of species to persist within rural landscapes (Irwanto et al.
Hasibuan et al.
In response to land-use change affecting herpetofauna on Bangka Island, we aim to characterize the herpetofaunal assemblage, quantify species diversity, and evaluate the role of microhabitats in supporting ecological guilds.
In this paper, we emphasize that understanding these dynamics in Bangka Island is crucial for aligning biodiversity conservation with ongoing human development in the region.
Methods Study Area The study was conducted in Mendo Barat District.
Bangka Regency.
Bangka Belitung Islands Province, focusing on two distinct anthropogenic sites: Air Duren and Cengkong Abang Villages (Fig.
The landscape is characterized as a semi-rural mosaic comprising residential areas, small-scale agroforestry plots, drainage systems, and fragments of secondary tropical lowland forest.
Cengkong Abang Village is distinguished by higher vegetation density and a more stratified canopy compared to Air Duren Village.
Figure 1.
Map of the research location showing Air Duren and Cengkong Abang Villages in Mendo Barat Subdistrict.
Bangka Regency.
Bangka Belitung Islands Province.
Sumatra.
Indonesia.
Sampling Design Field surveys were executed over a three-week period in July 2022.
To maximize detection probabilities for nocturnal ectotherms, sampling was restricted to peak activity hours .
:00Ae21:.
(Maulidi et al.
Tan et al.
We employed a time-constrained Visual Encounter Survey (VES) method supplemented by purposive microhabitat searching (Tiberti et al.
Surveyors traversed standardized transects intersecting key microhabitats, including riparian zones, leaf litter beds, understory vegetation, and anthropogenic structures.
Hand-searching was utilized to inspect refugia such as rotting logs, rock crevices, and dense shrubbery.
SYAFUTRA ET AL.
Data Analysis Species identification was performed in situ using standard field guides, supported by photographic documentation for verification.
Data analysis focused on characterizing the assemblage structure using three standard ecological metrics.
Species richness (S) was defined as the total number of species recorded at each site, while relative abundance was calculated as the proportion of individuals of a species relative to the total number of individuals observed.
Community diversity was quantified using the ShannonAeWiener Diversity Index (HA), calculated as:
ycA = OeOc.
ecyeO yesyea yecyeO ) where pi represents the proportion of individuals belonging to the i-th species.
The ShannonAeWiener index originates from the formula for information entropy introduced by Claude Shannon in his 1948 paper A Mathematical Theory of Communication.
It is often referred to as the ShannonAeWiener index to acknowledge the concurrent development of similar cybernetic concepts found in Norbert Wiener's 1948 book Cybernetics, and has since been widely applied in ecological studies to describe community heterogeneity (Syafutra et al.
Syafutra et al.
Results and Discussion Assemblage Composition and Abundance A total of 13 individuals representing 7 species and 6 families were recorded during the study.
The distribution of individuals across the two study sites was uneven, with Cengkong Abang Village supporting a higher abundance (N = .
compared to Air Duren Village (N = .
The complete field enumeration is presented in Table 1.
Table 1.
Composition and relative abundance of herpetofauna in Air Duren and Cengkong Abang Villag es.
Individual Relative Family Scientific Name
Abundance Air Duren
Cengkong
Total
(%)
Village Abang Village Amphibia Dicroglossidae Fejervarya cancrivora Bufonidae Duttaphrynus melanostictus Reptilia Scincidae Eutropis multifasciata Gekkonidae Gekko smithii Viperidae Tropidolaemus wagleri Colubridae Boiga dendrophila Colubridae Ahaetulla prasina Total In terms of relative abundance, the assemblage was numerically dominated by the amphibian Fejervarya cancrivora .
rab-eating fro.
, which accounted for 30.
79% of the total captures.
This dominance is attributed to the species' high adaptability to the drainage systems and moist microhabitats within smallscale agroforestry plots that characterize the semi-rural mosaic (Yodthong et al.
Susanti & Sumarmin 2020.
Pratomo et al.
Synanthropic species, including Duttaphrynus melanostictus.
Eutropis multifasciata, and Gekko smithii, each contributed 15.
38% to the total abundance, thriving in the interface between residential areas and garden vegetation.
In contrast, the arboreal snake specialists Wagler's Pit Viper Tropidolaemus wagleri.
Gold-ringed Cat Snake Boiga dendrophila (Fig.
, and Ahaetulla prasina were rare, each representing only 7.
69% .
The persistence of these forestassociated species is strictly linked to the remaining fragments of secondary tropical lowland forest and the stratified canopy retained within older agroforestry stands (Angelstam et al.
Tanjung et al.
Yahya et al.
Persistence of Herpetofauna Figure 2.
The Gold-ringed Cat Snake Boiga dendrophila encountered in the complex vegetation structure of Cengkong Abang Village (Photograph: Abdul Kama.
Ecological Guilds and Filtering The assemblage structure reflects a strong ecological filtering effect typical of disturbed habitats (Santoandry et al.
Hua et al.
Chien 2025.
Palomino-Cuyllar & Urbina-Cardona 2.
The community is dominated by terrestrial and synanthropic species capable of tolerating human However, distinct arboreal guilds were restricted to the more complex habitat of Cengkong Abang.
The amphibian community was uniform across both sites.
The Crab-eating Frog Fejervarya cancrivora and Asian Common Toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus are disturbance-tolerant commensals (Yap 2015.
Pratomo et al.
, facilitated by anthropogenic water bodies and invertebrate prey availability in both villages.
Reptile Diversity and Habitat Complexity Reptile distribution revealed pronounced spatial heterogeneity between the two study sites.
While Eutropis multifasciata and Gekko smithii occurred in both villages, 60% of reptile species Boiga dendrophila.
Ahaetulla prasina, and Tropidolaemus wagleri were exclusively recorded in Cengkong Abang Village.
This pattern strongly supports the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis, whereby increased structural complexity enhances niche availability and supports a broader range of ecological guilds.
The presence of a stratified canopy, mature trees, and dense understory vegetation in Cengkong Abang provides essential microhabitats for arboreal and semi-arboreal reptiles.
Comparable patterns have been documented in other anthropogenic landscapes across tropical Studies in agroforestry and rural mosaic systems in Southeast Asia and West Africa have shown that arboreal reptiles are largely absent from simplified monoculture or open habitats but persist in areas retaining secondary forest elements and vertical vegetation structure.
For example.
Frishkoff et al.
and Nowakowski et al.
reported that forest-associated reptiles were restricted to landscapes with higher canopy cover and microclimatic stability.
Similar findings were also reported by Jayakumar & Nameer .
in rural South Asia, where reptile diversity increased with vegetation stratification.
These comparisons indicate that the reptile assemblage pattern observed in Cengkong Abang aligns with broader ecological trends in human-modified tropical landscapes.
SYAFUTRA ET AL.
Diversity Indices The diversity analysis revealed clear ecological differences between the two study sites.
As summarized in Table 2.
Cengkong Abang Village exhibited higher species richness and diversity (H' = 1.
than Air Duren Village (H' = 1.
This higher ShannonAeWiener index reflects not only greater species richness but also a more balanced distribution of individuals among ecological guilds.
The coexistence of terrestrial generalists and arboreal specialists in Cengkong Abang suggests that the availability of diverse microhabitats .
uch as tree trunks, canopy foliage, shaded understory, and forest edge.
enhances community heterogeneity.
In contrast.
Air Duren Village is characterized by open areas and simplified vegetation dominated by monoculture and residential land use.
These habitat conditions favor disturbance-tolerant terrestrial species but limit niche availability for arboreal and habitat-specialist reptiles, resulting in lower diversity and community complexity.
The dominance of generalist taxa in Air Duren highlights the role of habitat simplification as a limiting factor for herpetofaunal diversity.
Overall, these findings emphasize that vegetation structure and habitat complexity, rather than land-use classification alone, are key determinants of herpetofaunal diversity in rural anthropogenic landscapes.
Table 2.
Comparison of ecological metrics and habitat characteristics.
Ecological Parameter Air Duren Village Cengkong Abang Village Species Richness (S) Total Abundance (N) Shannon-Wiener Index (H') Dominant Guild Terrestrial Generalists Mixed (Arboreal & Terrestria.
Habitat Characteristics Monoculture/Open Areas Stratified Canopy/Secondary Growth Conservation Implications and Reconciliation Ecology From a conservation planning perspective, these findings advocate for "reconciliation ecology"Aithe promotion of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes.
Management strategies in BangkaAos rural areas need not strictly separate human use from conservation.
Instead, maintaining vegetation complexity, specifically by preserving understory shrubs and canopy trees within village boundaries, can significantly enhance the matrix permeability for herpetofauna.
This approach ensures that even small patches of vegetation function as functional corridors and micro-refugia, allowing species persistence amidst ongoing land-use change.
Conclusion This study demonstrates that rural landscapes in Bangka, while anthropogenically modified, are not devoid of biodiversity value.
Instead, they function as functional matrices supporting a mix of synanthropic generalists and forest-associated specialists.
The occurrence of species such as Tropidolaemus wagleri suggests that even small patches of secondary vegetation can serve as vital refugia for sensitive taxa.
The preservation of these structural elements within the rural matrix is therefore crucial for maintaining regional herpetofaunal diversity.
References