A checklist of the reptiles and amphibians found in protected areas along the South African Wild Coast, with notes on conservation implications

We surveyed six protected areas along the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, to determine general herpetofaunal diversity as well as the representation of species of special conservation concern. Visual encounter survey methods and standard Y-shape trap arrays were used to conduct surveys from 2011 to 2013. A total of 59 species (22 amphibians and 37 reptiles) were recorded. A number of previously unknown populations of threatened species and one potential novel species were discovered in these protected areas


Introduction
Amphibians and reptiles are declining globally owing to habitat loss and degradation, pressure from alien invasive species, environmental pollution, disease, unsustainable use and global climate change (Böhm et al. 2013).Protected areas are often useful tools for the protection of herpetofauna and contribute to the conservation of many species (Ochoa-Ochoa et al. 2009;Tuberville et al. 2005).Management actions within protected areas may, however, have a significant impact on herpetofaunal ecology in a number of ways (Measey, Armstrong & Hanekom 2009;Russell, Lear & Guynn Jr. 1999).It is therefore critical that protected area managers consider herpetofaunal diversity, abundance and distributions within a local and regional context in conservation management.
Southern Africa, the geographical region south of the Cunene and Zambezi rivers, has the richest reptile diversity in Africa (Branch 2006).Within this area, South Africa (including Lesotho and Swaziland) has the highest reptile diversity (384 indigenous species) (Branch 2014).The Wild Coast, in the former Transkei ('Transkei' refers to a former homeland in pre-democratic South Africa), is regarded as having very low reptile diversity compared with southern and northeastern areas of South Africa (Branch 2014).Although the Pondoland region of the Wild Coast (eastern coastal region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa) is regarded as a centre of high plant diversity and endemism (Van Wyk & Smith 2001), the terrestrial faunal species of the entire Wild Coast region (coastal Transkei and Pondoland combined), in many cases, remain poorly represented compared with other areas in southern Africa (Bates et al. 2014;Dippenaar, Hamer & Haddad 2011;Minter et al. 2004;Mokhatla et al. 2012;Perera, Ratnayake-Perera & Proches 2011;Skead 2007).Most herpetological studies from this area date back to the early 1900s (FitzSimons 1930;Power 1935), with only a few recent ad hoc surveys added (Branch & Haagner 1999;Burger 1996;Haagner 1994).This could possibly be attributed to the remoteness of the area and unfavourable road conditions, as well as perceived safety risks, which made the logistics of field sampling challenging and, in turn, may have deterred herpetologists from working in the area.Some authors go as far as to describe the phenomenon as the 'Transkei faunal distribution gap'; that is a real gap in species distributions caused by environmental features (Botts, Erasmus & Alexander 2011;Perera et al. 2011;Skead 2007;C. Vernon pers. comm., 13 November 2013).This perceived distribution gap is observed for many reptile species, particularly chelonians (Hoare et al. 2006).The survey was conducted from 26 March to 02 April 2012 (Venter & Conradie 2012a).

Manubi State Forest
The Manubi SF (with an adjacent proposed expansion area) is located in the south-western part of the Wild Coast, southeast of the town Butterworth (Figure 1).Manubi SF and the adjacent area contain small patches of subtropical dune thicket, but are dominated by Scarp forest and Transkei Coastal Belt vegetation types (Mucina & Geldenhuys 2006;Mucina et al. 2006).The survey was conducted from 18 to 27 February 2013 (Venter et al. 2013).

Dwesa Nature Reserve
The Dwesa NR (3623 ha) is located along the western side of the Mbashe River estuary (Figure 1).The reserve occupies a narrow coastal strip of approximately 9 km in length and 1 km -2 km in width.Dwesa NR comprises roughly 80% indigenous coastal Scarp forest and 20% Transkei Coastal Belt Grassland (Mucina & Geldenhuys 2006;Mucina et al. 2006).Dune forest and scrub forest are also found close to the coast and are classified as sensitive vegetation types (Mucina et al. 2006).The survey was conducted from 05 to 15 February 2012 (Venter & Conradie 2012b).

Hluleka Nature Reserve
The Hluleka NR (577 ha) is situated nearly in the centre of the Wild Coast (Figure 1), south-west of Port St Johns along the coast.Scarp forest and coastal forest cover approximately 70% of the reserve, whereas the remainder of the vegetation is made up of thicket and Transkei Coastal Belt Grassland (Mucina & Geldenhuys 2006;Mucina et al. 2006).The survey was conducted from 20 to 28 October 2011 (Venter & Conradie 2012c).

Silaka Nature Reserve
Silaka NR is a small (400 ha) protected area situated southwest of Port St Johns (Figure 1).It is made up mainly of a forested valley located between Second Beach and Sugar Loaf Rock.Vegetation types include Transkei Coastal Belt Grassland (Mucina et al. 2006) and Scarp forest (Mucina & Geldenhuys 2006).The survey was conducted from 29 September to 06 October 2012 (Venter, Conradie & Greeff 2012).

Mkambati Nature Reserve
Mkambati NR (7736 ha) is situated along the north-eastern Pondoland coast (Figure 1).The vegetation types are dominated by fire-prone Pondoland Ugu Sandstone Coastal Sourveld with patches of Scarp and Swamp forest in fire refuge areas (Mucina & Geldenhuys 2006;Mucina et al. 2006).This reserve also contains a large population of wild ungulates (Venter et al. 2014).The survey was conducted from 07 to 13 February 2011 (Venter & Conradie 2011).

Material and methods
We used a combination of visual encounter survey methods and standard Y-shape trap arrays.Each trap array consisted of three drift fences of 10 m long and 50 cm high, positioned in a Y-shape, with four pitfall traps at the ends and middle, and two one-way funnels per fence -see Appendix 4. Surveys of the six Wild Coast protected areas were conducted from 2011 to 2013.Diurnal searches were conducted by actively searching specific microhabitats, including beneath rocks and decaying logs.Nocturnal surveys were also carried out with the use of headlamps or flashlights, and advertisement calls were recorded in the field using either an Olympus VN-3500PC Voice Recorder or NAGRA ARES-ML recorder with an external Sony F-V4T microphone.All specimens other than voucher specimens were captured by hand or net (e.g.tadpoles), photographed and released back to the original capture site.Voucher specimens were humanely euthanised by injecting reptiles with and submerging amphibians in a tricaine methanesulfonate (MS222) solution (Conroy et al. 2009), after which they were fixed in formalin for 48 hours and transferred to 50% isopropanol for long-term storage in the herpetological collection of the Port Elizabeth Museum (PEM).Specimens were identified using field guides and publications (Branch 1998;Channing 2001;Channing & Baptista 2013;Channing et al. 2013;Du Preez & Curruthers 2009;Marais 2004;Petzold et al. 2014).Nomenclature was mainly based on Frost (2014) for amphibians and Uetz (2014) for reptiles, or updated taxonomy in recent journal publications (Channing & Baptista 2013;Petzold et al. 2014).Conservation status is based on the latest IUCN assessments, which use updated evaluations for amphibians (Measey 2011) and reptiles (Bates et al. 2014).All fieldwork was supervised by the first author, who was a staff member of the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency at the time, and formed part of the agency's operational activities as the appointed management authority of the protected areas stipulated by the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency Act (no. 2 of 2010).Collection and handling of specimens was according to ethical standards of Bayworld/Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld Ethical clearance 2013_001).
Rating of the conservation importance of each reserve was based on the sum of the categorised scoring of the current IUCN-listed species (critically endangered = 4; endangered = 3; vulnerable = 2; near threatened = 1; least concern = 0), level of endemism based on the proposed Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany regional list of endemic to near-endemic species compiled by Perera et al. (2011) (endemic = 2; near endemic = 1), and the total number of species found per reserve.
Additional records were sourced from the Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment (SARCA) (Bates et al. 2014), South African Frog Atlas Project (SAFAP) (Minter et al. 2004) and historical literature records pertaining to the study area (Appendix 3).Records with appropriate supporting evidence (identifiable photographs or voucher specimens) were http://www.koedoe.co.za doi:10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1247 included in the final species checklist, for example Burger (1996) and the Grobler photograph (see Figure 4c).

Results and discussion
A total of 22 amphibian species, representing 8 frog families and 15 genera (Table 1), and 37 reptile species (20 snakes, 16 lizards, 1 terrapin), representing 17 families and 33 genera (Table 2), were recorded from the six protected areas surveyed during this study (Appendix 2).This represents a near-complete list of species expected to occur along the Wild Coast (27 amphibian species were recorded by Minter et al. [2004] and 50 reptile species were recorded by Bates et al. [2014]).Although our survey excluded marine species, four species of marine turtle (Dermochelys coriacea, Chelonia mydas, Eretmochelys imbricata and Caretta caretta) and one sea snakes species (Hydrophis platurus) are expected to occur along the coastline (Bates et al. 2014).A total of three threatened amphibian and five threatened reptile species are represented in these protected areas.A total of 243 quarter-degree-unit (QDU) records were recorded, of which 37% (23% amphibians and 50% reptiles) represented first records for the respective units ( Hluleka, Silaka and Mkambati NRs had the greatest numbers of amphibian species, whereas Dwesa, Hluleka and Mkambati NRs had the greatest numbers of reptile species (Table 3 and Figure 2).With regard to amphibians, Silaka NR has a higher conservation importance, which can be attributed

Lycodonomorphus rufulus
Lichtenstein, 1823    to the presence of three threatened, five endemic and three near-endemic species.Both Dwesa and Hluleka NRs are important for reptile conservation, as they are home to at least two threatened, three endemic and two near-endemic species each.Regarding overall conservation importance, Hluleka NR scored the highest, followed by, in descending order, Dwesa NR, Mkambati NR, Silaka NR, Manubi SF and Cape Morgan NR (Table 3 and Figure 2).Species of special conservation concern or noteworthy records are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

Conclusion
We provide valuable data on amphibian and reptilian species presence and distribution for a fairly under-sampled region in South Africa.north-east of Mkambati NR (Xolobeni area) are currently being considered for mining, which, together with the construction of the proposed national (N2) toll road, will result in additional habitat loss and fragmentation for several important herpetofaunal species.It is therefore critical that the current protected areas in the region remain secure and that opportunities are sought to increase the size of the protected areas in the region to form corridors for dispersal.In addition, it is crucial that local, provincial and national government agencies take note of the potential negative consequences of increased land degradation in the region, the effect on biodiversity and the subsequent impact on local communities.
Our study provides the first checklist for amphibians and reptiles from the Wild Coast protected areas, but gaps remain owing to factors related to spatial and temporal under-sampling.The results reported here represent only one sampling trip per protected area, conducted during either early or late summer, which may have led to species being missed owing to non-breeding or inactivity.
It is important that further surveys and monitoring are conducted to increase sampling effort and to capture seasonal differences in species assemblages and densities.
Monitoring at regular intervals, in order to measure the effect of land use or climate change on the populations of threatened species especially, is recommended.Our surveys focused on the coastal areas of the Wild Coast, with the inland area of the Transkei remaining under-sampled.
A rich source of undiscovered herpetofaunal diversity is likely to still be uncovered.

Appendix 1 Species accounts
This section provides selective species accounts (excluding common and widespread species, marine turtles and sea snakes) to highlight special records for the region.Species account information was sourced from the individual species account sections in Minter et al. (2004) (Minter 2004a) and is believed to be endemic to KwaZulu-Natal.Thus, the new distribution records for the Eastern Cape and the presence in a protected area will contribute to protecting the species.The species is currently rated as vulnerable (Measey 2011).The species was recorded only from Silaka NR during this study.

Afrixalus spinifrons Cope, 1862 (Natal leaf-folding frog)
An endemic South African species distributed from St. Lucia Village in the north to Cintsa Bay and Kei Road in the south.Pickersgill (1996) assigned the Eastern Cape populations to A. spinifrons spinifrons, but Tarrant (2012) showed that, according to molecular description, Eastern Cape populations should be referred to Afrixalus spinifrons intermedius.The species is currently rated as near threatened (Measey 2011).
Whilst documenting and photographing freshly laid eggs in situ at Silaka NR, an adult ran up the stem of the leaf to the clutch and assumed a threatening posture.This behaviour can possibly be attributed to a form of parental care or protection, which has never been reported for the species.The species was found in both Silaka and Hluleka NRs during the study.

Hyperolius poweri Loveridge, 1938
Channing et al. (2013a) assigned the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape populations of the Hyperolius nasutus complex (for which Mkambati NR is the most southern distribution) to H. poweri based on genetics and calls.Because of the recent taxonomical change, the species' threatened status has not been assessed.However, owing to its patchy distribution along the east coast of South Africa and loss of habitat due to agricultural and urban development, the species may in the future be considered threatened and treated as a separate conservation unit.The species was found in Mkambati NR during the study, which is the only known occurrence of the species in the Eastern Cape.

Cacosternum boettgeri Boulenger, 1882 (Boettger's caco)
Recent revision of the genus by Channing et al. (2013b) indicated the presence of cryptic diversity and led to the description of four new species (Cacosternum aggestum, Cacosternum australis, Cacosternum nanogularum and Cacosternum rhythmum), with Conradie (2014) describing another species within the C. boettgeri complex (Cacosternum thorini).In both studies, no material from coastal Eastern Cape or KwaZulu-Natal was used.Populations from these areas may hold further cryptic diversity.Burger (1996) reported this species to be present in Mkambati NR based on the call only, and the SAFAP database lists a voucher specimen collected from Dwesa NR in late 1991.The specimen is unaccounted for in any of the South African museums; thus, its identification cannot be verified.Owing to its possible distribution, we tentatively include this species in our records.However, no new material has been collected from any of the reserves surveyed during the current study.Further surveys in optimal conditions are needed to confirm the presence of this species from coastal Eastern Cape.

Natalobatrachus bonebergi Hewitt & Methuen, 1912 (Kloof frog)
The species is currently known from only nine localities in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape (Measey 2011).
Historically, it has been recorded from 18 QDUs (Du Preez 2004), of which three are in the Eastern Cape.During the frog atlas period (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002), only two of the historical sites were confirmed and one new QDU was added (Dwesa NR, 3228BB), which represented its most southern distribution (Du Preez 2004).We report three new QDU records (3228BD, 3129CB and 3228BC), which now represent the most southern distribution, and confirm the two historical QDU sites (3129DA and 3129CD) previously recorded.This increases the existing distribution to seven QDU sites within the Eastern Cape, including 3228BB and the historical record (3229CC).The habitat of N. bonebergi is currently being heavily affected by agricultural clearing (especially for sugar cane) and urbanisation, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal (Measey 2011).As a result, populations of this species are becoming severely fragmented and are thus regarded as endangered (Measey 2011).

Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 (Nile crocodile)
Crocodiles are restricted to the northern and eastern parts of South Africa.They were re-introduced to Dwesa NR in 1979 (Pooley 1980), which has been criticised as 'ill-advised' by Marais (2014a).This criticism may be unwarranted because good evidence exists that the species historically (during the 19th and early 20th centuries) occurred even further south than the current location in Dwesa NR, with the last record of a crocodile killed in the former Transkei recorded in the Mendwana river, Dwesa Forest in 1903 (Feely 2010).Evidence also exists that the re-introduced Dwesa NR population did successfully breed (Feely 2010;Venter & Conradie 2012), but the survival rate of young crocodiles is still to be determined.Only two adults were recorded in the latest game census (Peinke & Gibisela 2013).This species is rated as vulnerable (Bates et al. 2014).

Afroedura pondolia Hewitt, 1925 (Pondo flat gecko)
This species is endemic to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coast and associated with scattered inland records.It reaches its southern distribution limit around the coastal Dwesa NR (3228BD) and inland Butterworth (3228AD) area.

Lygodactylus capensis Smith, 1848 (Common dwarf gecko)
This is a common and widespread diurnal gecko species, which is not native to the Eastern Cape (Branch 2014).
Populations at Silaka and Cape Morgan NRs were most likely accidentally introduced by tourists visiting the reserves.All specimens collected or observed were limited to buildings and other human-made structures.

Tropidosaura montana natalensis FitzSimons, 1947 (Common mountain lizard)
This subspecies is restricted to southern KwaZulu-Natal, where it is found in both coastal and montane grassland.A single record from Mkambati NR was recorded during this study, its remains being regurgitated by a Lycophidion capense.This is the first record for this species in the Eastern Cape.

Gerrhosaurus flavigularis Wiegmann, 1828 (Yellowthroated plated lizard)
This species occurs mostly in north-eastern parts of South Africa, with an apparently isolated southern population.In a recent revision of the entire genus, three well-structured clades were formed (i.e.eastern South Africa, northern South Africa and East Africa) and current research may split these populations (Bates et al. 2013).If this is the case, the southern population will keep the name G. flavigularis, which will make the Silaka NR material the most northern record.The species was observed at three of the six reserves surveyed.

Tetradactylus cf. fitzsimonsi (FitzSimons' long-tailed seps)
Tetradactylus fitzsimonsi is restricted to only four QDUs in the Port Elizabeth area and one near George.The new records from Hluleka NR were found 600 km to the northeast of the T. fitzsimonsi distribution range.Identification of these specimens is based on FitzSimons (1943), with the main identifying characteristic being the lack of front limbs.Current genetic and morphometric work indicates that the Hluleka specimens might be a novel species related to T. fitzsimonsi (K.Tolley pers.comm., 14 July 2014).More than a century of herpetological studies in the Eastern Cape have failed to find any additional T. fitzimonsi records from the coastal Eastern Cape or the former Transkei.Furthermore, overlap of the distribution for T. fitzsimonsi and the congener, Tetradactylus africanus, is not clear.FitzSimons (1943) gives the distribution of T. africanus as Pondoland and northwards (i.e.northern Eastern Cape), but no recent records have been collected from this area (Bates 2014a(Bates , 2014b)).The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (TM 69067) houses a specimen of T. africanus from Msikaba River, near Mkambati NR (Bates 2014c).Additional surveys in coastal grassland along the Eastern Cape coastline will improve information on this species' distribution.For the purpose of this species inventory we consider the species as T. fitzsimonsi.

Acontias plumbeus Bianconii, 1849 (Giant legless skin)
This species represents the world's largest species of legless skink, with a maximum size recorded at 490 mm, and is restricted to well-forested areas (Branch 1998).An isolated Eastern Cape population around East London shows a number of subtle morphological differences from northern populations (Bourquin & Lambiris 1996), and possibly represents a new species (Branch 2002).Genetic studies are currently underway to determine the relationship of this population to northern populations (Daniels, in preparation).Its sister species, Acontias poecilus, is known from only five specimens in south-eastern KwaZulu-Natal (Bourquin & Lambiris 1996) and only a single record from the Eastern Cape (Branch & Haagner 1999), but may be present in Mkambati NR (Bauer 2014).Dwesa NR has a selection of preserved specimens on display for educational purposes, which includes a preserved A. plumbeus from the reserve (M.Burger pers. comm., 23 April 2014).This forms the basis of the present record in SARCA.We confirmed this distribution during the recent survey of Dwesa NR and reported a new distribution record for the Manubi SF area.

Trachylepis homalocephala Wiegmann, 1828 (Red-sided skink)
This species is found mostly in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, with scattered populations in KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.In the recent reptile atlas (Bates et al. 2014) there is a noticeable gap in the distribution from East London to the closest KwaZulu-Natal populations.This gap has been described as a biodiversity-poor gap due to negative environmental conditions (see main text).We recorded this species from all the reserves, indicating a sampling gap rather than a natural distribution gap.More surveys need to be conducted outside the reserves to determine the full extent of this species' distribution.

Bradypodion caffer Boettger, 1889 (Pondo dwarf chameleon)
Dwarf chameleons from Mkambati NR have been assigned to Bradypodion melanocephalum (Raw 2001;Tolley & Burger 2007), given their morphological similarity to the species.They were therefore regarded as the population with the most southern distribution limit of the species (Tolley 2014a).
In contrast, Raw (2001)  This is a fossorial species restricted to moist forested areas in the eastern and northern parts of southern Africa, feeding mostly on other snakes and lizards.This cryptic species can easily be confused with sympatric Amblyodipsas polylepis, Macrelaps microlepidotus and Atractaspis bibronii, which occur further north.They differ from the latter two as they do not have preocular scales, but do have paired subcaudals and divided anal scales (Broadley 1990;Marais 2004).They are also differentiated from A. polylepis by having lower midbody scale counts (17 vs 19) (Broadley 1990;Marais 2004).
Previously the only record for the Eastern Cape was based on a specimen from Mtumbane, Port St Johns area (Haagner 1994: TM 69016).We extend the species' distribution 120 km southwards to Manubi SF and add two additional new records south of Port St Johns (Hluleka and Dwesa NRs).No records of either A. polylepis or A. bibronii exist for the Eastern Cape and more surveys are needed in the most north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape to confirm the presence of this species.

Macrelaps microlepidotus Günther, 1863 (KwaZulu-Natal black snake)
Macrelaps microlepidotus is a semi-fossorial snake that inhabits moist forest and feeds on frogs, lizards and other snakes (Marais 2004).Its distribution is restricted mainly to the coastal eastern parts of South Africa, with an inland expansion into the Amatole region (Eastern Cape) and the Escourt area (KwaZulu-Natal).It has previously been known from only seven QDUs in the Eastern Cape.Recently, the most inland Eastern Cape record was confirmed from the Katberg area and two new QDUs (one based on the collection from Dwesa NR during this study) were added in the Eastern Cape (Conradie, Venter & Nicolau 2012).We provide another new locality (Manubi SF), further indicating continuous distribution along the east coast of the Transkei.Owing to habitat destruction this species is rated as near threatened (Bates et al. 2014).

Psammophis brevirostris Peters, 1881 (Short-snouted grass snake)
This species occurs mostly in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa, inhabiting grassland and savannah.It has previously been found only in three localities in the Eastern Cape (Bates et al. 2014;Branch & Haagner 1999), with its southern distribution limit around Mpande Beach (3129CD: PEM R13694).We extend the distribution 100 km south to Manubi SF and add two additional new records for the Eastern Cape (Mkambati and Hluleka NRs).A recently donated specimen to the PEM collection expands the distribution of this species even further south to the Kei River mouth (PEM 20166).

Dendroaspis polylepis Günther, 1864 (Black mamba)
Only two records exist for this species in the Eastern Cape, namely from Port St Johns (TM 21455) and Mkambati NR.
The latter is based only on observational data (Burger 1996;De Villiers & Costello 2013).It is likely that this species will occur more widely in the north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape.We found none during this study.

COLUBRIDAE
Thelotornis capensis capensis Smith, 1849 (south-eastern savannah vine-snake) T. capensis capensis is an arboreal species that occurs in coastal thicket and savannah.The only record for the Eastern Cape is an anecdotal sighting by D. de Villiers (pers. comm., 23 April 2014).The specimen was sighted and photographed (photo could not be found) near the Msikaba River vulture colony in Mkambati NR (D. de Villiers pers. comm., 23 April 2014).This forms the basis of the SARCA record for the Eastern Cape (Marais 2014b) and has been listed in De Villiers and Costello (2013).The record needs to be confirmed and voucher specimens need to be collected.The number of trap days as well as pitfall trap days and funnel trap days are indicated per site.Photographs of each trap site provide a visual representation of habitat type and trap layout (Figure 1-A4, plates a-ai).F, funnel traps; P, pitfall traps.
TABLE 1-A4 (Continues...): A summary of the locations, habitats and trapping dates where drift fence with pitfall or funnel combinations were set in the six protected areas along the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

FIGURE 2 :
FIGURE 2:A comparison of the number of (a) amphibian and (b) reptile species and families and number of IUCN Red Listed species, as well as the conservation importance scores recorded in the six protected areas during the study.
Our study further highlights the importance of baseline survey work to inform conservation management planning for protected areas and species of special conservation concern.The discovery of several healthy and thriving populations of threatened species, such as B. cf.bagginsi, N. bonebergi, Afrixalus spinifrons, Macrelaps
microlepidotus and Bradypodion spp., is very encouraging.It further indicates that even small protected areas, as is the case with Silaka NR, Hluleka NR and Manubi SF, play an important role in conserving a number of threatened species, considering the development pressure many of these species face in KwaZulu-Natal(Minter et al. 2004).Future research should focus on investigating the impact of current land-use activities (communal subsistence farming) on species conservation along the Wild Coast compared with that of commercial agriculture, forestry and high-density development in areas such as south-western KwaZulu-Natal.This is especially important because of the significant and increasing pressure placed on the Wild Coast region owing to slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal activities such as sand mining, road construction and logging, as well as water pollution from neglected or non-functional municipal sewage treatment works(De Villiers & Costello 2013).Significant portions of land Werner Conradie (a, b, d, e); Quartus Grobler (c); Jan A. Venter (f).

FIGURE 1 -
FIGURE 1-A4: (a-ai) Habitat type and trap layout of the respective trap sites surveyed during this study.

Figure
Figure 1-A4 continues on next page →

FIGURE 1 -
FIGURE 1-A4 (Continues...): (a-ai) Habitat type and trap layout of the respective trap sites surveyed during this study.

Figure
Figure 1-A4 continues on next page →

FIGURE 1 -
FIGURE 1-A4 (Continues...): (a-ai) Habitat type and trap layout of the respective trap sites surveyed during this study.

Figure
Figure 1-A4 continues on next page →

FIGURE 1 -
FIGURE 1-A4 (Continues...): (a-ai) Habitat type and trap layout of the respective trap sites surveyed during this study.

TABLE 1 :
Amphibian checklist for six conservation areas surveyed along the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

TABLE 2 :
Reptile checklist for six conservation areas surveyed along the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

TABLE 2 (
Reptile checklist for six conservation areas surveyed along the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa. continues...):

TABLE 3 :
New quarter-degree-unit records for South Africa and conservation importance score of six conservation areas studied along the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
NR, nature reserve; QDU, quarter-degree unit; SF, state forest.Source: Jan A. Venter and Bates  et al. (2014), and updated with our new records unless stated otherwise.Families are organised according toFrost (2014)for Amphibia andBates et al. (2014)for Reptilia.Species of special conservation concern or noteworthy records are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 in the main text.All additional PEM holdings collected and used in this study are listed in Appendix 2 and additional records derived from other sources are listed in Appendix 3. Records labelled as PEM A refer to amphibian records from the Port Elizabeth Museum, those labelled PEM T refer to tadpole records from this collection and those labelled PEM R refer to reptilian records from the collection.Measey 2011).The specific specimen is not available in any museum collection and thus could not be verified.This species belongs to the B. mossambicus complex and further studies are needed in the northern coastal Eastern Cape to determine whether the applicable records of B. mossambicus in Minter (2004b) can be assigned to B. bagginsi.
Minter (2004b)LEPTIDAEArthroleptis wahlbergii Smith, 1849 (Bush squeaker)This species is endemic to the coastal forest patches of the east coast of South Africa, from the border of Mozambique to just south of Port St Johns.Because of this restriction, the Silaka NR, specimens were captured in traps associated with grassland habitat (see 'Study area').These new records potentially expand the known distribution of this species southwards to the Port St Johns area.Burger (1996)reported an unidentified Breviceps species from Mkambati NR (3129BD), recorded as Breviceps mossambicus byMinter (2004b)and later identified as B. bagginsi (