www.tjprc.org editor@tjprc.org SPECIES DIVERSITY AND HABITAT PREFERENCES OF AMPHIBIAN FAUNA IN GULMI DISTRICT, NEPAL PIT BAHADUR NEPALI 1, 2 & NANDA BAHADUR SINGH 2 1 Tribhuvan Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Palpa, Nepal 2 Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal ABSTRACT The study was conducted to measure species diversity and habitat preference of amphibian fauna in Gulmi district, Nepal, from March 2016 to July 2018. The objectives of the study were to: (i) examine the richness and abundance of amphibian species in Gulmi district (ii) evaluate amphibian inventory of species and diversity (iii) compare the assemblage composition of different habitats. Data were collected by quadrate and pitfall sampling method. In total, 674 individual amphibian species belonging to 4 families, 9 genera and 12 species were recorded. The richness of amphibian species in riparian habitat (S= 11) was higher in number compared to the richness of the forest (S=3). Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H´) was 1.842 in agricultural field and 2.012 in riparian, whereas Simpson’s diversity index (λ) were 0.789, 0.815 in agricultural field and riparian habitat, but lower (0.613) in forest. Margalef’s, Menhinick’s and Brillouin index (HB) diversity indices salso showed higher diversity in riparian and lower in forest. Comparison of relative abundance and equitability index/Pielou evenness (J) of individuals among the species showed that species diversity of agricultural field (0.359) and riparian (0.336) habitat were abundant and numerically similar to the other habitats. Among habitats, abundance was greatest in the riparian with 286 (42.43%) followed by agricultural fields with 203 (30.11%) individual amphibians. The lowest amphibian abundance was documented in forest with 21 (3.11%) individuals. The presence of exclusive species in forest and wetland reinforces the importance of preserving different habitats for the maintenance of richness and diversity of local species. KEYWORDS: Species Richness, Species Abundance, Diversity, Diversity Index & Habitats Received: Nov 09, 2019; Accepted: Nov 29, 2019; Published: Jan 21, 2020; Paper Id.: IJZRJUN20201 INTRODUCTION Amphibians are paired limbs (except caecilians) and naked skin cold blooded vertebrates. There are currently 8,081 amphibian species, of which 7,131 are frogs and toads, 737 are newts and salamanders, and 213 are caecilians (Frost, 2019). They mainly live in aquatic medium and show a great variety of climatic and ecological zones (Hall and Henry, 1992). Distribution of animals depends on the variations in temperature, rainfall, soil quality, hydrological conditions etc. The main habitat of amphibians includes terrestrial arias like agricultural fields, forest, grasslands, alpine meadows, trees, tunnels, cliffs, rocks, burrowing etc. whereas the aquatic form like rivers, lakes, oxbow lakes, ponds, wetlands, and even houses as macro-habitat and micro-habitat. These diverse habitat types support a significant number of amphibians. They live in both terrestrial and aquatic environments (Schneider et al. 2001; McCallum 2007; Pokhrel & Thakur, 2017). It is well known that species are not homogeneously distributed in the world. The geographic condition such as altitude slope, latitude, soil condition etc. and climatic condition like temperature, light condition, precipitation humidity etc. determines the richness of species. The amphibians of Nepal have a wide range of both Original Article International Journal of Zoology and Research (IJZR) ISSN(P): 2278–8816; ISSN(E): 2278–8824 Vol. 10 Issue 1, Jun 2020, 1–14 ©TJPRCPvt.Ltd.