EVALUATION OF METHODS FOR ESTIMATING SPECIES RICHNESS AND ABUNDANCE OF REPTILESIN OLIVE GROVES

The Mediterranean has a high diversity of herpetofauna, which continues to be understudied. Olive (Olea europaea) groves are one of the primary agroecosystems in the Mediterranean region but the effectiveness of different survey methods has yet to be tested. Therefore, we compared the effectiveness of transects and drift fences to sample terrestrial reptiles in old vs. young olive groves. We observed 857 individuals, representing 10 species (between May and July 2014). We detected 10 species (820 individuals) with transects and five species (37 individuals) using drift fences. The transect was more efficient for determining species diversity and abundance of reptiles in both young and old olive groves, but the recorded values were higher in old olives than in the young ones for both response variables. Finally, we recorded habitat features (trunks or ground) during transects where the animal was observed. We recommend the use of transect for biodiversity assessment in olive groves, where reptiles spend most of their time on trunks and avoid the ground.