Characteristic of water sources in Malang, based on the diversity, community structure, and the role of herpetofauna as bioindicator

The existences of water sources have some great benefit for the human and the environment. Unfortunately, increasing human activities such as industrial activities, land-use conversion as agricultural areas, and tourist attractions are negatively affect water sources. Several water sources in Malang are reported to have decreased in quantity and quality. To conserve the water sources, the first step to overcome the decline is to examine the ecosystem with the biological indicator such as herpetofauna. We expected that each water source has specific characteristics of herpetofauna composition. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate some water source characters based on the presence of herpetofauna as a bioindicator of an ecosystem. We have explored 2 water sources (Sumber Kendedes & Sumber Waras) by Visual Encounter Survey method to collect the data. We found 10 species of Reptiles (Including in 6 Families; Gekkonidae, Scincidae, Elapidae, Agamidae, and Varanidae) and 5 species of Amphibians (Including in 4 Families; Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, Dicroglossidae, and Bufonidae). Based on the H’ index, both water sources are categorized as a moderate level of diversity. Chalcorana chalconota is the most common species and dominated in both areas. Thus, C. chalconota can be an indicator that the population is in suitable habitat and supports its growth. The number of amphibian individuals is higher than the number of reptile individuals, illustrating the good condition of the ecosystem. The similar invention of Xenochrophis piscator and Bungarus candidus were occurred in both locations, point out the specific characters of the water source. The presence of an aquatic environment in water source makes frog and fish are well-distributed. Hence, those two snakes mainly feed on frog and fish, as the main predator. Besides, the existence of C. chalconota in the aquatic ecosystem also be a character of a water source, especially in Malang.