(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Cloete, Bryan Nathan; Maritz, Bryan
Snakes occur in most terrestrial ecosystems, forming an integral part of many ecological
communities. A diverse community of snakes in an ecosystem can indicate a complex habitat
structure capable of supporting a diverse assemblage of faunal species. I utilised multiple
non-invasive and non-lethal trapping methods to quantify diversity metrics for the snake
community occurring in a heterogeneous fynbos ecosystem within the Koeberg Private
Nature Reserve (KPNR) over one-year period. Additionally, I sampled the species richness
and abundance of snake predators and prey within the reserve and tested the hypothesis that
the snake community was impacted by the abundance and diversity of snake predators and
prey. I performed several statistical analyses to identify the factors that influence the snake
community structure observed in KPNR.