ESTIMATING THE POPULATION SIZE OF NEURERGUS & nbsp;KAISERI & nbsp;(CAUDATA: SALAMANDRIDAE) IN IRAN: COMPARISON OF ESTIMATION METHODS PROVIDES IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION

We estimated the size of populations of Kaiser's Mountain Newt (Neurergus kaiseri) occupying habitat types representative of its range to provide baseline information for future monitoring and status assessments. We selected three distinct but representative breeding habitats in the mountain forests of southwestern Iran to compare the Lincoln Peterson, Schumacher-Schnabel, and Jolly-Seber methods used to estimate population size. We recommend using the Jolly-Seber method during the breeding season (15 April-15 May) with three sampling sessions, each separated by four-day intervals. Using this method, we estimated Kaiser's Mountain Newt population size at 1,403 individuals in the Bozorg-Ab habitat, 491 in Dej habitat, 63 in Alan Spring, and 321 in Monjir Spring within the Barik-Ab habitat. We provide a guideline for estimating population and monitoring mountain newt populations.