Amphibians and Reptiles

ECOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS AND EVALUATION OF BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN LAKE AYATA (OUED RIGH VALLEY: NORTHERN ALGERIAN SAHARA).
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ABSTRACT: Ayata Lake (155 ha) belongs to the complex of wetlands of Oued Righ Valley in Algerian Lower-Sahara. This study conducted between October 2009 and June 2010 has allowed a bioecological characterization of both biotic and abiotic elements of the site.
Flora and fauna Inventories have revealed existence of 13 plant species, 03 fish, 02 amphibians, 06 reptiles, 55 birds and 07 mammals. The flora of the site is mapped then the dynamics of dominant plant species is assessed by GIS software. Bio-ecological Statuses (faunal, trophic, phenological and protection) are attributed to the species surveyed and they are discussed. The spatiotemporal occupation of the lake by birds is mapped and detailed. Furthermore, this study includes a general review on wetlands ecosystems. Wetlands of the Lower-Sahara region (Ziban, Souf, valley of Oued Righ, and Ouargla) are inventoried, classified and mapped. This approach helped to highlight the biological resources of Ayata Lake and determine its actual ecological value. This can lead to propose suggestions for management and conservation close to its socioeconomic status in a sustainable development view.

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RÉSUMÉ: Le Lac Ayata (155 ha) appartient au complexe des zones humides de la Vallée d’Oued Righ au Bas-Sahara algérien. L’étude menée entre octobre 2009 et juin 2010 a permis une caractérisation bioécologique des éléments tant biotiques qu’abiotiques du site. Les inventaires de la flore et de la faune ont révélé l’existence de 13 espèces végétales, 03 poissons, 02 amphibiens, 06 reptiles, 55 oiseaux et 07 mammifères. La flore du site est cartographiée et la dynamique saisonnière des espèces dominantes est estimée par un logiciel de SIG. Des statuts bioécologiques (fauniques, trophiques, phénologiques et de protection) sont attribués aux espèces animales inventoriées puis ils sont discutés. L’occupation spatiotemporelle du lac par l’avifaune est cartographiée et détaillée. Par ailleurs, cette étude comporte des connaissances générales sur les des zones humides. Celles-ci sont inventoriées, classifiées puis cartographies dans la région du Bas-Sahara (Ziban, Souf, Vallée d’Oued Righ et Ouargla). Cette approche a permis de mettre en valeur les ressources biologiques du site et de déterminer son importance écologique. Ceci peut aboutir à des suggestions de gestion et de conservation étroites à son état socioéconomique dans une prospection d’un développement durable.

We surveyed for herpetofauna along the poorly-explored sections of Southern Eastern Ghats. This 1000 hours-long large scale survey covered ranges stretching from near Western Ghats eastwards to the Coroman-del Coastal Plains, across a longitudinal gradient. Study area consisting of the tall and wet Bilgiri-Melagiri massifs to the west and the low and dry South Arcot and North Arcot ranges to the east were selected and surveyed. We recorded a total of 95 species including 23 species of amphibians, 35 species of lizards and 37 species of snakes. A descriptive species accounts with photographic vouchers is presented. Noteworthy findings include significant new range records for many wet-zone taxa and a few dry-zone taxa from hitherto fore under-surveyed regions. This includes many rare and range-restricted ones and newly described little-known taxa. The study highlights the importance of landscape-level, long-term fieldwork to unravel the hidden diversity of tropical montane regions like the Eastern Ghats.

The paper presents a review of literature data, supplemented with original observations, on the presence, establishment, distribution and invasive status of alien fish, amphibian and reptile species in Romania. Consistent criteria were followed in defining alien species records, establishment and invasive status. From the 48 alien fish species, 1 fish hybrid, 1 amphibian and 18 reptile species recorded, only 16 fishes and 3 reptiles can be regarded as established. Of these we consider the criteria for invasive status as being probably fulfilled by one fish species (Perccottus glenii), and less likely by six more fish species. The presence and the alien status of the one amphibian are debatable. No reptile species can be considered invasive at present.

A B S T R A C T The current study extended from January, 2014 to December, 2014 was conducted in all the four tehsils of district Kasur. A total of 60 amphibian specimens representing 3 species, 3 genera and 2 families while 71 reptilian specimens representing 15 species, 14 genera and 10 families were captured from the study area. Amphibian species captured from cultivated land included Bufo stomaticus, Hoplobatrachu stigerinus and Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, while reptiles included Varanus bengalensis, Amphiesma stolatum, Ptyas mucosus, Echis carinatus, Calotes versicolor, Bungarus caeruleus. Lycodon aulicus was the only reptilian species captured from uncultivated land. Human habitations provided habitat to a single amphibian species Bufo stomaticus, while the reptiles

Emys orbicularis (Linnaes, 1758) is a rare Reptile of Europe, Latvia is situated on the northern edge of the species distribution (Iverson 1992; Gasc et al. 1997; Fritz 1998, 2003; Meeske et al. 2002; Kuzmin 2002; Schneeweiss 2003; Meeske, Muhlenberg 2004; Uetz et al. 2006). Not a single stably existing group of E.orbicularis is known in Latvia; until 2006 there was not a mutual opinion about the status of the species in Latvia (Siliņš 1934; Kuzmin 2002; Fritz 2003). Emys orbicularis is situated in the second application of Bern Convention "Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats" and in the document Nr.396. of Latvian Ministry (Ministry 2000). As a result of human activities new factors of anthropogenic origin appear which negatively influence the E.orbicularis in Latvia (Pupiņš, Pupiņa 2007b). In connection with this it is important to investigate situation of E.orbicularis on the northern edge of the species distribution in Latvia. This also determines the research relevance on the ecology aspects of E.orbicularis in Latvia.
The novelty of this investigation follows from the insufficient mastery of distribution and ecology of E.orbicularis in Latvia. With the framework of this study the following actions were carried out for the first time in Latvia: 1.) a lasting study of E.orbicularis distribution in Latvia; 2.) the comparison of finding points of E.orbicularis with zones of geophysical, climatic and other nature; 3.) the study of the data about the morphometry, the age and the sex of E.orbicularis in Latvia; 4.) the description of biotopes of E.orbicularis in Latvia; 5.) the study of the influence of negative factors on the E.orbicularis in Latvia: the catch, the influence of transport, the influence of predators and others. For the first time in Latvia the dynamics of the sun-basking activity of E.orbicularis and its relation with the meteorological conditions under the natural climatic conditions of Latvia was experimentally investigated.

Project LIFE-HerpetoLatvia LIFE09NAT/LV/000239 "Conservation of rare reptiles and amphibians in Latvia" was implemented in 2010 -2014 in Latvia. One of three target species of the Projects is Emys orbicularis, and the target territory is Silene Nature Park, Territory Natura 2000. 17 ponds were restored in Silene Nature Park in four key sites (site areas – 6.3 ha; 15.4 ha; 16.4 ha; 0.5 ha) near Belarusian border. 42 Emys orbicularis were raised in aquaculture for 4 – 7 years and were released in restored ponds in 2014 in Silene Nature Park. After-LIFE activities of the Project LIFE-HerpetoLatvia provide Ilgas population monitoring and enforcement.

Desde el principio del Cuaternario, la fauna de las Islas Canarias se ha caracterizado por la presencia de grandes lagartos. Todos estos lagartos se han incluido dentro del género Gallotia, y son endemismos insulares de los que se han descrito tanto especies como subespecies en islas e islotes. Desde el Pleistoceno hasta el Holoceno se han hallado fósiles y subfósiles, y algunas de estas formas, ya extintas, presentaban tallas muy superiores a las actuales. En el presente trabajo se pretende dar a conocer de forma preliminar las variedades de lagartos gigantes identificadas en las Islas Canarias.

Some people seem to have a misunderstanding about what constitutes reptile husbandry exactly. First, it needs to be noted that husbandry refers to the management and breeding of domestic, not wild, animals. It doesn't have anything to do with replicating the natural conditions of a wild animal in captivity. This being said, any species raised and bred in captivity therefore constitutes a domestic animal in as much as the husbandry is different than the natural habitat it is from. Now let's establish the difference between the two: 1. Wild animals, even those that establish territories, are free-ranging. Captive animals art not. Their living space is restricted to terraria or other enclosed areas. 2. Wild animals generally enjoy a greater choice of habitat. The habitat of captive animals is necessarily restricted (and theoretically optimized). 3. Wild animals have usually been born and bred in a location where the species has lived for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Captive animals are often wild caught and confined to a new situation, and the given species has typically only been captive-bred for a few generations at best by comparison. 4. Wild animals are surrounded by a complete ecosystem within a specific environment in a geographical range, including microbiota, flora, and fauna with which they have shared a mutual relationship for hundreds or thousands of years. Captive animals are typically treated for pathogens in an effort to eliminate even the natural parasites. The terraria are relatively sterile and generally neither the flora nor fauna are native to their natural habitat unless they are living where they are from, which is rare in the case of exotic reptile captives. 5. Along these lines, behavior of the captive animals changes because of the absence of predation, change in and abundance of dietary items, inability of captive animals to freely travel and associate with others of their species, avoid predation, or search for prey (that often change according to a yearly cycle), lighting (both UV and regular) that doesn't correspond to their natural habitat, as well as the difference in substrate and the inability in captivity to replicate natural variations in day-today and seasonal weather and lighting changes. Although much can be said for reptile husbandry, especially as it pertains to successful breeding of difficult species, it is still an exercise in the production of a domestic animal, as opposed to raising the same species under natural conditions. A few private individuals are able to raise and breed more difficult species by means of their personal

The research on occurrence of exotic and invasive turtles in Latvia was conducted as a part of the research on Emys orbicularis distribution and ecology in Latvia. Up to 2011 six exotic species and subspecies of turtles were recorded in Latvia, including invasive Far-East species Pelodiscus sinensis. In the research we registered P.sinensis in 2008 (#PeSi0001) and in 2010 (#PeSi0002) in central part of Latvia, and we found one big adult specimen (#PeSi0003) in South-East part of Latvia in 2014. The specimen and the habitats of the fndings were investigated in a comparison. Capacity for naturalization and colonization, and possible influence of P.sinensis to autochthonic European pond turtle E.orbicularis was analysed and discussed for Latvia.

Fragmentation and habitat loss contribute considerably to global declines of amphibians and reptiles. However,
few studies focus on forest edges, created during the fragmentation process, as proximate drivers of the local demographic
structure of populations. Here, we use abundance data of amphibians and reptiles to study their responses
to forest edges in nine fragmented forested landscapes of the Neotropics. Species-specific abundance
data were collected in plots established at varying distances from their respective nearest forest edge. We tested
for edge effects on the abundance of species, and used curve clustering techniques to group species with similar
edge responses, i.e. species with either increasing or decreasing abundance from the matrix towards the forest
interior. We also grouped species that showed no change in abundance with respect to the nearest forest edge
and those whose abundance response was unimodal, peaking in either forest habitat or the surrounding matrix
habitat. We found that 96% of all amphibians and 90% of all reptiles showed an edge response, with the abundance
of 74.5% of amphibians and 57.3% of reptiles decreasingwith increasing proximity to forest edges. However,
species-specific edge effects were not always consistent, with some species having opposite edge responses
when measured in different landscapes. The depth of edge effects exhibited by forest species, i.e. species that increased
in abundance in the forest interior, extended up to one kilometre away from forest edges. We show that
the median edge effect on forest species extends to 250mwithin the forest interior, indicating that tropical forest
patcheswith a mean diameter b 500m(minimum area≈78 ha) are unsuitable for half of forest-dependent species
considered in this study.

A new species of the genus Tarentola is described from a single specimen in the herpetological collection or the National Museum of Soot.land. The gecko was part of a presentation made in 1884 by a resident of Jamaica, and is presumed to be a Jamaican endemic, possibly now extinct. Though clearly a member of the predominantly African genus Tarentola, the new lizard. bears no specific affinity with the only other known New World species, and is very distinct in lepidosis from similar African taxa. A ccmplete description is given for this new species.

Desde el principio del Cuaternario, la fauna de las Islas Canarias se ha caracterizado por la presencia de grandes lagartos. Todos estos lagartos se han incluido dentro del género Gallotia, y son endemismos insulares de los que se han descrito tanto especies como subespecies en islas e islotes. Desde el Pleistoceno hasta el Holoceno se han hallado fósiles y subfósiles, y algunas de estas formas, ya extintas, presentaban tallas muy superiores a las actuales. En el presente trabajo se pretende dar a conocer de forma preliminar las variedades de lagartos gigantes identificadas en las Islas Canarias.

Reference
Chloe Griffiths, Reptile and Amphibian Survey, Pen Dinas, Aberystwyth.  (Report) 2016. 

Abstract
In 2016 a Reptile and Amphibian Survey using artificial refugia was carried out on Pen Dinas, Aberystwyth, by Chloe Griffiths and volunteers from the Nature of our Village biological recording project. It aimed to add to the results of the earlier survey done by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales on the site in 2011-12. (Parry, R.J. 2012). This initial survey also covered the site at Parc y Llyn, however the 2016 survey was on Pen Dinas only. The 2016 survey should stand as an addition to the existing 2011-12 survey only; it does not attempt to repeat it in its entirety. Readers should first look at the WTSWW report for fine detail on the habitat surveyed and the constraints posed by the site.

Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus 1758) is rare species in Latvia, recording on the northern border of its area. The authors conducted the study of the E. orbicularis distribution in Latvia over a period of time from 1982 till 2011. The methods of the study were the interview of inhabitants and field expeditions. Altogether 92 records of E. orbicularis were registered in Latvia before 2011, 17 among them were confirmed personally by authors.

This paper presents mostly unpublished faunistic data on amphibians and reptiles in the region of Jagodina (Serbia). The main research was conducted in the period 2013-2015. 13 species of amphibians and 11 species of reptiles were registered. Zoogeographic analysis showed that herpetofauna of the studied area consists of nine chorotypes, with the Southern-European and Turano-European as the most dominant ones.

The paper presents a review of literature data, supplemented with original observations, on the presence, establishment, distribution and invasive status of alien fish, amphibian and reptile species in Romania. Consistent criteria were followed in defining alien species records, establishment and invasive status. From the 48 alien fish species, 1 fish hybrid, 1 amphibian and 18 reptile species recorded, only 16 fishes and 3 reptiles can be regarded as established. Of these we consider the criteria for invasive status as being probably fulfilled by one fish species (Perccottus glenii), and less likely by six more fish species. The presence and the alien status of the one amphibian are debatable. No reptile species can be considered invasive at present.

Based on more than 1100 samples of Emys orbicularis and E. trinacris, data on mtDNA diversity and distribution of haplotypes are provided, including for the first time data for Armenia, Georgia, Iran, and the Volga, Ural and Turgay River Basins of Russia and Kazakhstan. Eight mitochondrial lineages comprising 51 individual haplotypes occur in E. orbicularis, a ninth lineage with five haplotypes corresponds to E. trinacris. A high diversity of distinct mtDNA lineages and haplotypes occurs in the south, in the regions where putative glacial refuges were located. More northerly parts of Europe and adjacent Asia, which were recolonized by E. orbicularis in the Holocene, display distinctly less variation; most refuges did not contribute to northern recolonizations. Also in certain southern European lineages a decrease of haplotype diversity is observed with increasing latitude, suggestive of Holocene range expansions on a smaller scale. 1 Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Natural...

(all photographs depict specimens and habitat found in the municipality of Compostela) Abstract With the objective of increasing our knowledge on the herpetological composition of the municipality of Compostela, we performed surveys in different types of vegetation during the period from 2013 to 2016. This is our second survey for a particular municipality of the state. Based on the information obtained, we here report our findings of 71 species (21 amphibians and 50 reptiles) in four orders, 29 families and 54 genera. The most diverse family is the Colubridae, with 13 species.

The aim of the research was to investigate the presence of allochthonous species of turtles in the nature of Latvia, as well as to withdraw them from the nature according to the -"Plan on protection of Emys orbicularis in Latvia", officially approved by the Latvian Ministry of Environment (Pupiņš & Pupiņa 2007a). The methods of the research were: 1) information campaign and survey; 2) interviews with inhabitants; 3) field expeditions; 4) laboratory study of viability of found turtles. In course of research, five new -allochthonous species and subspecies of the turtles were recorded for the first time, and new data were obtained about finding Trachemys scripta elegans in the nature of Latvia. Most of the registered animals (80%) were removed from the nature. Since allochthonous turtles get there in the result of escape from pet-lovers and, apparently, illegal introduction into nature by their owners, education of population is of great importance.

In the result of the carried out study since 2004, Perccottus glenii was found in 5 basins in Latvia, inhabited by Bombina bombina, situated in Daugavpils district and belonging to three populations: Ilgas, Demene, and Medumi. All the localities are situated on the south-eastern part of Latvia, at a distance of no more than 1-2 km from the borders with Lithuania and Belarus. The long-term (no less than 2 seasons) presence of Perccottus glenii in a small reservoir causes the disappearance of Bombina bombina tadpoles, as well as larvae of other amphibians.

Riassunto. Espansione popolazionistica di Bombina bombina L. (Anura: Bombinatoridae) nel 2010 in Lettonia. Le popolazioni di ululone dal ventre rosso, Bombina bombina della Lettonia sono localizzate all'estremo settentrionale dell'areale della specie. Nel presente contributo si chiarisce la distribuzione della specie in Lettonia, riportando segnalazioni di nuovi siti identificati in base alle vocalizzazioni dei maschi. La ricerca è stata condotta principalmente nella parte meridionale del paese nel 2010. In totale, 391 vocalizzazioni di B. bombina sono state registrate nel 2010 in 87 siti; di questi, 33 sono risultati nuovi, localizzati tutti nel distretto di Daugavpils.

Guía de campo realizada en el sector de Alshí- 9 de Octubre. En esta guía se reporta a Caecilia crassisquama que hasta el momento era conocida solo de su localidad tipo.

¡Es increíble!, ya que no existe información sobre su hábitat o ecología. ¡Practicamente nada!. Es muy similar a Caecilia abitaguae, incluso viven en simpatría.

Smara is a city inland of the Atlantic Sahara located next to the riverbed of the Saquia Al Hamra. This important basin, due to the tempering of climatic conditions, constitutes a corridor for the herps species present in the coastal strip, which enter more than 100 km in the hyper-arid continent. The list of reptiles cited in Smara is quite complete, although this is not the case with amphibians, of which there are no published records. Observations of two species of amphibians, Bufotes boulengeri and Pelophylax, are presented here.

Populations of European Fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina (Linnaeus 1761) existing in the territory of Latvia placed on the northern border of this species' area in Europe. Before the researches only two small locations with 7-8 males (Ilgas, Bauska) were known in Latvia for many years. During the researches from 2004 till 2011 five new populations were found in Latvia: Demenes, Ainavas, Spulgu, Medumu, Eglaines. From 2009 till 2011 87 new locations were found in Latvia: 31 in 2009, 34 in 2010, 22 in 2011, all in Daugavpils district.

Emys orbicularis is the species of turtles that is the most distributed to the north in Europe (Uetz 2006); the known at present extremely northern European edge of the species' area, where breeding was registered, passes through Latvia. Actions of Emys-connected projects can affect the state of Emys orbicularis natural population and its habitats and affect results of carried out and future studies of pond turtles in Latvia. 42 young adult Emys orbicularis were released in wild in Silene Nature Park, Latvia in 2014 for the first time. In the research 9 Emys-connected projects, carried out in 1985 – 2015, were described; their biological aspects, results and effect on Emys orbicularis population and ecosystems were estimated.