Reptile megalopolis on a small island: Population studies on Reptiles on the island of Golem Grad

Abstract

Population studies on three reptile species (Testudo hermanni, Natrix tessellata and Vipera ammodytes)were established in 2007 on a small island in Prespa Lake. The island of Golem Grad is part of theNational Park “Galicica“ and has a status of a strictly protected area. The research was done on the areaof the whole island (plateau and beaches of approximately 20 ha) in three periods of the active seasonin six consecutive years. Since the beginning of the studies more than 1600 tortoises, 5000 dice snakesand 350 nose horned vipers were marked. These results of the CMR study are excellent matrix for pre-cise estimation of the population density and size, indicating that these are among the densest popula-tions of these species in the world. This suggests that the reptile populations on the island are prosper-ous and can be a model system for future ecology studies on reptiles in other parts of the country orelsewhere. Also the results can contribute to determine the protection status and conservation measureson national level for these species