Amphibian and reptile fauna of Smederevo municipality – recapitulation of 75 years of research
Фауна водоземаца и гмизаваца општине Смедерево – рекапитулација 75 година истраживања
2023
Document Type:
Article (Published version)
,
© 2023 by the Natural History Museum, Belgrade
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Show full item recordAbstract:
In this paper, we present the recapitulation of the research of amphibian and
reptile fauna in the Smederevo municipality. For Serbia, three amphibian species
were for the first time detected in Smederevo – (Triturus dobrogicus, Pelobates
balcanicus and Pelophylax lessonae). In the literature, occurrence of Vipera berus
was also mentioned. Since Smederevo is an important industrial centre, many
amphibian and reptile habitats were lost due to urbanization, degradation and
pollution, and surface waters were especially affected. Habitat degradation
probably led to the local extinction of population of the Adder. Still, increased field
effort and inclusion of citizen science led to the first discoveries of Pelobates
fuscus and Coronella austriaca in Smederevo, and re-confirmation of the historical
entries of Salamandra salamandra and Triturus dobrogicus. The remaining species
were mapped to a greater extent, and some species which were previously known
from only a few records (Lissotriton vulgaris, Emys orbicularis and Zamenis
longissimus) are now mapped in much wider area. The presence of human
introduced reptile species such as Trachemys scripta ssp., Mediodactylus kotschyi
and Pogona vitticeps is also recorded, with Kotschyi’s gecko probably being
naturalized. Future research should focus on re-confirmation of the remaining historical records (Pelobates balcanicus) and identifying more habitats of the rare and vulnerable species and protecting them.
Keywords:
Amphibia; Reptilia; fauna; introductionSource:
Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, 2023, 16, 215-255Funding / projects:
- Museum in Smederevo
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)