Diversity, distribution, habitat preferences and community assemblages of Amphibians and Reptiles in the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” National Park (Campania, Southern Italy)
From Firenze University Press Journal: Acta Herpetologica
Antonio Romano, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto per la BioEconomia
Luigi Sansone, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto per la BioEconomia
Alfio Cacace
Dino Biancolini, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto per la BioEconomia
Amphibians and reptiles play important roles in nutrient cycling and connecting aquatic and terrestrial environments. They are also considered ecological indi-cators of ecosystems’ status and stability (Pereira et al., 2012). Nonetheless, the global biodiversity crisis includes a decline in amphibian populations worldwide, with over 40% of amphibian species at risk of extinction (Stuart et al., 2004; IUCN, 2023). Significant population declines have also been found for reptile populations, with more than 21% of the world’s reptiles threatened by extinction (Cox et al., 2022). Amphibians and reptiles face similar stressors, including agriculture intensification, overexploi-tation of natural resources, urbanization, introduction of alien species and climate change. In particular, panzootic chytridiomycosis is a major threat to amphibians and it is causing widespread population collapses and extinctions worldwide (Scheele et al., 2019). These factors mainly operate at small spatial scales, resulting in numerous cas-es of local extinctions.
Local conservation action within protected areas can be the key to halting the decline of amphibians and reptiles. To achieve this, it is crucial to have a comprehensive picture of species’ ecology and distribution in these areas. Studying the distribution of herpetofauna in protected areas provides information to identify areas of high conservation value and prior-itize conservation actions, such as habitat and connec-tivity restoration, to improve landscape-scale conserva-tion (Beale et al., 2013). This information can also guide decisions about land-use planning to ensure sustainable development in complex landscapes where people and biodiversity coexist (Guillera-Arroita et al., 2015). This is the case of the Cilento (Campania Region), a highly diverse but yet under-investigated area of southern Italy protected by the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” (CVDA) National Park, which ensures a remarkable equilibrium between nature and society.
The Park hosts many endemic species and subspecies of herpetofauna (Roma-no et al. 2010; Romano, 2014) whose distribution has been historically overlooked. Here we provide detailed information on terrestrial herpetofauna distribution and ecology in the CVDA National Park by presenting and using a dataset resulting from 14 years of fieldwork, citi-zen science and literature. Using the distribution data-set, we evaluated species rarity, the influence of elevation on species distribution and richness, the terrestrial and aquatic habitat preferences and, finally, the assemblage of species at terrestrial and water sites.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-14562
Read Full Text: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ah/article/view/14562
