Vol. 18 No. 2 (2023)
Articles

Diversity, distribution, habitat preferences and community assemblages of Amphibians and Reptiles in the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” National Park (Campania, Southern Italy)

PDF
  • Antonio Romano,
  • Luigi Sansone,
  • Alfio Cacace,
  • Dino Biancolini
Antonio Romano
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche- Istituto per la BioEconomia, Via dei Taurini, 19 - 00100 Roma (RM)
Luigi Sansone
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche- Istituto per la BioEconomia, Via dei Taurini, 19 - 00100 Roma (RM)
Alfio Cacace
Via Pagliarelle, 15 - 80059 Torre del greco (NA)
Dino Biancolini
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche- Istituto per la BioEconomia, Via dei Taurini, 19 - 00100 Roma (RM)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-14562

Published 2023-12-27

Keywords

  • Herpetofauna,
  • protected areas,
  • community ecology,
  • elevation range,
  • species rarity

How to Cite

Romano, A., Sansone, L., Cacace, A., & Biancolini, D. (2023). Diversity, distribution, habitat preferences and community assemblages of Amphibians and Reptiles in the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” National Park (Campania, Southern Italy). Acta Herpetologica, 18(2), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-14562

Copyright (c) 2023 Antonio Romano, Luigi Sansone, Alfio Cacace, Dino Biancolini

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

Amphibians and reptiles are important ecological indicators of ecosystem status and play significant ecological roles. However, their populations are declining globally due to factors such as climate and land-use change. To effectively manage these species, it is crucial to study their distribution in protected areas. In this study, we provide new information on the distribution and ecology of amphibians and reptiles in the “Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni” (CVDA) National Park in southern Italy. We used a comprehensive dataset consisting of 2465 records obtained from fieldwork, citizen science, and literature to evaluate species’ rarity, habitat preferences and community assemblage. We investigated whether differences in species richness across different habitat types and elevations resulted from species selection of different environmental conditions. We quantified species probability of observation in different habitat types and estimated the significance of species-habitat associations. Species rarity was assessed by considering geographic range, population abundance, and habitat breadth. Collected data substantially improved knowledge of the distribution of numerous species compared to published data. Our findings are generally consistent with the species’ ecological information available in Italy, but we also found some species’ peculiar ecological aspects that are little-known. The CVDA National Park emerges as an effective protected area that ensures good conservation status of the herpetofauna, also in the case of species showing population and range declines at the national scale.

PDF

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

  1. Beale, C.M., Baker, N.E., Brewer, M.J., Lennon, J.J. (2013): Protected area networks and savannah bird biodiversity are vulnerable to climate change. Ecol. Lett. 16: 1061-1068.
  2. Buono, V., Bissattini, A.M., Vignoli, L. (2019): Can a cow save a newt? The role of cattle drinking troughs in amphibian conservation. Aquat. Conserv. 29: 964-975.
  3. Caputo, V., Kalby, M., De Filippo, G. (1985): Gli Anfibi e i Rettili del Massiccio degli Alburni (Appennino Campano-Lucano). Natura, Soc. Ital. Sci. nat., Museo civ. Stor. nat. e Acquario civ., Milano 76: 94-104.
  4. Caputo V., Guarino, F.M. (1992): L’erpetofauna del Cilento (Italia Meridionale). Atti Soc. ital. Sci. nat. Museo civ. Stor. nat. Milano 132: 273-292.
  5. Cerreta, M., L.F. Girard. (2016): Human Smart Landscape: An Adaptive and Synergistic Approach for the “National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni.” Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 8: 489-493.
  6. Chase, J.M., Kraft, N.J.B., Smith, K.G., Vellend, M., Inouye, B.D. (2011): Using null models to disentangle variation in community dissimilarity from variation in α-diversity. Ecosphere 2: art24.
  7. Chapman, A.D., Wieczorek, J. (2006): Guide to Best Practices for Georeferencing. Copenhagen: GBIF Secretariat DOI: https://doi.org/10.15468/doc-gg7h-s853.
  8. Copernicus (2018): CORINE Land Cover. Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. Available on-line at https://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/corine-land-cover/clc2018 [Accessed on 18 February 2023]
  9. Copernicus (2021): European Union Digital Elevation Model (EU-DEM) v1.0. Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. Available on-line at: https://land.copernicus.eu/imagery-in-situ/eu-dem/eu-dem-v1-0-and-derived-products/eu-dem-v1.0 [Accessed on 10 February 2023]
  10. Cox, N., Young, B.E., Bowles, P. Fernandez, M., Marin, J., Rapacciuolo, G. et al. (2022). A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods. Nature 605: 285-290.
  11. Dodd, CK, Jr (ed.) (2009). Amphibian Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
  12. Dodd, CK, Jr (Ed.) (2016): Reptile Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
  13. Fauth, J.E., Crother, B.I., Slowinski, J.B. (1989): Elevational patterns of species richness, evenness, and abundance of the Costa Rican leaf-litter herpetofauna. Biotropica 21: 178-185.
  14. Fischer, J., Lindenmayer, D.B. (2005): The sensitivity of lizards to elevation: a case study from south-eastern Australia. Div. Dist. 11: 225-233.
  15. Fu, C., Hua, X., Li, J., Chang, Z., Pu, Z., Chen, J. (2006): Elevational Patterns of Frog Species Richness and Endemic Richness in the Hengduan Mountains, China: Geometric Constraints, Area and Climate Effects. Ecography, 29: 919-927.
  16. Gheu, J.M., Gheu, J. (1980): Essai d’objectivation de revaluation biologique des milieux naturels. Indices biocenotiques. Sem. Phytosoc. Appl. 1980: 70-73.
  17. Gomez-Rodrıguez, C., Bustamante; J., Dıaz-Paniagua, C., Guisan, A. (2012): Integrating detection probabilities in species distribution models of amphibians breeding in Mediterranean temporary ponds. Diversity Distrib. 18: 260-272.
  18. Grant, R.L. (2014): Converting an odds ratio to a range of plausible relative risks for better communication of research findings. BMJ 348: f7450.
  19. Guarino, F.M., Aprea, G., Caputo, V., Maio, N., Odierna, G., Picariello, O. (2012): Atlante degli Anfibi e dei Rettili della Campania. Massa Editore, Napoli, Italia
  20. Guglietta, D., Migliozzi, A., Ricotta, C. (2015): A Multivariate Approach for Mapping Fire Ignition Risk: The Example of the National Park of Cilento (Southern Italy). Environ. Manage. 56: 157-164.
  21. Guillera-Arroita, G., Lahoz-Monfort, J. J., Elith, J., Gordon, A., Kujala, H., Lentini, P. E., McCarthy, M. A., Tingley, R., Wintle, B. A. (2015): Is my species distribution model fit for purpose? Matching data and models to applications. Global Ecol. Biogeog. 24: 276-292.
  22. Hammer, Ø., Harper, D.A.T., Ryan, P.D. (2001): PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeont. Electr. 4: 1-9.
  23. Hauser, W.R., Heise-Pavlov, S.R. (2017): Can incidental sighting data be used to elucidate habitat preferences and areas of suitable habitat for a cryptic species? Integr. Zool. 12:186-197.
  24. ISTAT. (2023). Comuni della Provincia di Salerno per popolazione. Tuttitalia. Available on-line at https://www.tuttitalia.it/campania/provincia-di-salerno/35-comuni/popolazione/ [Accessed on 30 April 2023]
  25. IUCN. (2023): The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Amphibians Statistics). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available on-line at https://www.iucnredlist.org/search/stats?query=Amphibians&searchType=species [Accessed on 18 March 2023]
  26. Jaggi, C., B. Baur. (1999): Overgrowing forest as a possible cause for the local extinction of Vipera aspis in the northern Swiss Jura mountains. Amphibia-Reptilia 20: 25-34.
  27. Maciel, E.A., Arlé, E. (2020): Rare7: An R package to assess the forms of rarity in a community. Ecol. Indic. 115: 106419.
  28. Marshall, C.D., Crawford, B.A., Smith, L.L., Enge, K.M., Elliott, M., McGuire, S., Maerz, J.C. (2023): Using ancillary data to model the terrestrial distribution of gopher frogs. J. Wild. Manag. 87: e22397.
  29. Marta, S., Lacasella, F., Romano, A., Ficetola, G.F. (2019): Cost-effective spatial sampling designs for field surveys of species distribution. Biodivers. Conserv. 28: 2891-2908.
  30. MATTM (2017): Geoportale Nazionale - Cartografia di base - IGM 25.000. Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare. Available on-line at http://www.pcn.minambiente.it/mattm/en/view-service-wms/ [Accessed on 18 March 2023]
  31. McCain, C.M. (2010): Global analysis of reptile elevational diversity. Glob. Ecol. Biog. 19: 541-553.
  32. McDiarmid, R.W. Foster, M.S., Guyer, C., Chernoff, N., Gibbons, W. (2012): Reptile Biodiversity: Standard Methods for Inventory and Monitoring. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  33. McHugh, M.L. (2009): The odds ratio: calculation, usage and interpretation. Biochem Med 19: 120-126.
  34. Nathan, R., Werner, Y.L. (1999): Reptiles and breeding birds on Mt. Hermon: patterns of altitudinal distribution and species richness. Isr. J. Zool. 45: 1-33.
  35. Oksanen, J., Simpson, G. L., Guillaume Blanchet, F., Kindt, R., Legendre, P. et al. (2022): vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.6-4. Cran R Project.
  36. Peel, M.C., Finlayson, B.L., McMahon, T.A. (2007): Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633-1644.
  37. Pereira, H.M., Navarro, L.M., Martins, I.S. (2012): Global biodiversity change: the bad, the good, and the unknown. Annu. Rev. Env. Resour. 37: 25-50.
  38. Rahbek, C. (1995): The elevational gradient of species richness: a uniform pattern? Ecography 18: 200-205.
  39. Rabinowitz, D., Rapp, J.K., Dixon, P.M. (1984): Competitive abilities of sparse grass species: means of persistence or cause of abundance. Ecology 65: 1144-1154.
  40. Raup, D.M., Crick, R.E. (1979): Measurement of faunal similarity in paleontology. J. Paleontol. 53: 1213-1227.
  41. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, D., Martínez-Vega, J. (2022): Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Conserving Biodiversity: A Worldwide Review. Springer Nature, Cham.
  42. Rondinini, C., Battistoni A., Teofili, C. (2022): Lista Rossa IUCN dei vertebrati italiani. Comitato Italiano IUCN & Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica, Roma, Italia.
  43. Romano A. (2012): La Salvaguardia degli Anfibi nei siti acquatici artificiali dell’Appennino - Linee guida per la costruzione, manutenzione e gestione. Ed. Belvedere, collana Le Scienze, Latina (Italy).
  44. Romano, A. (2014): Atlante degli anfibi del Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni - distribuzione, biologia, ecologia e conservazione. PNCVDA - Quaderni della biodiversità n. 2. PNCVDA.
  45. Romano, A., Montinaro, G., Mattoccia, M., Sbordoni, V. (2007): Amphibians of the Aurunci Mountains (Latium, Central Italy). Checklist and conservation guidelines. Acta Herpetol. 2: 17-25.
  46. Romano, A., Ventre, N., De Riso, L., Pignataro, C., Spilinga, C. (2010): Amphibians of the “Cilento e Vallo di Diano” National Park (Campania, Southern Italy): updated check list, distribution and conservation notes. Acta Herpetol. 5: 233-244.
  47. Romano, A., Bartolomei, R., Conte, A.L., Fulco, E. (2012): Amphibians in Southern Apennine: Distribution, ecology and conservation notes in the “Appennino Lucano, Val d’Agri e Lagonegrese” National Park (Southern Italy). Acta Herpetol. 7: 203-219.
  48. Romano, A., Salvidio, S., Mongillo, D., Olivari, S. (2014): The importance of a traditional irrigation system in the conservation of amphibians in the Cinque Terre National Park (NW Italy). J. Nat. Conserv. 22: 445-452
  49. Ruffo, S., Stoch, F. (2005): CKmap 5.4.1. Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio. Available on-line at http://www.faunaitalia.it/documents/CKmap_54.zip. [Accessed on 18 February 2023]
  50. Scheele, B.C., Pasmans, F, Skerratt, L.F., Berger, L., Martel, A. et al. (2019): Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity. Science 363: 1459-1463.
  51. Sindaco, R., Doria, G., Razzetti, E., Bernini, F. (Eds) (2006): Atlante degli anfibi e dei rettili d’Italia / Atlas of Italian amphibians and reptiles. Societas Herpetologica Italica, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze.
  52. Speybroeck, J., Beukema, W., Dufresnes, C., Fritz, U., Jablonski, D., Lymberakis, P., Martínez-Solano, I., Razzetti, E., Vamberger, M., Vences, M., Vörös, J., Crochet P-A. (2020): Species list of the European herpetofauna - update by the Taxonomic Committee of the Societas Europaea Herpetologica. Amphibia-Reptilia 41: 139-189.
  53. Stuart, S.N. Chanson, J.S., Cox, N.A., Young, B.E., Rodrigues, A.S.L., Fischman, D.L., Waller, R.W. (2004): Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Science 306: 1783-1786.
  54. Temple, H.J., Cox, N.A. (2009): European Red List of Amphibians. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Available on-line on http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2009-006.pdf
  55. Vanni, S., Andreone, F., Tripepi, S. (2007): Triturus carnifex (Laurenti, 1768). In: Fauna d’Italia, Vol. XLII: Amphibia, pp. 265-272. Lanza, B., Andreone, F., Bologna, M.A., Corti, C., Razzetti, E. (Eds), Edizioni Calderini de Il Sole 24 ORE, Editoria Specializzata S.r.l.
  56. Wiens, J.J., Parra-Olea, G., Garcia-Paris, M., Wake, D.B. (2007): Phylogenetic history underlies elevational biodiversity patterns in tropical salamanders. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B - Biol. Sci. 274: 919-928.

Most read articles by the same author(s)