Vol. 19 No. 2 (2024)
Articles

Interpopulation and seasonal variations in habitat and microhabitat use of Vipera ammodytes

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  • Angel V. Dyugmedzhiev,
  • Borislav Y. Naumov,
  • Nikolay D. Tzankov
Angel V. Dyugmedzhiev
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Borislav Y. Naumov
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Nikolay D. Tzankov
National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-15928

Published 2024-11-14

Keywords

  • Reptilia,
  • spatial niche,
  • snakes,
  • nose-horned viper,
  • viperidae

How to Cite

Dyugmedzhiev, A. V., Naumov, B. Y., & Tzankov, N. D. (2024). Interpopulation and seasonal variations in habitat and microhabitat use of Vipera ammodytes. Acta Herpetologica, 19(2), 81–95. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-15928

Copyright (c) 2024 Angel Dyugmedzhiev, Borislav Naumov, Nikolay Tzankov

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

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Abstract

Despite the abundant data on habitat use of Vipera ammodytes, most studies are purely descriptive, merely listing the habitats in which the species is most often found. More complete studies evaluating the habitat preference of the species are lacking. The intraspecific variation (i.e., interpopulation or seasonal) in habitat and microhabitat utilization of the species also remains a poorly studied topic. In the current study, we assessed the general patterns of habitat and microhabitat use of V. ammodytes and their interpopulation and seasonal variations, based on habitat/microhabitat availability. To achieve that, we studied five different populations along a latitudinal gradient in western Bulgaria. In all of the studied areas, V. ammodytes showed a clear preference for various stony and rocky habitats and microhabitats, overgrown with herbaceous and shrub vegetation, while it avoided bare habitats, dark deciduous forests as well as cultivated agricultural lands. There were clear interpopulation and seasonal variations in habitat and microhabitat preference and spatial niche utilization. Our results suggest that habitat and microhabitat use of V. ammodytes depend on a combination of many factors such as season, locally specific characteristics like habitat structure and availability, population dynamics, food availability, physical and microclimatic conditions, and possibly on the extent of the interspecific competition.

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