Species Diversity of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Special Protected Area “Besaparski Ridove”, Southern Bulgaria

ABSTRACT

We present briefly the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the Special Protected Area “Besaparski ridove” in southwestern Bulgaria, based on a 2 × 2 km UTM grid. Between 1998 and 2008, we identified 24 species, and failed to verify the literature data only for a fossorial boa, Eryx jaculus. We documented five new amphibian species for the region (Salamandra salamandra, Triturus karelinii, Bombina variegata, Bufo bufo, Rana dalmatina, and R. graeca) and four species of reptiles (Testudo graeca, T. hermanni, Ablepharus kitaibelii, and Zamenis longissimus). The least common amphibians in the protected area were S. salamandra, R. graeca, and T. karelinii (number of squares in which these species are present from the total, A = 1.85%) and the most common were Pelophylax ridibundus (A = 35.19%), B. bufo (A = 20.37%), and Epidalea viridis (A = 18.52%). The least common reptiles were T. graeca, T. hermanni, Z. longissimus, Platyceps najadum (A = 1.85%) and A. kitaibelii and E. jaculus (A = 3.7%). The most common reptiles were Podarcis tauricus (A = 44.44%), Lacerta trilineata (A = 42.59%), and L. viridis (A = 29.63%).

Keywords:

• NATURA 2000
• herpetofauna
• Amphibia
• Reptilia
• distribution