Living at high altitude: testing the effects of life history traits upon the conservation ofSalamandra lanzai(Amphibia, Salamandridae)

Autor: Franco Andreone, Paolo Eusebio Bergò, Patrick Gautier, Patrick Stocco, Claude Miaud, Stefano Doglio, Alexandre Riberon
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: Italian Journal of Zoology. 71:35-43
ISSN: 1748-5851
1125-0003
Popis: Conservation plans of European amphibians usually take into account: (1) species in dramatic decline due to a series of humaninduced factors, and (2) species with a narrow distribution area and/or particular ecological requirements. Salamandra lanzai belongs to the second group, being limited to the SW Alps. Furthermore, it is a high altitude amphibian, living in sites above 1200 m, and it is also a unique endemic vertebrate of the Alps. We here summarise information regarding its distribution and ecology to be interpreted for conservation. In this sense, we also provide new data regarding the age structure of a recently studied low altitude population in the Germanasca Valley. We then compare this population (exemplified as “low altitude population”) to a population living at 2200 m in the Guil Valley (example of a “high altitude population”). The knowledge obtained on these different life-history traits has allowed us to devise an age-structured model useful in identifying the main demographic parameter...
Databáze: OpenAIRE