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Basic characteristics of microhabitats of snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii) in Western Hungary Cover

Basic characteristics of microhabitats of snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii) in Western Hungary

Open Access
|Mar 2021

Abstract

Following the rediscovery after 200 years of Ablepharus kitaibelii fitzingeri in 2017, we carried out data collection its habitats regarding vegetation, microclimate, and soil on two prominent dolomite hills of the Eastern Bakony. Data collections were carried out in habitat mosaics (xerothermic forest edges on the plateaus, karst shrub forests in south-facing exposure, dry grasslands among forest patches on the plateaus, rocky grasslands in south-facing exposure) of three sampling blocks. Vegetation was examined by phytosociological relevés, microclimate from April to November continuously by TMS-2 dataloggers, and soil by laboratory analyses focused mainly on percentage of different fractions. According to our results a) shrub forests with a south-facing exposure provide a cooler microclimate with temperated fluctuation in the spring–early summer and late summer–early autumn periods; b) plateau grasslands and shrubs are characterised by looser soil structure. Based on our results, heterogeneous habitat character of forest–grassland mosaics of the Pannonicum can mitigate the expected negative effects of climate change on reptiles.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/hacq-2020-0004 | Journal eISSN: 1854-9829 | Journal ISSN: 1581-4661
Language: English
Page range: 189 - 196
Submitted on: Feb 8, 2020
Accepted on: Mar 25, 2020
Published on: Mar 1, 2021
Published by: Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2021 Zoltán Kenyeres, Norbert Bauer, Judit Cservenka, Szilárd Szabó, Sándor Tóth, published by Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.