A regional analysis on the amphibian and reptile communities from the Carpathian Mountains and the abiotic factors that shape their distributions and community assemblages

Abstract

Understanding how climate and land cover currently shape species distributions and community structure is crucial to inform conservation decisions. Unfortunately, limited information is available for the relative importance of climatic and land use variables in determining the distribution of amphibians and reptiles. Here, we studied amphibian and reptile communities from the Carpathian Mountains, asking (i) to what extent is the distribution of reptiles and amphibians determined by environmental gradients, (ii) does the response to these factors differ between amphibians and reptiles, and (iii) are reptile and amphibian communities at higher altitudes more similar to each other than communities from lower altitudes. We found that forests, pastures, and heterogeneous arable land best explain the composition of the herpetofauna, with mountain communities associated with coniferous forests, and lowland species with mixed or broad-leaved forests and pastures. Our results also suggest that reptiles and amphibians respond idiosyncratically to the influence of climate and land use. Reptiles responded more to land use and less to climate variables compared with amphibians. Of the three amphibian hybrids registered, one (Bombina) was associated with heterogeneous arable land. These results have potential implications for future conservation planning, especially in the light of global climate change and changes in land use. Hence, local and regional processes are important in shaping amphibian and reptile communities.