Manual for compilers Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers 1 Commissioner: Netherlands’ Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) Supervising Committee (in formation): Tony Gent (HCT) Jan-Willem Sneep (NL Ministry of LNV) Alexander van Opstal (NL Ministry of LNV) Chris van Swaay (Dutch Butterfly Conservation) Vacancy (invited) Vacancy (invited) 2 Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers Manual for compilers Identifying Important Herpetofaunal Areas in Europe Phase 1: Species accounts A. H. P. Stumpel (Alterra) K. F. Corbett (HCT) Alterra-rapport 821 The Herpetological Conservation Trust, Bournemouth, 2003 Alterra, Wageningen, 2003 Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers 3 ABSTRACT A.H.P. Stumpel and K.F. Corbett, 2003. Manual for compilers; Identifying Important Herpetofaunal Areas in Europe. Phase 1: Species accounts. Wageningen, Alterra, Alterra-rapport 821. 50 blz.; 19 figs.; 11 tables; 14 refs. The project ‘Important Herpetofaunal Areas in Europe’ (IHA) aims at mapping the areas and sites where threatened reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna) are living and where rich assemblages of species occur. Phase 1 deals with the most threatened herpetofauna according to a list of target species: 43 reptiles and 16 amphibians. Phase 2 (still underway) covers all European countries of which the nationally important areas will be mapped. A network of co-workers all over Europe has been established. They provide their information by means of a questionnaire, which is a computer programme that can be downloaded from the internet (www.iha.alterra.nl). This manual is meant to provide help when going through the various menus of this questionnaire. Key words: amphibians, atlas, conservation, Europe, herpetofauna, manual, mapping, questionnaire, reptiles, target species Cover photos by A.H.P. Stumpel. Main photo: Hermann’s tortoise, Testudo hermanni hermanni (Les Mayons, France); Below from left to right: Parsley frog, Pelodytes punctatus (Draguignan, France); Adder, Vipera berus (Diever, Netherlands); Lilford’s wall lizard, Podarcis lilfordi jordansi L. (Isla Moltona, Mallorca, Spain). ISSN 1566-7197 This report can be ordered by paying € 18,- to bank account number 36 70 54 612 by name of Alterra Wageningen, IBAN number NL 83 RABO 036 70 54 612, Swift number RABO2u nl. Please refer to Alterra-rapport 821. This amount is including tax (where applicable) and handling costs. The Herpetological Conservation Trust 655a Christchurch Road Boscombe, Bournemouth Dorset BH1 4AP United Kingdom © 2003 Alterra P.O. Box 47; 6700 AA Wageningen; The Netherlands Phone: + 31 317 474700; fax: +31 317 419000; e-mail: [email protected] No part of this publication may be reproduced or published in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the written permission of Alterra. Alterra assumes no liability for any losses resulting from the use of the research results or recommendations in this report. [Alterra-rapport 821/oktober/2003] 4 Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 7 Chapter 2. About the project 9 Objectives 9 Full colour book 9 Organization 9 Conservation aspects 10 2 Phases 10 How can you participate? 10 Chapter 3. Identifying Important Herpetofaunal Areas 11 Criteria for the selection of target species 11 Criteria for selecting Important Herpetofaunal Areas 14 Guidelines for selecting Sites and Areas of importance 15 Confidential sites 16 Area maps 17 Photos 17 Chapter 4. Writing an introductory paragraph 19 The introductory paragraph 19 Chapter 5. Filling in the questionnaire 21 The questionnaire 21 The programme 21 Chapter 6. Planning and deadlines 45 Time-schedule (provisional) 45 Chapter 7. Acknowledgements 47 Chapter 8. Bibliography 49 Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers 5 Chapter 1. Introduction Reptiles and amphibians include some of the most threatened vertebrates in Europe. The identification of their key habitats and their mutual relationships is urgently needed in order to achieve significant conservation efforts. Mapping the already known areas and setting conservation priorities is the first step to contribute to this goal. The status of the European reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna) has been investigated by means of the Bern Convention in the Council of Europe since the mid 1980's (CORBETT 1989). The preliminary results revealed many severe threats to both classes of vertebrates. Many species were in urgent need of conservation measures and a trend of decline and habitat deterioration was recognized. Although the conservation process started with policy actions via national Recommendations, there remained a need of detailed knowledge about habitats to be protected. In the meantime, international programmes such as the Pan European Ecological Network (PEEN) and Natura 2000 underlined the importance of mapping the most important habitats of reptiles and amphibians. During the late 1990’s the I.U.C.N. Species Survival Commission's Group for European Herpetofauna (SSC-EH), in conjunction with the Conservation Committee of the Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH-CC), began compiling a set of Action Plans for threatened amphibians and reptiles, one element of which is site protection. This report focuses on Important Herpetofaunal Areas from a European point of view. It links up well with current projects on birds (HEATH & EVANS 2000), butterflies (VAN SWAAY & WARREN 2000), dragonflies (KETELAAR, IN PREP.) and plants, which have similar approaches as regards aims, ideas and methods. It should be stressed that these areas for reptiles and amphibians in no way represent a final selection in conservation terms, ie. the area/site identification only reflects the available knowledge and data. For many species/taxa further time and resource expenditure will be required. Amphibians and reptiles are particularly vulnerable groups; most are confined to small territories or home ranges, within which they have little ability to escape from land development, or even short-term changes. This vulnerability is considerably exacerbated in the more temperate parts of Europe where these animals spend up to 6 months or more in hibernation/torpor. It is essential therefore that their key habitats are clearly identified and protected against loss or adverse change. While the public and political interest in nature conservation is increasing, that for amphibians and reptiles has tended to remain in the shadow of the more popular groups such as flowering plants, butterflies, birds, and mammals. As a consequence, their overall decline has largely gone unnoticed and certainly not addressed, while minimal use has been made of their significance as indicator Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers 7 species for many important European habitats. The above shows that whilst the primary conservation objective should be to prevent global extinctions of species of European importance, we must not forget the conservation and enhancement of surviving threatened populations and their distribution range, and hence Europe’s biodiversity. An excellent starting point is the clear identification of Important Herpetofaunal Areas. In this respect there is an important role to be played by the SEH-CC and SSC-EH. Both organisations possess unique expertise on the above fields and a long history of academic and conservation contacts all over Europe. The result of this project will be an overview of the most Important Herpetofaunal Areas in Europe. They may contain threatened species of European importance (and therefore global target taxa) which would be considered as of global importance. Equally, they may contain herpetofaunal taxa primarily found in Europe, threatened in Europe, and/or on Appendix II of the Bern Convention or Annexe II or IVa of the European Union's Habitat and Species Directive. Moreover, they may occasionally represent areas with rich assemblages of different taxa, including some fitting the threatened definitions above, as revealed by SEH-CC surveys (VOESENEK & VAN ROOY 1984; HELMER & SCHOLTE 1985); thus they indicate the remaining pristine areas of Europe. Herpetological taxonomy is in progress of refinement, which is revealed by the changing taxonomical status of many amphibians and reptiles. For this reason, the herpetofaunal list consists of taxa, representing species and sub-species. 8 Alterra-rapport 821: Manual for compilers Chapter 2. About the project With the help of (inter)national experts it will be possible to determine Important Herpetofaunal Areas (IHA’s) in Europe, which will be published in a full colour book. This will provide valuable information for conservationists, planners and policy makers. Objectives · Identification and promotion of awareness of important sites in Europe for the conservation of amphibians and reptiles; where possible with quantitative criteria; · Presentation of the herpetological value of sites and areas in a comparative and reliable way, where possible with quantitative criteria; · Help with directing conservation activity and available funding towards these sites; · Provision of a tool for planning and management, at practical and political levels, through the presentation of key information on herpetofaunal habitats and conservation status, together with a summary of related issues such as land-uses, threats, and legal protection; · The method shall link up with those for birds, butterflies, dragonflies and plants across Europe; · Presentation of the data according to a standardized method on behalf of the