Anfibi sul Montello: distribuzione dei siti riproduttivi in un territorio carsico prealpino

Amphibian breeding communities were studied on Montello, a karst hill in the Venetian Pre-Alps (North-East Italy), mainly between 2006 and 2009, by locating suitable ponds and checking for reproductive activity. Out of a total of 10 breeding species, Rana dalmatina was found the most frequent one, followed by Salamandra salamandra and Ichthyosaura alpestris, then by Bufo bufo and Rana latastei. Few breeding sites were detected for Triturus carnifex, Lissotriton vulgaris, Bombina variegata, Hyla intermedia and Pelophylax synkl. esculentus. R. dalmatina, I. alpestris, B. bufo and R. latastei were found frequently syntopic, as were P. synkl. esculentus, T. carnifex and L. vulgaris. Communities differed mainly between large, perennial ponds (supporting up to 8 species) and smaller, often temporary, shaded water bodies (with much fewer species, in particular S. salamandra or B. variegata).