Diversity and distribution of amphibians in Romania

By

Cogălniceanu, Dan
Székely, Paul
Samoilă, Ciprian
Iosif, Ruben
Tudor, Marian
Plăiaşu, Rodica
Stănescu, Florina
Rozylowicz, Laurentiu

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2013

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

296

Pages

35-57

Subjects

Amphibia , biodiversity data , rarity , species distribution , species range , species richness

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.296.4872

 

Abstract

Nineteen species of amphibians inhabit Romania, 9 of which reach their range limit on this territory. Based on published occurrence reports, museum collections and our own data we compiled a national database of amphibian occurrences. We georeferenced 26779 amphibian species occurrences, and performed an analysis of their spatial patterns, checking for hotspots and patterns of species richness. The results of spatial statistic analyses supported the idea of a biased sampling for Romania, with clear hotspots of increased sampling efforts. The sampling effort is biased towards species with high detectability, protected areas, and large cities. Future sampling efforts should be focused mostly on species with a high rarity score in order to accurately map their range. Our results are an important step in achieving the long-term goals of increasing the efficiency of conservation efforts and evaluating the species range shifts under climate change scenarios.