Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Amphibian and reptile distribution in forests adjacent to watercourses
Karlstad University, Faculty of Social and Life Sciences.
2008 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title
Fördelning av amfibier och reptiler i skogar runt vattendrag (Swedish)
Abstract [en]

Worldwide amphibians and reptiles are declining with habitat fragmentation and destruction as the primary cause. Riparian areas are important for the herpetofauna, but as land is converted to agriculture or harvested for timber the areas are diminishing. The aim of this study was to examine amphibian and reptile abundance in relation to distance from water and in relation to habitat characteristics, foremost per cent deciduous trees. The survey was conducted during spring at six different locations, with continuous forest along streams or rivers, outside of Karlstad, Sweden. Animals were searched along four lines parallel to the water and each study area was visited five times. Statistical analyses were made for grass snake (Natrix natrix), common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) and frogs with joined data of common frog (Rana temporaria) and moor frog (R. arvalis). As expected both reptiles were positively correlated with per cent deciduous trees, with the strongest significance for the common lizard. For grass snake there was also a difference between survey periods, which might reflect the importance of weather. Frogs revealed no trends to trees, but there was a significant difference for habitat characteristics like amount woody debris and per cent bare ground. None of the species were correlated with distance from water which was surprising, especially for the frogs which is more dependent on water than the reptiles. Grass snakes hunt in the water, but the common lizard has no such associations to the water, yet the latter did reveal a slight trend towards being more numerous closer to the water. The causes behind lacking correlation to distance from water may be many, but water characteristics seem very important. Many amphibians prefer warm and calm ponds over running water that in general are colder and likely to inhabit more predators. It was assumed that the amphibians breed in the streams or rivers, but it is possible that other water bodies may have served as breeding sites, which mean the starting point was incorrect.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2008. , p. 16
Keywords
Rana arvalis, Rana temporaria, Natrix natrix, Lacerta vivpara, deciduous trees, canopy cover, woody debris, bare ground
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-3301OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-3301DiVA, id: diva2:134116
Presentation
(English)
Uppsok
bio-/geovetenskap
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2009-01-27 Created: 2009-01-18 Last updated: 2009-01-27Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(143 kB)514 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 143 kBChecksum SHA-512
ad90be85521968eca70773ef6dc57b92e0f5406db8fa66b56d41319b3f7b9de5fb8786fa828e41f5e2268310659f1c044162b4e9b7a2889c18318ef7b5f8d24d
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Faculty of Social and Life Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 515 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 432 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf