Monitoring the most abundant population of the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) in Prague

B.Sc. Guido Fernández Koch

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Salamandra salamandra is a well-known salamander species in Europe, extending its range all the way from the Iberian Peninsula to Poland and the Balkan Peninsula. In recent years, its conservation status is being negatively affected by human activities e.g. habitat fragmentation and global warming, plus facilitated spread of infectious diseases. The situation in the Czech Republic is not dissimilar. By national legislation it is classified as an endangered species, due to recent declines that risk the presence of this animal in this country. The aim of this project is to determine the population estimate of the fire salamander in the Black Valley (Černa rokle), Prague, for the year 2023. To obtain population estimates, firstly, a CMR with18 nighttime visual encounter surveys and four additional datasets was compiled and analysed with the Jolly - Sebber model. The population size of past research was compared with the newly generated population estimate. Other data, such as sex or stage of the individuals, date, rain, and wind were also added. The Jolly – Sebber model gave out a population estimate of 582 fire salamanders for the Black Valley site, with a 95% interval of confidence in between 414 and 819 individuals. This represents a 45% decrease of the reported population for the 2020 census of the Black Valley, respectively. As for the VES (Visual Encounter Surveys), it reported that the population in Black Valley has at least 190 fire salamanders. It was also noted that fire salamanders in the Black Valley still have a natural pattern to the climatic changes according to the seasons of the year. It was concluded that there is enough evidence to say that the Salamandra salamandra population is facing an almost 50% decrease. The seasonal behaviour barely shows any change, though, but it has to be monitored to understand the effects of the climatic changes on the largest fire salamander population of Prague.

Keywords

Amphibians, Prague, Salamander, Capture Mark Recapture

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 29. 3. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 22. 5. 2024
• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Jiří Vojar, Ph.D.
• Reader: Jana Svobodová, Ing.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Master programme:
Nature Conservation