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Hydropower plants (HPPs) have a strong environmental impact on freshwater wetlands. Small diversion HPPs (SDHPPs) with 0.1-10 MW of installed power, redirect water from small mountainous rivers into several-kilometer-long tubes, disrupting complex dynamics of local aquatic food webs and their interactions with neighbor terrestrial food webs. It certainly affects local aquatic communities, but it is often neglected that two highly threatened vertebrate groups - amphibians and reptiles - which live in and around these wetlands, could be affected as well. In the Balkan peninsula, a part of Southeastern Europe, SDHPPs recently became very attractive and profitable for potential investors after they were proclaimed as eligible for subsidies from the national budget. As a result, in year 2019, the maximal projected number of SHPPs in the Balkans increased to 4,749. According to the literature data, approximately 28% of amphibian species in the Balkan Peninsula use small rivers and streams in the upper parts of watersheds as feeding, breeding and/or nursery habitats. Additionally, 38% of the total number of reptile species in Europe are registered in the hilly/mountainous areas of the peninsula, and 33% of these species strictly need humid habitats. The attempt of this mini-review is to present the facts which show that SHPPs and DSHPPs, in the way they are currently being installed, present harmful energy solution for the biodiversity of the mountain parts of Balkan peninsula, particularly for local amphibian and reptile populations which rely on lotic aquatic ecosystems and/or humid terrestrial habitats.

U ovom radu, prikazujemo ažurirane podatke o distribuciji kompleksa vrsta slepića (Anguis fragilis complex) u Srbiji. Podaci se sastoje iz nalaza objavljenih u literaturi ili na Internetu, zajedno sa prethodno neobjavljenim distribucionim podacima sakupljenim na terenu. Od dve vrste kompleksa prisutne u Srbiji, Anguis fragilis je rasprostranjen u zapadnim i južnim krajevima naše zemlje dok je Anguis colchica prisutan u severoistočnim i istočnim krajevima. U najsevernijim delovima naše zemlje konstatovano je odsustvo obe vrste, zbog nedostatka odgovarajućeg staništa. Nalazi su brojniji u planinsko-kotlinskom regionu i ređi i raštrkaniji u peripanonskom i panonskom regionu, što se delimično može objasniti nesistematskim uzorkovanjem. Lokacija i širina kontaktne zone dve vrste slepića u Srbiji je još uvek nedovoljno poznata. Pretpostavlja se da se pruža duž doline Velike Morave ka jugu a zatim prati granicu između Rodopskog i Karpatsko-Balkanskog planinskog masiva ka jugo-istoku, ali postoje indicije da se hibridna zona nalazi i zapadnije. Postoji izvesno neslaganje, u literaturi, između kontaktne zone predložene na osnovu morfoloških analiza i one predložene na osnovu molekularnih analiza. Ovo ukazuje na potrebu za opsežnijim uzorkovanjem i daljim analizama. Konačno, pošto razdvajanje dve kriptičke vrste slepića do sada nije prepoznato u našoj nomenklaturi, u ovom radu predlažemo zvanične srpske nazive za navedene vrste. Vrsta Anguis fragilis će zadržati standardno srpsko ime "Slepić", dok za vrstu Anguis colchica predlažemo ime "Istočni slepić".

We recorded the movements of adult Eastern Hermann’s tortoises ( Testudo hermanni boettgeri ) in a local population situated in a complex forested habitat system. The average total movement range size (TMRS) calculated over three consecutive years was 4.56 ha and 7.53 ha for males and females, respectively. The largest estimated TMRS of male and female tortoises was 27 ha and 90 ha, respectively. Six females and three males (or 9% and 4%, respectively, of the overall sample) had a movement range size (MRS) greater than 10 ha. Significant differences between male and female MRS were not detected. Body size had no influence on the MRS of individuals in the sample, except on the core movement range size (CMRS) in males. Although the collected data did not enable calculation of the home range in the studied population, the results indicate that the calculated average TMRS of local Hermann tortoises is larger than the average home range in some other populations. Therefore, in the absence of information on the home range size of local adult tortoises, the MRS could be a suitable alternative for planning local species reserves. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS170217013S Received: February 17, 2017; Revised: April 2, 2017; Accepted: April 19, 2017; Published online: April 28, 2017 How to cite this article: Stojadinovic DM, Cubric T, Milosevic ĐD, Jovanovic BLj, Corovic JV, Paunovic M, Crnobrnja-Isailovic JM. Contribution to the knowledge of spatial movements of adult Hermann’s tortoises. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(4):671-7.