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Many herpetofauna species have been introduced outside of their native range. MtDNA barcoding is regularly used to determine the provenance of such populations. The alpine newt has been introduced across the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, geographical mtDNA structure across the natural range of the alpine newt is still incompletely understood and certain regions are severely undersampled. We collect mtDNA sequence data of over seven hundred individuals, from both the native and the introduced range. The main new insights from our extended mtDNA phylogeography are that 1) haplotypes from Spain do not form a reciprocally monophyletic clade, but are nested inside the mtDNA clade that covers western and eastern Europe; and 2) haplotypes from the northwest Balkans form a monophyletic clade together with those from the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains. We also home in on the regions where the distinct mtDNA clades meet in nature. We show that four out of the seven distinct mtDNA clades that comprise the alpine newt are implicated in the introductions in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Ireland. In several introduced localities, two distinct mtDNA clades co-occur. As these mtDNA clades presumably represent cryptic species, we urge that the extent of genetic admixture between them is assessed from genome-wide nuclear DNA markers. We mobilized a large number of citizen scientists in this project to support the collection of DNA samples by skin swabbing and underscore the effectiveness of this sampling technique for mtDNA barcoding.

We report, for the first time, evidence of predation by a shrike (Lanius sp.) on the lizard Mesalina adramitana. This is the first record of predation by shrikes on lizards in Qatar. Whilst we did not directly observe the event, the presence of shrikes in the area and the method of impalement indicate shrikes as the predator. The lizard was found freshly impaled on a palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), at 150 cm above ground. Bird species of the genus Lanius are well-known predators of lizards, and in arid environments reptiles are likely common prey for these birds. We provide a review of literature concerning predatory events by shrikes on reptiles and amphibians. We suggest inspection of shrubs for animals impaled by shrikes can improve biodiversity inventories, complementing other commonly used methods.

New analytical methods are improving our ability to reconstruct robust species trees from multilocus datasets, despite difficulties in phylogenetic reconstruction associated with recent, rapid divergence, incomplete lineage sorting and/or introgression. In this study, we applied these methods to resolve the radiation of toads in the Bufo bufo (Anura, Bufonidae) species group, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa to Siberia, based on sequences from two mitochondria] and four nuclear DNA regions (3490 base pairs). We obtained a fully-resolved topology, with the recently described Bufo eichwaldi from the Talysh Mountains in south Azerbaijan and Iran as the sister taxon to a clade including: (1) north African, Iberian, and most French populations, referred herein to Bufo spinosus based on the implied inclusion of populations from its type locality and (2) a second clade, sister to B. spinosus, including two sister subclades: one with all samples of Bufo verrucosissimus from the Caucasus and another one with samples of B. bufo from northern France to Russia, including the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas and most of Anatolia. Coalescent-based estimations of time to most recent common ancestors for each species and selected subclades allowed historical reconstruction of the diversification of the species group in the context of Mediterranean paleogeography and indicated a long evolutionary history in this region. Finally, we used our data to delimit the ranges of the four species, particularly the more widespread and historically confused B. spinosus and B. bufo, and identify potential contact zones, some of which show striking parallels with other co-distributed species. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion; Universidad de Castilla la Mancha; European Union [HU-TAF-181]; Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [CGL2008-04271-C02-01/ BOS]; Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha [PPII10-0097-4200]; Hungarian Sc

24 páginas, 7 figuras, 5 tablas., 1. Species assemblages of diatoms, rotifers, chydorids, planktonic crustaceans and chironomids were studied in 235 alpine lakes in the Alps, Pyrenees, Tatras (Western Carpathians), Retezat (Southern Carpathians) and Rila Mountains (Balkans). 2. For all taxonomic groups we found a hierarchical structure in the community assemblage using distinct scales of lake clustering (number of k-means groups) based on species composition similarity (Hellinger distance). We determined the optimal partition in assemblage types (i.e. number of lake clusters) for each taxonomic group by maximising the sum of the taxon indicative value (IndVal) and performed discriminant analyses, using environmental variables not conditioned by geographical patterns. Relevant environmental variables differed among and within taxonomic groups. Therefore the assemblages respond to a complex environmental mosaic, with the exception of diatom assemblages, which followed an acid–base gradient. 3. The significant environmental variables could be grouped into four general factors: lake size, tropho-dynamic status, acid–base balance and ice-cover duration (i.e., altitudinal gradient). Lake size was significant for the highest number of assemblage types; however, the most significant factor differed among taxonomic groups: acid–base balance for diatoms, lake size for rotifers, ice-cover duration for chydorids and planktonic crustaceans and tropho-dynamic status for chironomids. No single environmental typology accounted for the assemblage structure of all taxonomic groups. 4. However, defining ecological thresholds as values within environmental gradients at which the rate of change in assemblages is accelerated relative to points distant from that threshold, we were able to find specific threshold values for each of the four main general environmental factors identified, which were relevant across several taxonomic groups: 3 ha for lake area; 0.6 mg L−1 for dissolved organic carbon; 190 days for ice-cover duration and 200 μeq L−1 for acid neutralising capacity. Above and below these values ecosystem organisation change substantially. They have direct applications in establishing lake typologies for environmental quality and biodiversity conservation programmes, and in improving predictions about global change impacts., The financial support from the EU projects EUROLIMPACS (GOCE-CT-2003-505540) and EMERGE (EVK1-CT-1999-00032) is acknowledged. This is a GRACCIE (CSD2007-00067) contribution.

Lacul Negru is a remote lake located in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, within the Retezat National Park. In 2000, four sediment cores were taken from the deep area of the lake for a multi-pollutant, multi-proxy study to determine temporal trends in pollutant inputs and ecological change. One core was radiometrically dated and the other cores correlated to it by lithostratigraphic means. Analyses included persistent organic pollutants (POPs), trace elements, spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S), pigments, and the preserved remains of cladocerans and chironomids. Indications of contamination from as early as the 16(th) century occur in the records of zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) and from the 18(th) century for lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg). Temporal agreement between the records of Hg, Pb, arsenic (As) and SCPs suggests recent contamination from coal combustion sources, while the record of pyrolitic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) also implicates other industrial sources. The level of contamination in the sediments of Lacul Negru is typically higher than in mountain lakes in Scandinavia, but lower than that found in the Tatra Mountains, the Central Alps and in the UK. Chironomid, cladoceran, elemental (C, N and S) and pigment data all indicate changes in response to an increase in the trophic status of the lake since the beginning of the 20(th) century which may be linked to the introduction of grazing animals between 1920 and 1960. Elemental analysis also points to an increase in autochthonous production while pigment dataindicate an increase in invertebrate grazing pressure within the lake. This seems to correspond with trends in the fish population which, despite repeated attempts at re-stocking in the 1960s, has declined, possibly as a result of limited availability of spawning areas within the lake.

Submitted on: 2009, 21th October; revised on: 2010, 27th, August; accepted on: 2010, 22th October., We report the observation of an event of mortality of ribbed newts (Pleurodeles waltl) and Iberian spadefoot toads (Pelobates cultripes) due to predation by a pair of otters (Lutra lutra) in a temporary pond complex in southern Spain. The peculiar predation mode on ribbed newts, with extraction of soft organs through an incision in the upper part of the thorax, may result in an under estimate of the importance of this species in the diet of otters. The high number of dead amphibians killed by two otters in only several hours suggests that the presence of these predators may pose a serious threat to amphibian populations. The risk is especially high in arid areas, with few ponds, synchronous reproductive migration, and high density of animals. We consider that measures promoting the conservation and population and range increase of otters might have a negative impact on amphibians., Synthesys ES-TAF-1964 provided travel funds for DC. Fieldwork was funded by Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (Spain) projects TEMPURA, CGL2005-00092/BOS and ACURA, CGL2008-04814-CO2/BOS, and CGL2006-27892-E/BOS.

Contiene resumen en inglés y en rumano, [EN] Amphibians are ectothermic organisms, characterised by complex life cycles that involve the occurrence of some major changes (e.g. morphological, physiological, behavioural changes) throughout their ontogenetic development, usually associated to habitat type transitions (e.g. from aquatic to terrestrial) (Wilbur 1980). Ontogenetic development in amphibians is constrained by environmental humidity, given the high permeability of the egg protective layers (Duellman & Trueb 1994). Amphibians are suffering a severe worldwide decline, being among the most affected vertebrates with nearly one-third (32.5%) of the species threatened (Houlahan et al. 2000; Stuart et al. 2004; Lannoo 2005; McCallum 2007; Collins & Crump 2009; Baillie et al. 2010). The causes of this phenomenon are complex and yet poorly understood, while the responsible environmental stressors are multiple, interact among them, and often act synergistically (Young et al. 2001); furthermore, their impact may vary regionally, both within and between species (Blaustein & Kiesecker 2002; Gascon et al. 2007; Sodhi et al. 2008; Blaustein et al. 2012). The major responsible factors documented are habitat fragmentation and destruction, climate change, UV-B radiation level increase, chemical pollution, pathogens, alien species, over-exploitation (e.g. Young et al. 2001; Baillie et al. 2010; Vitt & Caldwell 2014). Acting individually or together, environmental stressors may induce a series of direct or indirect changes upon amphibians’ phenology, behaviour, physiology, metabolism (also affecting their body condition), and depending on their severity, may cause population declines (e.g. Sodhi et al. 2008; Hoffmann & Sgrò 2011; Blaustein et al. 2012). As organisms with indeterminate growth, amphibians may adopt a diversity of strategies (or trade-offs) in resource allocation between growth and reproduction to maximize reproductive success and survival, in response to a given environment (e.g. Heino & Kaitala 1999; Fox et al. 2001; Cogălniceanu & Miaud 2003; Morrison & Hero 2003; Iturra-Cid et al. 2010; Hjernquist et al. 2012; Cogălniceanu et al. 2013). I used various approaches and methods and focused my studies upon life history trade-offs in amphibians within the context of global environmental changes. Therefore, I proposed a set of objectives that allowed me to characterize a broad range of life history strategies in the studied populations, throughout different stages of their life cycle, MATERIAL AND METHODS The studied amphibians are representatives of three anuran families: Pelobatidae (Pelobates fuscus and P. syriacus), Bufonidae (Bufo bufo and Rhinella schneideri) and Microhylidae (Dermatonotus muelleri), and one urodelan family: Salamandridae (Lissotriton vulgaris)., GENERAL GUIDELINES (faunistical data)  original data and information should be easily and clearly delineated from those already published;  where possible, the associated metadata regarding habitat, environmental conditions at the moment of the study, life stage of the observed individuals, number of individuals, etc., should be exhaustively provided;  It is highly desirable to provide supplementary information, such as killed animals (e.g. road kills, intentional killing, vandalism, predatorism/cannibalism), the presence Doctoral thesis summary Adaptive strategies in amphibians living under environmental stress Florina STĂNESCU 24 of predatory species, syntopic species, human impact, collected specimens (if applicable) – the name of the institution and the collection where the specimens were deposited and specimen code, photographs, video/audio recordings.  Raw distribution data and associated metadata should be made available online, as annexes in an accessible format (Wieczorek et al. 2012; Costello & Wieczorek 2014)., SPECIFIC GUIDELINES (occurrence data)  occurrence site should be indicated by precise geographic coordinates;  it is recommended to provide information regarding the instrument used to determine the geographic coordinates of the occurrence site, the brand and type (e.g. GPS, Google Earth, Google Maps, etc.);  where, for various reasons, the author does not want to provide the exact site of occurrence using geographic coordinates (e.g. to protect a study population), it is recommended to use UTM grids (e.g. 5×5 km) indicating: the geographic coordinates of the corresponding UTM cell centroid, the code of the UTM cell, the source for the UTM grid (e.g. Lehrer & Lehrer 1990), the name of the nearest locality and the corresponding county/district; in such cases it is also recommended to provide the altitude of the exact occurrence site, and not the altitude of the UTM cell centroid;  for transects up to 500 m within a narrow altitudinal range, the author may provide the geographic coordinates corresponding to the centroid of the transect;  it is recommended to provide the geographic coordinates in a consistent format; WGS 1984 datum with decimal degrees is preferred, as it is the most commonly used by GPS units around the globe;  altitude should be provided for the exact occurrence site;  it is desirable to provide supplementary information regarding the occurrence site: locality, county, toponymy (where applicable), and avoid using exclusively local toponymy, which are difficult to locate for instance, by non-native researchers;  occurrence date should be accurately provided (e.g. dd-mm-yyyy);  it is recommended to provide occurrence data for each species (where applicable), in a centralized format, most desirable as a table, at least for the essential data such as occurrence site, altitude, date., Calling patterns within the spadefoot toad genus Pelobates, grant within the SYNTHESYS Programme [http://www.synthesys.info/] funded by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 "Capacities" Programme, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC), Fonoteca Zoológica, Madrid, Spain (2013) (Florina Stănescu).