Zotos Savvas, Stamatiou Marilena, Naziri Andrea, Meletiou Sotiris, Demosthenous Stalo, Perikleous Konstantinos, Erotokritou Elena, Xenophontos Marina, Zavrou Despo, Michael Kyriaki, Sergides Lefkios
Terra Cypria, The Cyprus Conservation Foundation, Agiou Andreou 341, Limassol 3035, Cyprus.
Terrestrial Ecosystem Management Lab, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia 2220, Cyprus.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Apr 9;11(4):1077. doi: 10.3390/ani11041077.
The critically endangered Cyprus grass snake () has been studied for the past 25 years. Although the need for a complete survey on the distribution of its population, outside the strict boundaries of the known mountainous localities, had been stressed, such an effort has not been conducted to date. In this study, we used a rapid survey approach to investigate possible sightings of the species upstream of the known distribution in the Troodos Mountains. We are presenting evidence from 13 sightings of the species that expand the previously known distribution in Cyprus by nearly 70%. This is the first time that new localities for the critically endangered have been reported since the rediscovery of the species in 1992 and the extensive work that followed. Almost all new localities were discovered outside of the currently known species distribution, while individuals were found, for the first time, within the Natura 2000 site of Dasos Machaira (CY2000004) with indications of healthy populations in the area. New localities were recorded within watersheds of the Pediaios and Gialias Rivers, the first sightings outside of Serrachis watershed, indicating an even broader distribution of the species in the Troodos region. The importance of sparse springs within systems of ephemeral streams is highlighted as an exceptional niche for the population in the region. We are discussing the importance of our findings for the conservation of the species and propose targeted conservation actions that will highly improve connectivity of the populations in the region. We underline the necessity of expanding the research on this critically endangered subspecies, based on current findings, so as to fully comprehend its ecology and distribution range in the region.
极度濒危的塞浦路斯草蛇（）在过去25年里一直受到研究。尽管人们一直强调需要在已知山区严格边界之外对其种群分布进行全面调查，但迄今为止尚未开展此类工作。在本研究中，我们采用快速调查方法，调查在特罗多斯山脉已知分布区域上游可能出现该物种的情况。我们提供了13次该物种目击事件的证据，这些证据使塞浦路斯此前已知的分布范围扩大了近70%。这是自1992年该物种重新被发现及随后开展广泛工作以来，首次报告该极度濒危物种的新分布地点。几乎所有新地点都是在目前已知的物种分布范围之外发现的，同时首次在Dasos Machaira（CY2000004）的自然2000保护区内发现了个体，表明该地区有健康的种群。新地点记录在佩迪亚奥斯河和贾利亚斯河的流域内，这是在塞拉基斯流域之外的首次目击，表明该物种在特罗多斯地区的分布更为广泛。短暂溪流系统中稀疏泉水的重要性被凸显为该地区种群的一个特殊生态位。我们讨论了研究结果对该物种保护的重要性，并提出了有针对性的保护行动，这将极大地改善该地区种群的连通性。我们强调，基于当前的研究结果，有必要扩大对这种极度濒危亚种的研究，以便全面了解其在该地区的生态和分布范围。
