Threatened Amphibians And Reptiles In Europe

This book provides a brief description of the ecology and natural history of sixteen amphibians, eight snakes and lizards and the Chelonia species found in the temperate climatic region of Europe (North-west Europe). The book commences with an introduction to the biology of amphibians and reptiles and describes the differences between the main grou

"The European Red List is a review of the conservation status of c. 6,000 European species (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fishes, butterflies, dragonflies, and selected groups of beetles, molluscs, and vascular plants) according to IUCN regional Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level - in order that appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve their status. This publication summarises results for Europe's 151 native species of terrestrial and freshwater reptiles. Approximately one fifth of these species are threatened with extinction at the European level as a result of threats including habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, pollution, overhasting, and deliberate persecution." -Ed.

The Mediterranean-rim countries hold around 400 million people and 135 million of them live on the coast. A steady migration towards coastal areas, specifically in the south and east of the Mediterranean, is causing pressure on the coastal environment and, more importantly, on its biodiversity. In this second Mediterranean regional assessment, all the reptile and amphibian species existing within the region of study have been evaluated for their global conservation status. This assessment aims to assist in regional planning and to help identify internationally important sites for biodiversity. Like the first in the series, it also hopes to encourage development of a network of regional experts to enable future assessments and the continued updating of the baseline dataset.