Amphibians and reptiles of the Majella National Park (Central Italy): distribution, ecology and conservation.

This paper focuses on the amphibian and reptile species occurring in the Majella National Park, a mountain habitat of the central Apennines, in the framework of a project aimed at the protection of the most representative habitats and species of the Italian peninsula. Previous knowledge on the herpetofauna occurring in the area was incomplete and scattered in several papers. We collected all past and current available literature and, between 1995 and 2002, carried out field surveys on an area of about 80.000 hectares, to gather all possible information and to provide for the first time a comprehensive annotated checklist of the species with data on their ecology and distribution. All faunal records were inserted on a database, in order to realise a tool to be used for future works and to allow future conservation actions. Information on conservation status of each species was also collected and discussed. In total, we confirmed the occurrence of 13 amphibians (5 Caudata, 8 Anura) and 18 reptiles (2 Testudines, 7 Sauria, 9 Serpentes). They represent almost 80% and 100% respectively of the overall amphibian and reptile species occurring in the Central Apennines. The high diversity of species remarks the high biogeographic and conservation value of the area.