Distribution and conservation status of snake eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory, 1833) in Croatia

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1 NORTH-WESTERN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 7 (1): on-first NwjZ, Oradea, Romania, 2011 Article No.: Distribution and conservation status of snake eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory, 1833) in Croatia Gergely SZÖVÉNYI 1 & Dušan JELIĆ 2 * 1. Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology of the Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Hungary. 2. State Institute for Nature Protection, Trg Mažuranića 5, Zagreb, Croatia * Corresponding author, D. Jelić, dusan.jelic@dzzp.hr Received: 05. April 2009 / Accepted: 06. December 2010 / Available online: 17. December 2010 Abstract. During a survey in June, 2008 a new population of Ablepharus kitaibelii was found in the Slavonia Nature Park Papuk, NE Croatia. The presence of a viable population was later confirmed. The locality is isolated by more than 130 km from the nearest known populations in Hungary (Balaton Uplands) or Serbia (Fruška Gora) and has an area of occupancy less than 2.5 km 2. Other localities in Croatia (Donji Miholjac and Ilok) were previously mentioned in literature only as personal observations, without any voucher specimens or reliable photographs. Finding of the skink on Papuk mountain leads us to conduct additional field surveys in Donji Miholjac and Ilok. In June 2009 A. kitaibelii was reconfirmed after 25 years in Ilok city park. These two localities are presently the only known habitats of this species in Croatia. Based on the very small area inhabited by the species, the high-level isolation of the population, and different threatening factors, we suggest that Ablepharus kitaibelii should be assigned Near Threatened (NT) regional status in Croatia. Key words: Slavonia; threatened; new record; habitat destruction Introduction The snake-eyed skink, Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory, 1833 is the only representative of its genus in Europe, and the northernmost European species of the Scincidae (Herczeg et al. 2004). The general distribution of the species and various subspecies has already been discussed in details by different authors (Werner 1897, Klaptocz 1910, Stepanek 1938, Fuhn 1969, 1970, Gruber 1981, Schmidtler 1997). In Europe it is known from the southern part of Slovakia, Hungary, most of Serbia, southern and eastern parts of Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, including the Aegean and the Ionian Islands, and Turkey (Fejérvary 1912, Pasuljević 1977, Gruber 1981, Gasc et al. 1997, Tomović et al. 2001, Ljubisavljevic et al. 2002, Herczeg et al. 2004). It was mentioned only once for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sofradžija 1978). In the north-western part of its distribution, two morphologically different subspecies are present. Ablepharus k. fitzingeri Mertens, 1952 is characteristic of the Carpathian Basin (nom. nov. pro Ablepharus pannonicus Fitzinger, 1824), while A. k. stepaneki Fuhn, 1970 occurs in the northern half of the Balkan Peninsula southeastward from the distribution of A. k. fitzingeri (Mertens 1952, Gruber 1981, Ljubisavljević et al. 2002, Džukić & Kalezić 2004). According to the detailed morphological studies of Lubisavljević et al. (2002) performed in Serbia and Macedonia, these two subspecies seem to be connected by a broad intergradation zone in central Serbia. This gradual change can be found in the contact zones of southern continental subspecies as well (Lubisavljević et al. 2002, Poulakakis et al. 2005). The possible presence of snake-eyed skink in Croatia is discussed only by Janev-Hutinec et al. (2006) in the Red Book of Amphibians and Reptiles of Croatia. It is stated that one sighting is known from the vicinity of Donji Miholjac (Northeastern Croatia) in 1891 and another from a town park in Ilok (Eastern Croatia) in Afterwards no more individuals were found and its recent presence was considered extremely doubtful. Its national IUCN status in Croatia is data deficient (DD) (Janev- Hutinec et al. 2006). The aims of the present study are to review critically the known historical records of snakeeyed skink in Croatia and to present the results of our own field survey together with records of field researchers with reliable knowledge on Ablepharus kitaibelii. In addition, important remarks on the current conservation status of A. kitaibelii in Croatia are also provided, and an updated distribution map is drawn.

2 Szövényi, G. & Jelić, D. Material and Methods During our study we reviewed critically the known historical records of snake-eyed skink in Croatia and made several field surveys in order to try to confirm its presence. Donji Miholjac was surveyed in three occasions (August 2008, June 2009, July 2009), Ilok in two occasions (May 2009, June 2009) and Papuk mountain four times (twice in June 2008, August 2008, October 2008). Animals were collected by hand in the field during random searching through the forest floor and the undergrowth vegetation. All specimens were examined, measured, photographed and then released alive back to the place where they were found as soon as possible. Results The recent discovery of snake-eyed skink in Papuk mountain was connected to a zoological survey of Slavonia, by biologists form the Eötvös University (Budapest, Hungary). (1.) The first specimens were found fortuitously on 11 June 2008, between 4 and 5 PM on the southwestern slope of the ridge Turjak (Croatia, Papuk Mountains, Velika: N ' E '; 605 m a.s.l.) in a small oak forest clearing by the first author. Afterward 3 additional adults were found in the next half hour, at the same area at similar and lower elevation (down to 550 m a.s.l.), near the trail. The weather was warm but cloudy (about C) after a short, intensive shower. Further detections: (2.) Velika, 28 June 2008 between 4 and 7 PM. One additional specimen was found on the road to Turjak and Mališćak on 350 m a.s.l., two more specimens on the road to Mališćak on the ridge Turjak at 628 m a.s.l., and the last one on the ridge, a little further from the mountain trail on 649 m a.s.l. The weather was very sunny and warm (25-27 C). (3.) Velika, 6 August 2008 between 2 and 5 PM two adult specimens were found at the lower part of Turjak, under the mountaineering track, where it reaches the ridge (490 m a.s.l.), and one subadult in the hillside of Mališćak, close to the border of the neighboring dolomite quarry (585 m a.s.l.). The weather was cloudy and moderately warm (23-25 C). (4.) Velika, 1 October 2008 between 1 and 3 PM nine adults and subadults and five juvenile specimens with light reddish orange tail were counted in about 90 minutes of searching along the mountaineering trail of Turjak ridge (clearings and opening forests' floor on both sides of the path). The weather was partly sunny without any wind (18-21 C). Redescovery of Ilok population: (5.) Ilok city park (Croatia, Ilok: N ' E '; 108 m a.s.l.) - on 20 June 2009, after one unsuccessful survey in May 2009, the first individual of A. kitaibelii was found in late afternoon around 6 PM by the second author. It was found in high grass under Robinia pseudoacacia trees which constitutes extremely degradated habitat for this species. Later another 7 adult individuals were caught in just a couple of meters from the original finding site. Weather was warm and sunny (27-30 C). Individuals from the new population on Papuk mountain (Fig 1.) and Ilok city park were determined as A. k. fitzingeri Mertens, 1952 on the basis of their morphological characteristics and their occurrence in the north-western border of species range (Ljubisavljević et al. 2002, Herczeg et al. 2004). The reddish coloration of the tail of newly hatched juveniles is known in Hungarian and Slovakian A. k. fitzingeri populations as well (Koncz 1998, Herczeg et al. 2002, Korsós et al. 2008). During the research, five syntopic species of reptiles (Table 1.) were recorded and no amphibian species. This is probably partly due to the lack of any temporary or permanent water bodies in the neighborhood of both habitats. Table 1. Syntopic reptile species detected in the Papuk and Ilok habitats. Papuk Ilok Coronella austriaca Laurenti, 1768; + Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768); + Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758; + + Lacerta viridis Laurenti, 1768; + + Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768). + + The vegetation of the snake-eyed skink's habitat in the Turjak (Papuk Mountain) is dominated by light Quercus pubescens forests with Fraxinus ornus and Juniperus communis bushes, and open areas with rocky forest floor covered by litter and a well developed herbaceous layer (e.g. Chrysopogon gryllus, Festuca sp., Carex sp.) (see Fig. 2). According to National classification of habitat types (Antonić et al. 2005) these are classified as Orno- Quercetum pubescentis Klika This forest community is usually found on steep, dry and very warm southern mountain slopes in North

3 Ablepharus kitaibelii in Croatia Croatia, representing remnants of thermophilous Tertiary vegetation. In the Papuk Mountains, it is restricted to a few small sites of dolomite rock basement in the vicinity of Velika town (Pliš, Turjak and Mališćak summits). In contrast, the remaining habitat of snakeeyed skink in Ilok is situated on a small loess hill in the center of the town. The top of the hill has resisted urbanization because the great castle of Ilok is situated on it and there was a defensive wall built around it. Later this area around the castle was turned into a City Park. Today there is a great number of introduced, exotic and cultivated plants in the Park and only small patches of original habitats can be found on the steep southern slopes of the hill. This habitat type is also dominated by light Quercus pubescens forest patches and well developed herbaceous layer (e.g. C. gryllus, Festuca sp., Carex sp.) similarly to the one described in Papuk. Lizards are often found in seminatural habitats with light Robinia pseudoacacia forest with well preserved herbaceous layer. Part of the slope is being overgrown by the invasive Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle and Amorpha fruticosa L. trees and bushes, making the habitat unfavorable for snake-eyed skinks. No individuals were found in areas where the grass was intensively cut (Fig. 3.). Discussion The snake-eyed skink is listed in the Appendix 2 of the Bern Convention (Council of Europe 1994), and in the Annex IV of European Union Habitat Directive (European Commission 1992), as a species in need of strict protection. In the Carpathian Basin the snake-eyed skink is associated with the biomes of steppes and woodland steppes towards the biomes of Submediterranean broad-leaved woodlands and shrublands (Lubisavljević et al. 2002). It inhabits different types of habitats on a wide range of rock basement and soil formations, e.g. sandstone, dolomite, limestone, andesite, basalt, volcanic gabbro, dacite tuff, loess and calcareous sand (Harmos & Herczeg 2003, Herczeg et al. 2004). It occurs on places of transitional (ecotone) character with common and sessile oak, also on the rock and litter covered floor of opening thermophilous forests, and sometimes on open rocky grasslands with shrubs, or even on south-facing slopes covered by closed steppic grassland vegetation (Lubisavljević et al. 2002, Herczeg et al. 2004, 2007, Puky et al. 2005). Former findings in Croatia According to the Red Data Book of Amphibians and Reptiles of Croatia (Janev-Hutinec et al. 2006) the snake-eyed skink is present in Croatia. One finding of the species is mentioned in this book from the vicinity of Donji Miholjac (Northeastern Croatia, Drava river's Plain) in 1891 and another sighting from a town park in Ilok (Eastern Croatia, near the Danube at the foot of Fruška Gora Hills) in 1984 (see Fig. 4). The former was mentioned in the Archives of the Prandau family from Donji Miholjac in 1895, and recently discovered by Z. Tadić, while the latter is mentioned as personal communication by N. Tvrtković. Neither of these two occurrences was confirmed or represented by voucher specimens or photographs, thus the possibility of a mistake should also be taken into account. After the discovery of a viable population in Papuk Nature Park, we led several herpetological field trips and reconfirmed the presence of snake-eyed skink in Ilok. Surveys in Donji Miholjac did not provide the confirmation of the existence of a remaining A. kitaibelii population, or even the presence of any apparently suitable habitat there. Conservation status While the snake-eyed skink is considered to be more or less widespread in the southern part of its area, the northern subspecies, especially A. k. fitzingeri, shows a highly fragmented distribution pattern in the Carpathian Basin, due to climatic and edaphic factors and the intensive human presence (Ljubisavljević et al. 2002, Herczeg et al. 2004). Although several localities have been described in the last decades in Slovakia and Hungary, many well known populations became extinct or declined dramatically in the same period (Kočárek & Palochová 1997, Ljubisavljević et al. 2002, Harmos & Herczeg 2003, Herczeg et al. 2004, Korsós et al. 2008). Most of the populations of this subspecies are of relatively small sized and threatened by different factors. Beside the natural successional changes (forestation) of its grassland habitats, Harmos & Herczeg (2003), Herczeg et al. (2004) Puky et al. (2005) and Korsós et al. (2008) mention several direct human factors, like the urbanization (expansion of residential sections of settlements, or even the intensive human activities, especially different technical sports in the neighboring natural areas), open-pit stone mining (quarries), inten-

4 Szövényi, G. & Jelić, D. Figure 1. Ablepahrus kitaibelii adult form Turjak (Velika, Croatia) found in June (photo: D. Jelić) Figure 2. Typical habitat of Ablepahrus kitaibelii on Turjak (Velika, Croatia). June (photo: D. Jelić). Figure 3. Habitat of Ablepahrus kitaibelii in Ilok City Park (Ilok, Croatia). On the left a small patch of habitat with higher grass and on the right a flat area of the park where the grass is cut every 3-4 weeks. June (photo : D. Jelić). Figure 4. Historical and present distribution of Ablepharus kitaibelii in Croatia. Notes: Shaded areas mark the distribution area in Papuk Mountains and in Ilok. sive forest management (deforestation of forests, or reforestation of grasslands, which are inhabited by snake-eyed skinks), intentional burning of grasslands, intensive agricultural utilization of its habitats (vineyards, orchards, ploughlands, intensive grazing) and illegal deposition of garbage, re-

5 Ablepharus kitaibelii in Croatia sulting in habitat pollution, destruction or loss. Similarly, negative effects can be caused by some human mediated factors: massive habitat change due to the rapid colonization of allochtthonous and sometimes invasive plant species (e.g. Ailanthus altissima, Pinus nigra, Syringa vulgaris, Robinia pseudoacacia), overgrazing and soil erosion caused by high-density game populations (e.g. Ovis ammon, Sus scrofa) and direct predation of specimens by feral cats and dogs (Herczeg et al. 2004). The snake-eyed skink is strictly protected in Croatia (Nature Protection Act, National Gazette 70/05, 139/08). Its newly discovered population can be found inside the borders of the Papuk Nature Park, thus the whole habitat is officially protected. Ilok population is found in the small park forest on the top of the loess hill in the center of the city. We found different factors that threaten the mentioned populations as follows: (1) Habitat destruction and loss by dolomite stone exploitation. A huge quarry is located near Velika, in the vicinity of recent Ablepharus habitats. This activity presumably already destroyed a considerable part of the suitable habitats. (2) Inappropriate forest management. In the eastern side of Turjak monocultural black pine (Pinus nigra) plantations can be found, probably instead of former open oak forest, a suitable habitat for snake-eyed skink. Cutting of natural forests and planting black pines, any other allochthonous species or homogeneous oak plantation to the former habitats may even lead to the extinction of the local Ablepharus population fragment through the hardly reversible changes in the microhabitat structure, food availability and interpopulation interactions between the syntopic lizard species as well (Herczeg et al. 2007). Additionally, black pines have already started to colonize the small natural clearings of sessile oak forests, the most suitable places for snake-eyed skinks. This is a warning signal of a slow, but absolutely unfavorable process of vegetation change from the point of view of all this vulnerable and valuable biocoenosis. (3) Habitat destruction by rigorous grass cutting in the central flat part of the park (Fig. 3.) and spreading of invasive plant species (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Amorpha fruticosa L., Robinia pseudoacacia L.) on the steep southern slopes of the hill overlooking the city of Ilok. These plants overgrow the ground vegetation and make unfavorable habitats with too much shadow. (4) Disturbance caused by general human presence (i.e. tourism in Papuk Nature Park and Ilok City Park). The mountaineering trail climbing up to the summit of Mališćak (a popular destination point) from Velika runs along the Turjak ridge, touching a considerable part of the snakeeyed skink habitat; such disturbance may have a negative impact on this population. Ilok City Park is opened for visitors and many people gather there each day, especially over weekends. Conclusions The Ablepharus kitaibelii population in the Papuk Mountains (Pliš, Turjak and Mališćak summits area) and Ilok city park are the only recently confirmed occurrences of the species in Croatia, covering together an area of only 4,1 km 2 (Fig. 4). These restricted habitat-complexes seem to sustain viable snake-eyed skink populations. However some negative effects should be obviated. The most important of these is to stop the further expansion of the quarry in Velika (Papuk Mountain), which seriously endangers the whole habitat complex here, and presumably has already destroyed it to some extent. The strict regulation of the forest and wildlife management in this area would also be significant for long term conservation of this habitat. Logging should be avoided, except for the black pine (which can easily be eliminated even by hand-tools), and the populations of game (wild boar and deer) should be kept at relatively low density in cooperation with Papuk Nature Park authorities. In Ilok city park, grass cutting should be done in the way that animals are left with sufficient hiding places during their whole activity period, and park edges should be annually cleared of invasive plants that tend to overgrow and make too much shaded habitat. Informing tourists about the importance of strict protection of habitats and making them keep to the paths could also have a positive effect on the whole habitat in both locations. Another question is that this species probably - similarly to vegetation - forms a part of the remnant of a more thermophilous biota that was more widespread in the past, and it is possible that it is more widely distributed than previously suspected. Therefore, considerable efforts should be taken to investigate further similar areas (i.e. south-facing open thermophilous oak forests occurring on limestone, dolomite or loess basement) in the Papuk Mountains and Ilok surroundings.

6 Szövényi, G. & Jelić, D. Currently Ablepharus kitaibelii is included in the Red Data Book of Amphibians and Reptiles of Croatia (Janev-Hutinec et al. 2006) as Data Deficient (DD) species. Based on a very small area of occupancy (less than 5 km 2 ), populations isolation, several threatening factors, and the 2001 IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria version 3.1 (IUCN 2001, 2008), we deem the species to be assigned to the Near Threatened (NT) regional status in Croatia. We recommend that a national action plan for snake-eyed skink conservation should be written and a monitoring program should be established. Acknowledgements. We thank Gergely Boros, Marija Dolenc, Vlatka Dumbović, Goran Jelić, Béla Kancsal, Sára Márialigeti, Gellért Puskás, Ivica Samardžić, Branko Štivić and the anonymous referees for their active help during the research in the Papuk Nature Park and in their aid in the writing of the manuscript. 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