Albert Montori

CREAC (Centre de Recerca i Educació AMbiental de Calafell) GRENP/Aj. de Calafell

Thermal tolerance and preferred temperature experimental procedures were conducted on the western and eastern subspecies of critically endangered Montseny Brook newt (C. arnoldi). The results obtained showed that the CTmax of the species exceeded 31 °C, with a significant difference between the two subspecies. We found that the species tolerates lo...

The present study analyses the reproductive behaviour of the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) in the drylands of Mas de Melons. A total of six different breeding ponds e.g. characterized by hydroperiod or subtract type- were monitored from 2012 to 2020. The results indicate that the reproductive behaviour of the natterjack toad in Mas de Melons...

In ectothermic animals,heat seems to be a determining factor because it influences many vital activities such as locomotion, the ability to escape, feeding, and reproduction, among others. In aquatic environments, physical characteristics of water prevent small ectotherms from thermoregulating and therefore it is expected that their body temperatur...

Aquesta pregunta tots la voldríem respondre positivament amb el convenciment que tenim una certesa del cent per cent. La veritat és que tots els esforços realitzats fins ara, fonamentalment dins del projecte Life Tritó del Montseny, han conduït a un molt millor coneixement de l'ecologia i la biologia del tritó del Montseny i la situació del tritó d...

En aquest estudi es pretén avaluar els canvis temporals i específics en la recollida de dades de ciència ciutadana al portal ornitho.org, durant el confinament estricte per la pandèmia de COVID-19 a Catalunya, comparant-los amb anys anteriors i posteriors (2018-2022). Durant el confinament estricte del 15 de març de 2020 (setmana 12), fins el 2 de...

El tritó del Montseny és un petit amfibi pertanyent al grup dels urodels, és a dir, als amfibis amb cua. Pertany a la família dels salamàndrids, que inclou tritons i salamandres, amb una gran diversitat d'espècies per tot el món. En el nostre cas, el tritó del Montseny pertany al gènere Calotriton, el qual té dues espècies: el tritó del Pirineu (Ca...

Com va ser la descoberta d'una espècie tan singular ALBERT MONTORI FAURA 17/11/2023 Contínuament llegim que s'estan descobrint noves espècies, sovint a indrets força allunyats de casa nostra. És fàcil d'entendre que a països poc habitats i poc estudiats apareguin noves espècies cada cop que s'hi va. Ara bé, que això passi a la vella Europa on sembl...

Existen distintas metodologías para conocer tendencias poblacionales, detectar declives y disponer de los elementos de diagnosis necesarios para la gestión de poblaciones y especies. Hasta hace poco muchos seguimientos sólo valoraban el estado de las poblaciones comparando distribuciones. Sin embargo, es necesario realizar seguimientos a largo plaz...

The Montseny massif shelters the southernmost western populations of common frogs (Rana temporaria) that live in a Mediterranean climate, one which poses a challenge for the species' persistence in a scenario of rising temperatures. We evaluated the effect of climate change at three levels. First, we analysed if there has been an advancement in the...

Discoglossus pictus is a North African amphibian that was introduced in southern France early the 20th century and has spread south and north along the Mediterranean coastal plains up to 170 km. In order to disentangle the conservation implications of the spread of D. pictus for sensitive native species, we examined the impact of long‐term climate...

The global degradation of wetlands is increasing their susceptibility to invasions, which is greatly determined by a niche overlap between native and invasive species. We analyze its role in regulating the coexistence of the native Mediterranean stripe-necked terrapin Mauremys leprosa and the invasive Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans in a...

En aquest context va néixer fa uns anys el projecte "Situació del tritó pirinenc (Calotriton asper) al Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró". El seu objectiu principal és obtenir una imatge precisa de l'estat actual de conservació del tritó en un dels parcs del Pirineu català més importants. Des de 2018 s'han fet esforços per prospectar la majoria dels to...

Silent pandemics: emerging diseases of amphibians.– Emerging infectious diseases are one of the leading causes of the decline of amphibian species and populations globally. These diseases are caused by pathogens that have expanded their geographical range, mainly as a result of trafficking and trade of species worldwide. The increase in geographica...

Calotriton arnoldi is an endemic amphibian inhabiting Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve (PNRBM), listed as “critically endangered (CR)” by IUCN. At the end of 2016, the Life Tritó del Montseny (LIFETM) project (LIFE15 NAT/ES/000757) was launched. The aim of the project was to promote around fifty actions to ensure the conservation of C. a...

Due to the speed of climate changes, rapid buffering mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity – which may depend on breeding phenology – could be key to avoid extinction. The links between phenology and plasticity, however, remain understudied. Here we explored the matching between phenology and the thermal sensitivity of standard (SMR) and routine...

Calotriton arnoldi is an endemic amphibian inhabiting Montseny Natural Park and Biosphere Re-serve (PNRBM). It was recognized as a new taxon in 2005 by means of genetic and morphologi-cal analyses and, due to its small distribution range and population size, it was listed as “Criti-cally endangered (CR)” by IUCN. Its area of distribution is small a...

The Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi) is one of the most endangered amphibians in Europe, and most aspects of its biology and population dynamics are little known. We estimated the demographic parameters of the species at two distinct sites encompassing the environmental variability in habitat features by using a capture-recapture Huggins ro...

Citation: Peñuelas, J.; Germain, J.; Álvarez, E.; Aparicio, E.; Arús, P.; Basnou, C.; Blanché, C.; Bonada, N.; Canals, P.; Capodiferro, M.; et al.

En els darrers anys s’ha constatat un declivi notable de les poblacions d’amfibis a escala mundial i el 41% de les espècies conegudes estan amenaçades (Unió Internacional per a la Conservació de la Natura, 2020). Un dels factors principals causants d’aquesta davallada són les malalties infeccioses provocades per fongs, virus o altres patògens, que...

Biosecurity, an Essential Tool for Amphibians’ Conservation The detection in the last two years of highly-infective amphibian pathogens in a few localities in El Montnegre i el Corredor Nature Park has triggered all the alarms, making it necessary to modify the amphibian monitoring protocols in order to prevent their dispersal to other localities...

In the last forty years, continental vertebrates have suffered a sharp decline in Catalonia. Many autochthonous species are threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation, environmental pollution, and interaction with invasive alien species. A hybridization between autochthonous species and exotic or domestic species is occurring. The number of e...

The Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi) is a critically endangered amphibian species which inhabits a small 20 km2 holm oak and beech forest area in NE Spain. Calotriton arnoldi strictly lives in running waters and might be highly vulnerable to hydrological perturbations expected to occur under climate and vegetation cover changes. Knowledge a...

We analyse if the presence of the invasive Discoglossus pictus and the native Epidalea calamita in the same geographic area can shape the dynamics of infection by Batrachochytridium dendrobatidis (Bd). Both amphibian species share breeding habitat preferences in the area (i.e. ephemeral and temporary ponds) and are common syntopic competitors. We s...

Trophic interactions are important factors structuring animal communities. Although food resource partitioning among salamanders living in syntopy has often been explored in freshwater systems, the potential influence of ontogenetic shifts and seasonal patterns on resource partitioning is little known. The aim of this study was to explore the seaso...

Current climate warming has already contributed to local extinctions. Amphibians are one of the most sensitive animal groups to climate change, currently undergoing a global decline. Predictive models for Europe and Iberian Peninsula forecast that the future impact of climate change on amphibians will depend on their capacity to alter their distrib...

En paraules de la desapareguda Creu Casas al seu discurs d’acceptació com a sòcia d’honor de la ICHN el 2002, el Delta era percebut per molts naturalistes històrics com una «terra de promissió», on es podien recol·lectar espècies molt interessants. Aquesta percepció encara perdura, potser un xic més apaivagada, entre els nombrosos afeccionats a la...

Al delta del Llobregat, la fragmentació i pèrdua d’hàbitats s’expliquen per un important augment demogràfic i de desenvolupament al llarg del segle XX, que va provocar variacions en les necessitats de la població i que es va traduir el l’augment de la superfície destinada a zones industrials, als serveis i al port i l’aeroport, en detriment d’espai...

El delta del Llobregat és un dels territoris més fascinants de la geografia catalana. Malgrat la seva proximitat a la ciutat de Barcelona, ha estat un lloc remot i desconegut fins ben recentment a causa de les seves dures condicions de vida —que mantenien una baixíssima densitat de població— i de la manca d’infraestructures de comunicació —que el f...

Confirming eradication success can be notoriously difficult and costly, especially when the species is still present but remains undetected, due to very low population densities and imperfect detection methods. There has been a lack of research on appropriate guidelines and estimation procedures for declaring eradication success for programs aimed...

Abstract. Intraspecific morphological variation of anuran tadpoles occurs in response to several factors. Causes and consequences of this variation have been largely studied hitherto in controlled environments, but data from natural habitats is clearly less abundant. Here, we present a series of observations on the morphology – mainly tail depth –...

The presence of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers negatively affect aquatic communities in general, and particularly amphibians in their larval phase, even though sensitivity to pollutants is highly variable among species. The Llobregat Delta (Barcelona, Spain) has experienced a decline of amphibian populations, possibly related to the reducti...

Wildlife mortality on roads is a global conservation problem. To implement a cost-effective programme of mitigation measures, it is essential to determine spatial and temporal patterns of traffic collisions. Identifying seasonal road-collision patterns could make it possible to schedule and optimize monitoring programmes. We evaluated seasonal vari...

Skeletochronology was used to estimate age and several life history traits of the Iberian spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes) from a semiarid zone of the Ebro Valley (in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula). The lines of arrested growth (LAGs) were clearly visible in all cross sections of the adult phalanges, showing fast growth in the first year o...

Contributions to herpetology of the Iberian congress

El criterio fundamental para considerar que una especie es alóctona en el territorio español se basa en la constatación de que la coloniza-ción no ha sido natural, sino de origen antró-pico. Según este criterio, debemos considerar como poblaciones alóctonas la mayoría de las tratadas en este volumen, con algunas excepcio-nes como Testudo graeca en...

Since the last update of the distribution of amphibians in the Parc del Garraf i d’Olèrdola in 1998, not only has increased the knowledge of their distribution, but also has obtained extensive information on the phenology of the species. Data are obtained from monitoring reports of the Park, from SARE project carried on Parc del Garraf and from num...

Many studies have identified climate warming to be among the most important threats to biodiversity. Climate change is expected to have stronger effects on species with low genetic diversity, ectothermic physiology, small ranges, low effective populations sizes, specific habitat requirements and limited dispersal capabilities. Despite an ever-incre...

Populations of most species of freshwater turtles in Europe show negative trends due to a number of factors. The European distribution of the Mediterranean stripe-necked terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula and a small area in southern France. The species is considered common in Spain and Portugal but has shown a decr...

Reptiles and frequently amphibians can be located inside cavities. Its presence is voluntary in some cases and they use the hypogeum environment as a refuge. However, these animals are trapped ocassionally without possibility to go outside and they die because of inanition, hypothemia or dehidration. This article generally describes which aspects a...

Populations of most species of freshwater turtles in Europe show negative trends due to a number of factors. The European distribution of the Mediter-ranean stripe-necked terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula and a small area in southern France. The species is considered common in Spain and Portugal but has shown a decr...

The evolutionary association between morphology, locomotor performance and habitat use is a central element of the ecomorphological paradigm, and it is known to underlie the evolution of phenotypic diversity in numerous animal taxa. In anuran amphibians the hindlimb acts as the propulsive agent, and as such, it is directly associated with jumping p...

A comprehensive review of the natural history of the Whip Snake Hierophis viridiflavus in Spain.

La AHE puso en funcionamiento en 2010 el SIARE, que pretende ser un sistema de registro de observaciones herpetológicas y un mecanismo de seguimiento e inventario de la herpetofauna, que sea útil tanto para establecer las tendencias a largo plazo como para detectar la pérdida de biodiversidad herpetológica. Además, el SIARE actúa como el portal de...

The painted frog, Discoglossus pictus, was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula 100 years ago and its distribution has steadily increased since then. We studied the effects of this non-native amphibian species on the native ones in the northeastern area of the peninsula. We compared amphibian assemblages in regions with and without D. pictus to es...

Amphibians living in streams are often subjected to spates. These waterfloods are the main cause of organism drift and mortality, and these effects can be confounded with population decline. Discrimination between population decline and natural fluctuations in unpredictable habitats requires the study of population dynamics through monitoring and l...

It is predicted that climate change will drive extinctions of some reptiles and that the number of these extinctions will depend on whether reptiles are able to change their distribution. Whether the latitudinal distribution of reptiles may change in response to increases in temperature is unknown. We used data on reptile distributions collected du...

RESUMEN Los galápagos acuáticos continentales condicionan su actividad anual a las condiciones ambientales de la zona donde residen, especialmente las condiciones climáticas e hidrológicas del hábitat (estrechamente relacionadas a las anteriores). En el nordeste peninsular están presentes dos especies de galápagos autóctonos: Emys orbicularis y Mau...

The extension of road networks is considered one of the major factors affecting fauna survival. Roadkill has been documented widely and affects all taxonomic groups. Although roadkill is associated mainly with traffic density, some life-history traits of species and the area surrounding roads are expected to modify number of roadkills both taxonomi...

Resum Es confirma la supervivència de la població de gripau d'esperons Pelobates cultripes (Cuvier, 1829) a Gavà (Baix Llobregat) UTM: 31T DF17. Resumen Se confirma la supervivencia de la población de sapo de espuelas Pelobates cultripes (Cuvier, 1829) en Gavà (Baix Llobregat) UTM: 31T DF17. Abstract The survival of the population of Western Spadef...

Currently, Land Stewardship is a strategy in rise in the projects of conservation of natural, cultural and landscape values. It is based on the work in common between two or more agents. Main characters agents are the owners of enclaves to be kept and land trusts who sign a land stewardship agreement for territory's responsible management and its c...