Researchers: Dr. Daniel Escoriza, Mr. Santi Poch and Dr. Dani Boix

The Mediterranean region is a point of high biological diversity and includes complex communities of reptiles and aquatic amphibians. However, these communities are severely threatened by the huge anthropic pressure that these habitats are subjected to, including new threats such as the spread of exotic species and emerging diseases. This group of organisms plays a key role in the trophic interactions of bodies of water, particularly in Mediterranean temporary ponds.

The goals for this line of research are:

• Evaluating the impact of exotic species on communities of native amphibians and reptiles.
• Analysing the environmental factors that determine the state of native populations of amphibians and reptiles and/or favour the expansion of exotic species, such as the painted frog or red-eared slider.
• Studying the ecological requirements for species that are particularly sensitive and/or endemic, such as the Iberian ribbed newt, the grass snake and the pond turtle.

Publicacions representatives:

Escoriza, D. and Boix, D., 2012. Assessing the potential impact of an invasive species on a Mediterranean amphibian assemblage: a morphological and ecological approach. Hydrobiologia, 680: 233-245.

Escoriza, D., 2018. Patterns of occurrence of semi-aquatic reptiles in highly invaded Mediterranean rivers. NeoBiota, 38: 23.

Escoriza, D., Hassine, J.B., Boix, D. and Sala, J., 2020. Diet of larval Pleurodeles waltl (Urodela: Salamandridae) throughout its distributional range. Limnetica, 39: 667-676.

Escoriza, D., Franch, M., Ramos, S., Sunyer-Sala, P. and Boix, D., 2020. Demographics and survivorship in the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis): a 31‒year study. Herpetological  Conservation and Biology, 15: 41-48.

Poch, S., Sunyer, P., Pascual, G., Boix, D., Campos, M., Cruset, E., Feo, C., Fuentes, M.A., Molina, A., Porcar, A., Pérez-Novo, I., Pou-Rovira, Q., Ramos, S. and Escoriza, D. 2020. Alien chelonians in north-eastern Spain: new distributional data. The Herpetological Bulletin 151: 1-5.

Escoriza, D., Sunyer, P., Poch, S. and Boix, D., 2021. Habitat overlap and body condition in aquatic turtles: are there additive effects between invasive and native species?. Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, 422: 2.