Konrad Mebert
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Special Visiting Researcher
I am independent researcher and international project coordinator based in Switzerland with a focus on reptilian research. After a doctoral degree with studying genetics, morphology and ecology in a large hybrid zones between two North American water snake species at Old Dominion University, Virginia, he is now variably associated with the State University of Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
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Bulletin readers, that we consider it appropriate to ask more than one person to review it, so that a wider range of views from the herpetological spectrum is represented. This volume is one of them.
conquered a huge variety of habitats, from oases in deserts of Jordan, Syria and Iran, to marine habitats in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, from below sea level in the Caspian Sea to mountainous valleys as high as 2800 m, and from remote sites
in the steppes of central Asia to thriving populations in busy cities such as Prague and Bucharest. Yet, the knowledge of this piscivorous and very prolific semi-aquatic snake is relatively marginal. This volume of the Mertensiella series represents
the status quo of knowledge about the biology, distribution, and conservation of this versatile snake species by compiling a total of 57 articles and one DVD, involving more than 122 co-/authors, with contributions from more than 22 countries, while
touching 14 additional countries in summary articles. The compendium is lavishly pictured to give you a good impression of the diversity of habitats and snakes from many countries.
back to a meeting in 2009. A brief glimpse of their contents regarding range, habitat, ecology and threats reveal a substantial discrepancy to the current state of knowledge of viper species distribution and threat assessements.
The natural habitat of the Dice Snake is in gradual decline due to the deterioration of water courses, including the construction of dikes, dredging, reclamation, corrections of riverbeds, and other modifications of the hydrology regimes. Consequently, the Dice Snake is classified as protected species in Hungary with a theoretical conservation value of 25 000 HUF.
In April 2011, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Group of MME BirdLife Hungary published a website for online mapping of amphibians and reptiles in Hungary (herpterkep.mme.hu), accumulating 335 Dice Snake records until the end of 2015, showing a nearly country-wide distribution along water bodies. However, many ‘white patches’ remain, lacking any vouchers or sightings of Dice Snakes. In August 2013, thanks to project "Sustainable Nature Conservation On Hungarian Natura 2000 sites" (SH/4/8) funded via Swiss Contribution to the EU, Konrad Mebert was invited for a short-term monitoring and discussion on appropriate field methods for Dice Snakes in Hungary, that resulted in an advisory report (Mebert & Halpern 2013). Similar monitoring protocols have successfully been conducted in countries like Austria or Switzerland (e.g., Duda et al. 2007; Conelli et al. 2011).
The aim of this study is to assess the distribution of N. tessellata in Hungary and evaluate whether this species is in decline nationally and/or locally. The data collected can be used to elaborate a specific action plan, either nationally or regionally, proposing measures of protection and priorities of wetland habitat conservation.