Much of their typical lowland steppe habitats have been lost due to human activity (e.g. Meadow vipers live in highly fragmented lowland steppes or subalpine-alpine grasslands. rakosiensis) or critically endangered ( V. ursinii including all subspecies), endangered ( V. Some taxa are classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as vulnerable ( V. ursinii is a species listed in CITES (Appendix I), in the Bern Convention (Appendix II) and in the European Union’s Habitats Directive (Appendix II and IV), and also protected by national legislation in most of its distribution range, except in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. ursinii complex are among the most endangered viperid species in Europe (Nilson and Andrén, 2001). Taxa in the Vipera ursinii species complex ( Acridophaga subgenus, Reuss, 1927, hereafter referred to as meadow vipers) are especially vulnerable, because most have a highly fragmented distribution, ranging from Eastern France to Western China (Nilson and Andrén, 2001). Therefore, precise information on their distribution is fundamental for the effective conservation of their populations (Johnson and Gillingham, 2005). Montane species are especially vulnerable in this regard, as their distribution is often not only restricted, but also highly fragmented and isolated (Ehrich et al., 2007). Our study serves as a baseline for further ecological research and for conservation measures for one of the least known European viperid snakes.Īn increasing number of species are threatened by habitat changes (Brooks and Kennedy, 2004) and those with restricted distributions face an elevated risk of extinction (Malcolm et al., 2006). Our surveys increased the number of known populations by 60% and the known geographical range of the subspecies by approximately 30%. These high montane habitats are separated by deep valleys and are threatened by overgrazing, soil erosion, and a potential increase in the elevation of the tree line due to climate change. All localities were subalpine-alpine calcareous meadows above 1600 m. graeca and a low number of identified haplotypes suggested low genetic variability among populations despite significant spatial isolation. Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences also confirmed the identity of the snakes as V. Morphological characters undoubtedly supported that all individuals found at these new localities belong to V. Six populations (Dhëmbel, Llofiz, Griba, Shendelli, Tomorr and Trebeshinë Mountains) are reported here for the first time. Based on 78 live individuals and 33 shed skins, we validated the presence of the snake on eight of the eleven mountains. The model predicted suitable areas for eleven mountains in southern Albania, which we visited in ten field expeditions in four years. We used species distribution modelling based on climate data from known localities in Greece to estimate the potential distribution of the subspecies. The subspecies was previously reported from eight localities in Greece and one locality in southern Albania. Vipera ursinii graeca is a restricted-range, endemic snake of the Pindos mountain range in the southwestern Balkans.
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