VOLUM OMAGIAL - Facultatea de Ştiinţe ale Naturii şi Ştiinţe Agricole

The present situation of the nose horned viper.../ Ovidius University Annals, Biology-Ecology Series 14: 115-120 (2010)
humans. In such cases, the vipers had usually been hit
to death with stones or other
hard objects. No instances of natural death were
identified among the dead individuals.
All the inventoried individuals in each
researched habitat were quantified and the
determination of the viability degree of the
populations was attempted by means of calculating
the identified adult/juveniles proportion [18]. The
calculation of the viability degree also took into
account the state of the habitats and particularly the
level of human intervention, starting from the premise
that a natural or semi-natural habitat offers much
better conditions for the survival of a nose horned
viper population than an anthropogenic one.
3. Results and Discussions
The study has rendered evident certain aspects
that complete the data regarding the state of the nose
horned viper populations in Dobrudja. Thus, if before
our researches, it was considered that Vipera
ammodytes montandoni has a relatively large
distribution in Dobrudja [7], [19], [9], our data rather
bring arguments in favor of the idea that this
subspecies currently occupies small habitats in more
or less strictly delineated areas. This aspect supports
the idea that the exchanges of individuals among
populations are very poor or lack completely. This
may lead in time to the reduction of the intrapopulation
genetic diversity.
Also, most of the habitats of nose horned viper
populations in Dobrudja are intersected or bordered
by roads. Thus, it was observed that, out of a total of
thirty-eight locations situated in the Romanian part of
Dobrudja where populations of nose horned viper had
previously been mentioned [7], only in twenty-five of
them (65.8%) the presence of this herpeto-taxon
could be rendered evident. Numerous monasteries
and hermitages have been built over the past ten years
and their presence already generates a rise in the
number of direct kills in some locations where there
were populations of nose horned viper such as
Babadag Forest, Gura Dobrogei, Dumbraveni,
Hagieni and the foot of Pricopanului Peak.
The existence of this Dobrudja subspecies could
no longer be evidenced in the other thirteen locations
116
previously mentioned as habitats for nose horned
viper populations.
The study has evidenced the fact that in
Dobrudja (both the Romanian and the Bulgarian
side), the largest populations of Vipera ammodytes
montandoni are situated in Dumbraveni Natural
Reserve, Babadag Forest, Priopcea Hill, Macin
Mountains National Park, Gura Dobrogei Natural
Reserve, the ruins of Adamclisi fortress, Canaraua
Fetii Natural Reserve, Rusalka, Kaliakra, Bolata
Dèrè, Yaillata and Kamen Bryag. Of the total
inventoried individuals in the researched areas, 14%
were represented by animals whose death was a result
of the anthropogenic impact. Among these, 67% are
represented by vipers killed deliberately, most having
a crushed skull, and 33% are road kills, especially in
spring when these reptiles prefer to bask directly on
road asphalt (figure 1).
67%
33%
Fig. 1. The raport Road kill/Direct kill
road kills
direct kills
The estimation of population viability in
Dumbraveni Natural Reserve, Babadag Forest,
Priopcea Hill, Macin Mountains National Park, Gura
Dobrogei Natural Reserve, the ruins of Adamclisi
fortress, Canaraua Fetii Natural Reserve, Rusalka,
Kaliakra, Bolata Dèrè, Yaillata and Kamen Bryag
evidenced the fact that the number of juveniles
compared to that of adults is relatively high in these
areas, which could thus indicate a high viability of
these populations. As a whole, the situation is
graphically illustrated in figure 2.
In what regards the abundance of individuals in
the researched populations, it was observed that in
locations such as Gura Dobrogei, Babadag,
Dumbraveni, Adamclisi, Hagieni, Canaraua Fetii and
Bolata Dèrè, the number of identified individuals is
higher (figure 3). Still, this aspect only leads to the