Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy
Predictive models of species distribution may be very useful for understanding actual distribution of elusive species, including several snakes. The southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) is likely the most elusive snake species of peninsular Italy, and is therefore well-suited for predicting p...
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Firenze University Press
2009-07-01
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doaj-cf88e884fd98422596198fc17759e7de2020-11-24T21:27:39ZengFirenze University PressActa Herpetologica1827-96351827-96432009-07-014110.13128/Acta_Herpetol-29502818Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in ItalyPierluigi BombiLuca LuiselliMassimo CapulaDaniele SalviPredictive models of species distribution may be very useful for understanding actual distribution of elusive species, including several snakes. The southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) is likely the most elusive snake species of peninsular Italy, and is therefore well-suited for predicting potential distribution studies. In this paper we predict the potential distribution map of this species in Italy by using MAXENT algorithm, that finds the probability distribution of maximum entropy that is constrained by considered ecological parameters. Presence data for Coronella girondica were gotten from CKmap. The potential distribution model of Coronella girondica showed a very good overall performance (AUC = 0.959), and indicated that high suitability areas correspond mainly to Tyrrhenian north and central regions, including Liguria, western Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and northern Latium. Southern Italian regions were clearly unsuitable for this snake species. Overall, our study revealed that previous distribution maps indicating the occurrence of Coronella girondica in southern Italy and Sicily were poorly reliable. The conservation and management implications of our study are also addressed.https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ah/article/view/1552 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pierluigi Bombi Luca Luiselli Massimo Capula Daniele Salvi |
spellingShingle |
Pierluigi Bombi Luca Luiselli Massimo Capula Daniele Salvi Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy Acta Herpetologica |
author_facet |
Pierluigi Bombi Luca Luiselli Massimo Capula Daniele Salvi |
author_sort |
Pierluigi Bombi |
title |
Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy |
title_short |
Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy |
title_full |
Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy |
title_fullStr |
Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, <i>Coronella girondica</i>, in Italy |
title_sort |
predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the southern smooth snake, <i>coronella girondica</i>, in italy |
publisher |
Firenze University Press |
series |
Acta Herpetologica |
issn |
1827-9635 1827-9643 |
publishDate |
2009-07-01 |
description |
Predictive models of species distribution may be very useful for understanding actual distribution of elusive species, including several snakes. The southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) is likely the most elusive snake species of peninsular Italy, and is therefore well-suited for predicting potential distribution studies. In this paper we predict the potential distribution map of this species in Italy by using MAXENT algorithm, that finds the probability distribution of maximum entropy that is constrained by considered ecological parameters. Presence data for Coronella girondica were gotten from CKmap. The potential distribution model of Coronella girondica showed a very good overall performance (AUC = 0.959), and indicated that high suitability areas correspond mainly to Tyrrhenian north and central regions, including Liguria, western Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and northern Latium. Southern Italian regions were clearly unsuitable for this snake species. Overall, our study revealed that previous distribution maps indicating the occurrence of Coronella girondica in southern Italy and Sicily were poorly reliable. The conservation and management implications of our study are also addressed. |
url |
https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ah/article/view/1552 |
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