Studies on Crested Newts in Salzburg (Austria) and Neighbouring Regions

Crested newts are fascinating amphibians due to theirspectacular courtship display, high adaptation to the aquatichabitat, dragon-like appearance and many other aspects of theirbiology. They are severely threatened in Central Europe despitestrong protection. The reasons for the decline are manifold.Destruction and fragmentation of habitats are the main factors. Asthese habitats must meet special requirements that also supportmany other species, they are excellent indicators for biodiversity.In the EU-Habitats Directive crested newts are listed in AppendixII&IV. Therefore data on their conservation status have highimportance. Conservation-related research often faces the problemof being too precise for funding by public authorities, but alsotoo little innovative for support of the scientic community.However, basic and conservation-related research are intrinsicallytied to each other when conservation action plans are needed. Theaim of this thesis was to combine these two aspects when studyingdistribution, habitat features, hybridisation, population geneticsand conservation status of crested newts in Salzburg (Austria) andsurrounding regions.