New cases of winter-active amphibians in the thermal waters of Banat, Romania

Abstract

In the winter of 2010/2011 we identified 6 new thermal habitats, with winter-active amphibian populations in the Banat region of south-western Romania. The diversity of the amphibian species was small, only 2 species were observed: Bombina bombina and Pelophylax ridibundus. In waters with high flow and temperature, the number of winteractive frogs reached several hundred. All the new thermal habitats are artificial, being subjected to a powerful anthropogenic pressure.

Keywords

• Thermal waters
• winter-active amphibians
• temperature
• human impact
• Banat
• Romania