TERENSKA NOTICA / FIELD NOTE
45
Record of an Alpine Salamander (Salamandra atra) on Menišija plateau, Central Slovenia
NAJDBA PLANINSKEGA MOČERADA (SALAMANDRA ATRA) NA MENIŠIJI PLANINI
Miha KROFEL
Zavrh pri Borovnici 2, SI-1353 Borovnica,
E-mail: mk_lynx@yahoo.co.uk
On 14th August 2004 at 9 a. m., while walking over the Smrečni rob on Menišija plateau (UTM VL48, Central Slovenia), I came across an Alpine Salamander (Salamandra atra). It was a sunny morning after a rainy night and I found it on a tarmac road in a Dinaric mixed forest (Omphalodo-Fagetum) at 680 meters above sea level. The occurrence was confirmed on 11th August next year, when another (or perhaps the same) individual was found in the same locality (J. Kus Veenvliet, pers. comm.).
Most records of the Alpine Salamanders in Slovenia are known from the Julian and Kamnik-Savinja Alps, while from the Dinarides only scarce data exist, with the finds at Travni vrh near Hotedršica and Mašun on Snežnik plateau being the closest known localities to the Menišija plateau (CKFF database, cited on 17.8.2005). Of interest is also the elevation of the new locality, since Alpine Salamanders usually inhabit areas between 800 and 2200 m a. s. l. (Veenvliet & Kus Veenvliet 2003). The find from Menišija plateau indicates that this species may be distributed throughout the Dinaric range of Slovenia to a much greater extent than suggested by current data, and that somewhat lower elevations should be considered as possible sites as well.
Literature
Veenvliet P., Kus Veenvliet J. (2003): Dvoživke Slovenije: priročnik za določanje. Zavod Symbiosis,        Grahovo,       pp.        20-21.