Anthropogenic impact or anthropogenic accommodation? Distribution range expansion of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) by means of artificial habitats in the north-eastern limits of its distribution range

Unravelling the origin of the common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) in outh-eastern Europe using mitochondrial evidence

“…Most likely, the SA origin of the Otopeni population is a result of human-mediated transport on inland waterway vessels with construction materials, plants or other goods, as was discovered in other countries ( Hedeen and Hedeen 1999 , Gherghel et al 2009 , Santos et al 2019 ). This introduction resembles another record of P. muralis in the southern part of Ukraine (Reni City) that were introduced from different source populations, but both occurring within the "Central Balkan clade" ( Oskyrko et al 2020 ).…”

Land‐use changes interact with geology to facilitate dispersal of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) and leishmaniasis across Israel and the West Bank

“…Road construction often exposes the local bedrock and soil and provides habitats that differ from their adjacent areas, and these might support the dispersal of native species across inferior environments. For example, grasses growing on exposed soils along roadsides support the dispersion of grassland rodent species in both forests and extensive agricultural areas (Getz et al, 1978 ); and the common wall lizard ( Podarcis muralis ), for example, has expanded to colder regions in Romania by sheltering at stony roadsides (Gherghel et al, 2009 ). It is also commonly recognized that invasive plants too are able to spread in the disturbed soils along roadsides (Follak et al, 2018 ; Lázaro‐Lobo & Ervin, 2019 ; McDougall et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Although anthropogenic land-use changes often negatively impact wildlife through habitat loss and fragmentation (Laurance et al, 1997;Sala et al, 2000), they may also facilitate the dispersal of some species through the creation of novel habitats analogous in form or function to natural ones (Balbontín et al, 2008;Lundholm & Richardson, 2010;Mendelssohn & Yom-Tov, 1999). Such habitats allow animals to move across otherwise unhospitable terrain (Gherghel et al, 2009) or beyond the species' preferred climatic range (Cannizzo Id & Griffen, 2019). With the ongoing and intensifying global land-use processes (Lawler et al, 2014), understanding and predicting the impacts of these changes on wildlife distributions are urgent scientific priorities for conservation (Rosenzweig, 2003;Sol et al, 2013) and for the wellbeing of both wildlife (Bennett, 2017;Forman & Alexander, 1998;Lepczyk et al, 2004;Wise, 2007) and humans (Daszak et al, 2000;Messmer, 2000;Patz et al, 2004;Soulsbury & White, 2015).…”

New records of Darevskia praticola at the northern limit of its distribution range in Romania

“…It is possible that the trucks transporting logs from the southern shore of Mureș River populated by D. praticola have brought along some individuals, which continued to spread from the timber deposits. Lizard species introduced by human activity are known to exist in both Romania (Covaciu-Marcov et al 2006;Strugariu et al 2008;Gherghel et al 2009;Iftime and Iftime 2021) and other regions (e.g., Oliveira et al 2018;Santos et al 2019;Deimezis-Tsikoutas et al 2020;Oskyrko et al 2020). If this supposition is real, this will be a case when a forest species would benefit exactly from those activities which reduced its habitats.…”