Le peuplement herpétologique d'un massif du Haut-Languedoc. 1 – Inventaire et répartition altitudinale des espèces

The amphibia and reptilia of a mountain range in Southern France (the north-eastern slope of "La Montagne Noire" in Languedoc) have been studied for three consecutive years. The community consists of seven amphibian species, six lizard species and nine snake species. The altitudinal distribution of each species is discussed particularly that of Coluber viridiflavus, Coronella girondica and Malpodon m. monspessulanus, whose altitudinal limits in the area studied differ from what is commonly observed elsewhere in Europe. Species richness is high for such a small study are a (ca 70 km2) ; however, it decreases as altitude increases. The Shannon Weaver index reaches its highest value at an altitude of 500 to 600 m. The occurence of melanism increases with altitud