Baixo Sabor: Herpetology - Baseline Studies [2009]

Surveys involved a number of complementary methodologies, which were expected to achieve a good coverage of the various reptile and amphibian species occurring in the study area. Specifically, the following methods were used:
Visual observation of water bodies (e.g., temporary ponds, small reservoirs, cattle ponds, streams, and rivers), often with binoculars, to detect adult amphibians and aquatic reptiles;
Dip-netting in waterbodies, mainly to detect the larval stages of amphibian species;
Visual observations during terrestrial transects distributed across the study area, each one involving a maximum of 20-minute observations, or a maximum length of 200m;
Visual observations along roads, from a car driven at constant speed of 50km/h, to detect the carcasses of amphibians and reptiles, as well as live individuals crossing the road; these surveys were carried out both at night and during the day;
Acoustic detection of the calls of anurans, at night during the breeding season, in points scattered across the study area;
Opportunistic observations in points scattered across the area, outside systematic sampling periods.