Herpetological species mapping for the Meditteranean

Biodiversity, and changes in biodiversity as a result of human and natural processes, have a prominent place in public debate. Sustaining biodiversity requires knowledge about its geographical distribution and pattern, as well as an understanding of the processes which are driving biodiversity at different scales. The biodiversity of the Mediterranean appears to result from historical (human) effects, as well as the geodiversity (the diversity of abiotic factors). One promising approach is the investigation of indicator groups and their relationships to the abiotic factors. We report the use of modeling techniques to map the distribution and abundance of reptile and amphibian species (probability. of occurrence), and we conclude that climate-based indices yield a higher accuracy in their prediction of herpetological species compared to NDVI-derived indices.. For Europe the distribution/abundance of most species is quite well known, but North Africa lacks good species distribution data. So, reliable extrapolation/modeling methods (using limited species distribution data and available geo-diversity data derived from remotely sensed and climatic data) can be of great importance for establishing biodiversity indices (hotspots) in these data scarce areas.