Analysis of amphibian habitat preferences in a farmland area (Po plain, northern Italy)

Forty-two water bodies in an agricultural lowland area of northern Italy were investigated with respect to the presence of amphibians and to a number of habitat features. The following species were found: Rana kl. esculenta, R. latastei, Bufo bufo, B. viridis, Hyla arborea, Triturus carnifex and T. vulgaris meridionalis. A discriminant analysis was carried out for each species to test whether there were significant difference between ecological characteristics of used and unused sites; all analyses showed a significant difference, and they also made it possible to identify the most important habitat features for each species found. Vegetational factors seemed to be the most important.