Nekrasova, Oksana
Université de Strasbourg
CNRS IPHC, UMR 7178
Strasbourg, France
Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of NASU
Kyiv, Ukraine
Daugavpils University
Daugavpils, Latvia
Marushchak, Oleksii
Université de Strasbourg, CNRS
IPHC, UMR 7178, Strasbourg, France
Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of NASU
Kyiv, Ukraine
Marushchak, Anastasiia
Kyiv Zoo
Kyiv, Ukraine
Pupins, Mihails
Čeirāns, Andris
Skute, Arturs
Daugavpils University,
Daugavpils, Latvia
Theissinger, Kathrin
Justus Liebig University Giessen,
Institute for Insect Biotechnology,
Giessen, Germany
Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology,
Giessen, Germany
Georges, Jean Yves
Université de Strasbourg
CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178
Strasbourg, France
Over the last decades, climate change and various anthropogenic pressures have been reported to have
greatest impacts on reptile populations worldwide. Moreover, thermophilic species such as green lizard
Lacerta viridis (Laurenti, 1768) are protected due to their dramatic population trends especially in Eastern
Europe (Appendix II of the Bern Convention, national Red Data Books, etc.). Here we investigated the
past, current and future states of this species in Eastern Europe. By studying the morphology of both
museum specimens from the 1960s (n = 50) and comparing with modern populations (2012-2017, n=97),
we noticed an increase in number of anomalies of head folidosis in the most recent specimens (21.1%).
Recent field censuses and observations in our field sites throughout Ukraine also revealed an increase in
the occurrence of rare or so-called abnormal morphs - melanized forms, "meridionalis morphotype"
(Odesa and Mykolaiv regions) and “leopard morphotype” (Cherkasy region), with visible signs of viral
(Reoviridae) papillomas in the populations of southern Ukraine. Finally, by implementing bioclimatic
models based in GIS, Maxent and Wordclim, we could predict a northward shift of the range of the
species in Europe up to the Baltic countries by 2050. Consistently, there is already almost a 2-fold
decrease in the number of populations in the south of its range (Black Sea region). All these records
collected in the recent decades indicate that green lizard populations require creation of local and
international conservation programs for the protection of the species. We thank for their support the
projects EMYS-R https://emysr.cnrs.fr, 16LW015, PAUSE (ANR-23-PAUK-0074) and Nr.lzp-2021/1-
0247.