BIOM-Garten

Monitoring of Amphibians and Reptiles in Austrian Gardens

The BIOM-Garten project invites people of all ages to look out for amphibians and reptiles in their gardens and report their observations. This will help to fill gaps in existing monitoring and implement better conservation measures for these endangered animals.

What are the aims of the project?

Amphibians and reptiles are among the most endangered animals in the world. In Austria, more than half of the 21 amphibian and 15 reptile species are classified as endangered, critically endangered or already threatened with extinction. The aim of the project is to fill the gaps in the existing monitoring of amphibians and reptiles with the help of citizens and to shed more light on private gardens as habitats for endangered species. In addition, citizens can describe their gardens to characterise environmental parameters, and remote sensing methods will be used to complement species monitoring. This is the first time that the contribution of gardens to habitat connectivity is analysed specifically for aquatic and semi-aquatic animal groups. The garden descriptions will also help to identify structures that are most favourable for particular species.

How can you take part in the research?

Monitoring made easy! Use your favourite app. The website artenzählen.at, which has been specially designed for amphibian and reptile monitoring, allows you to create species reports and garden descriptions in just a few clicks. Photos of all native species and intuitive input options make reporting easy. If you are already reporting frogs, lizards etc. on Naturbeobachtung.at, iNaturalist or Herpetofauna.at, you can continue to do so, as observations from these platforms will also be included in the overall results of the BIOM-Garten project. However, it is important that you mention 'BIOM-Garten' in the comment field so that the sightings can be correctly categorised. And please do not forget the garden description on artenzählen.at.

Picture gallery

• Eastern Green Lizard Eastern Green Lizard
• Common Toad Common Toad
• Aesculapian Snake Aesculapian Snake
• Yellow-bellied Toad Yellow-bellied Toad
• Fire Salamander Fire Salamander
• Slow Worm Slow Worm
• Grass Snake Grass Snake
• Tadpole of the Common Tree Frog Tadpole of the Common Tree Frog
• Common Frog Common Frog
• Spawn of the Agile Frog Spawn of the Agile Frog
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Videos

Explanatory video (in German)

Webinar: Discover the fascinating world of amphibians (in German)

Webinar: Discover the fascinating world of reptiles (in German)

Partners 

This project fulfils version 1.1 of the quality criteria for citizen science projects on Österreich forscht.