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NA2RE is reliable but aims for improvement: an answer to Vamberger and Fritz (2018)

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Abstract

A recent paper has suggested that NA2RE, the New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe, does not provide a reliable basis for ecological niche modelling studies due to errors flagging introductions and missing data for the native range of the pond turtle genus Emys. We point out that the original NA2RE paper already acknowledged that it was not aimed for fine-scale ecological distribution modelling and that it had the objective of stimulating research for improving the maps. New works now complement the Atlas in improving the coverage and providing new distribution maps for species within species complex. Moreover, we stress that the NA2RE web platform at present hosts only the distribution data compiled in 2014 from different sources, using the taxonomy adopted by the authors at the time. As with any large database, it is advisable that these data are carefully evaluated and quality-filtered before their use in scientific studies. We defend the reliability of the NA2RE web platform as the currently most comprehensive resource for the comparative chorological study of amphibians and reptiles in Europe, and encourage publication of updates and additions following the most recent taxonomic changes, to continuously improve this database and the Atlas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Societas Europaea Herpetologica for funding the NA2RE project. NS is supported by an IF contract (IF/01526/2013) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CICGE, Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo-Espaciais, Observatório Astronómico Prof. Manuel de Barros, Alameda do Monte da Virgem, 4430-146, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

    Neftali Sillero

  2. CIBIO, University of Porto, R. Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    João Campos & João Gonçalves

  3. Departement of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Anna Bonardi & Gentile Francesco Ficetola

  4. CNRS, Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine (LECA), Universite Grenoble Alpes, F-38000, Grenoble, France

    Anna Bonardi & Gentile Francesco Ficetola

  5. Museo di Storia Naturale dell’Università di Firenze, Sezione di Zoologia “La Specola”, Via Romana 17, 50125, Firenze, Italia

    Claudia Corti

  6. RAVON, Reptile Amphibian Fish Conservation Netherlands, P.O. Box os1413, 6501 BK, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Raymond Creemers

  7. CEFE, CNRS, University Montpellier, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France

    Pierre-Andre Crochet

  8. Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics University of Niš, Višegradska 33, Niš, 18000, Serbia

    Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović

  9. Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” University of Belgrade, Despota Stefana 142, Beograd, 11000, Serbia

    Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović

  10. F.R.S. - FNRS Senior Research Associate, Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, FOCUS, Behavioural Biology Group, University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020, Liege, Belgium

    Mathieu Denoël

  11. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117071, Russia

    Sergei Kuzmin

  12. Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossou Ave, P.O. Box 2208, 71409, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Petros Lymberakis

  13. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Philip de Pous

  14. Institut für Zoologie, Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany

    Ariel Rodríguez

  15. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, via San Francesco di Sales 88, I-10022, Carmagnola (TO), Italia

    Roberto Sindaco

  16. Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Herman Teirlinckgebouw, site Thurn & Taxis, Havenlaan 88 bus 73, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Jeroen Speybroeck

  17. Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217 7500 AA, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Bert Toxopeus

  18. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), C/ José Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    David R. Vieites

  19. Technische Universität Braunschweig, Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, Mendelssohnstr. 4, 38108, Braunschweig, Germany

    Miguel Vences

Authors
  1. Neftali Sillero
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  2. João Campos
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  3. Anna Bonardi
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  4. Claudia Corti
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  5. Raymond Creemers
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  6. Pierre-Andre Crochet
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  7. Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailović
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  8. Mathieu Denoël
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  9. Gentile Francesco Ficetola
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  10. João Gonçalves
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  11. Sergei Kuzmin
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  12. Petros Lymberakis
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  13. Philip de Pous
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  14. Ariel Rodríguez
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  15. Roberto Sindaco
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  16. Jeroen Speybroeck
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  17. Bert Toxopeus
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  18. David R. Vieites
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  19. Miguel Vences
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neftali Sillero.

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Sillero, N., Campos, J., Bonardi, A. et al. NA2RE is reliable but aims for improvement: an answer to Vamberger and Fritz (2018). Biologia 73, 1131–1135 (2018). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-018-0133-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-018-0133-3

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