Mladen Zadravec

Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition · Institute for Environment and Nature

Entomological collections are an invaluable source of data, due to the variety of species they contain, capturing the biodiversity of a given time. Thus, the entomology part of the Division of Zoology Collection (Faculty of Science, Department of Biology), in Zagreb, established in 1890, is an important asset for all faunistic research and any over...

The snowdrop windflower, Anemone sylvestris is a narrowly distributed vascular plant in Croatia, in recent times known only from three reliable areas: eastern Prigorje, Ivanščica Mt. and a recently discovered population on Papuk Mt. It grows on two habitat types: semi-natural dry grasslands and forest fringes and in 2014 it was classified as vulner...

Habitat loss, along with climate change, represents one of the main pressures and threats for the survival of frog species in the world and in Croatia. One measure which tries to mitigate this is the restoration of existing and creation of new spawning habitats where they are lacking. In Eastern Prigorje, in the Vugrovec area (≈ 13 km northeast of...

Although the amphibian and reptile fauna of the Vugrovec area has already been the focus of systemic research in recent history, it represents only a part of the Eastern Prigorje and not all is still well known. Here we present the results of both a focused and sporadic six-year long exploration of the reptile and amphibian fauna in a sub-/periurba...

Abstract Since the first documentation of the occurrence of the multivoltine ragweed leaf beetle Ophraella communa in Europe near the Milano airport (Boriani et al., 2013, Bosio et al. 2014) and Southern Switzerland (Müller-Schärer et al. 2014) this species behaves invasively, expanding its distribution towards the Northeastern part of Italy (Augus...

Predstavljamo Prvo hrvatsko izvješće Europskoj komisiji o stanju očuvanosti vrsta i stanišnih tipova (staništa) s Priloga Direktive o staništima (Direktiva) za razdoblje 2013. – 2018. godine. Članak 17. Direktive nalaže državama članicama da svakih šest godina izvješćuju o stanju vrsta i staništa koristeći uniformni obrazac za sve članice EU. Glavn...

We present the 1st Croatian National Report to the EU Commission on the progress and implementation of Article 17 of the Habitats Directive during the period 2013-2018. The main objective of the Directive is to maintain and restore a favourable conservation status for habitat types and species of community interest. Conservation status (CS) is the...

Ophraella communa was found for the first time in Croatia. After the accidental discovery, further work was done to ascertain its extent of occurrence, density of adults and severity of host plant attack. Additional data pertaining to its current status in Croatia were also gathered. It was found on ten locations, with the highest recorded density...

Zadravec, M.: A viper in the city – a record of Vipera berus bosniensis (Boettger, 1889) in Zagreb (Serpentes: Viperidae). Nat. Croat. Vol. 28, No. 1., 167-171, Zagreb, 2019. The finding of Vipera berus bosniensis (Boettger, 1889) in one of Zagreb’s “islands of nature” is presented, indicating that this species had not disappeared from the city are...

The article summarizes the current status and distribution of the vulnerable plant species Anemone sylvestris L. (Ranunculaceae) in the eastern part of the Prigorje region, NE from the Croatian capital, Zagreb. Data were collected during two inventory studies performed in 2015 and 2016 when over 12000 individuals were observed on 130 microlocations...

Vlažna staništa pružaju mnoge usluge ekosustava, npr. služe kao prirodne retencije poplavnih voda, a mogu biti i područja za rekreaciju šire javnosti. Predstavljaju i životno važna staništa za brojne životinjske vrste, stoga su mnoga vlažna staništa pod nekim stupnjem zaštite. Unatoč tomu, fauna mnogih vlažnih staništa i dalje je većinom nepoznata,...

A short article about the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) for The Plitvice Times, a tourist magazine covering Plitvice Lakes area. The article is available online here: https://www.plitvicetimes.com/nose-horned-viper-famous-misunderstood-resident-croatia/

A technical report in which additional comments to the first report on the state of nature submitted by Croatia in accordance with Article 17 of the Habitats Directive are presented (in Croatian). The report and it's Annexes are also available here: http://www.haop.hr/hr/tematska-podrucja/prirodne-vrijednosti-stanje-i-ocuvanje/pracenje-stanja-priro...

Wetlands in the Mediterranean area represent one of the most endangered habitats, which have in the last century faced significant losses in numbers and in surface coverage. In order to assess the current status of the wetlands on the Adriatic islands, Association Hyla, along with partners, started to work on two projects, "KARST - the Dinaric Arc...

In the last ten years Association Hyla gathered data about saproxylic beetles in Croatia, including family Lucanidae. Literature data was entered to Hyla Association database, and recent data was gathered through field surveys and the Bioportal-geoportal of the Croatian Nature Protection Information system. Field data was gathered systematically if...

Over the last several decades, many technological advances in information technologies and database management have made it easier for biologists to collect, handle and analyse large quantities of data. In parallel, advances in networking and the advent of ever powerful smartphones and tablets have made it possible to access that data via the inter...

The pond slider Trachemy scripta was one of the most commonly exported turtles until the last decade and often released into the wild outside its native range. It was introduced to Europe, Africa, South America and Asia and included on the EU list of 100 World's Worst Invasive Alien Species and the List of invasive alien species of Union concern. T...

During faunistic surveys of the moths of Croatia, three species of Crambidae were recorded for the first time in the country. Ostrinia quadripunctalis, a rare thermophilic species, has been found on Krč Hill, in the vicinity of Zagreb. Two migratory species, Spoladea recurvalis and Herpetogramma licarsisalis, have been found in the southern part of...

The discovery of the previously unknown entomological collection of the academician Vanda Kochansky-Devidé is presented. The specimens were collected in the beginning of the 20 th century across Croatia and Slovenia, when she was only 10-14 years of age. The collection contains 341 specimens belonging to 174 species. 191 specimens belong to butterf...

The project „Conservation of the island wetlands of the Mediterranean basin” (MedIsWet) represents a replication of the Greek island wetland inventory project on all islands of the Mediterranean Basin. An important project outcome at the national level will be the first systematic standardized island wetland inventory in Croatia which is going to b...

Background and purpose: The moth fauna of Croatia is still insufficiently surveyed. During the last several years, several overviews of the moth fauna for several locations were published and several new species for the country had been found. Only two species from Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive are listed for Croatia. A third is known...

Data on seven rare moth species from two families (Noctuidae and Geometridae) are given in the present paper. Specimens were collected on two mountains , Zelengora and Ljubuša. The following species are reported as new for the fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Chersotis margaritacea, Autographa bractea, Crypsedra gemmea, Episema tersa and Thera cogn...

Cortodera flavimana is a Pontic species which occurs from Austria and Hungary, through Serbia and south-eastern Europe and Turkey. It was not previously known from Croatia. Two specimens were found, one in Cerna (E Croatia, in 2008) and one in Okuje (NW Croatia, in 2013), raising the number of known Cortodera species in Croatia to five; the other b...

In 2015 two new orchid taxa were observed for the first time inside the Natura 2000 site „Vejalnica and Krč“ (SE slopes of the Medvednica Mt., NE of the Croatian capital Zagreb). These are: Orchis simiaLam. and Orchis ×beyrichii(Rchb.f.) A.Kern. This is the first recent find of O. simia at eastern Medvednica and the first find of O. ×beyrichiifor c...

Saproxylic Coleoptera are dead wood associated beetles. They have been particularly affected by forest management and make up one of the largest groups of red‐listed species in many countries. The Republic of Croatia is designated as an area with a large number of endangered species, mostly from family Cerambycidae, Elateridae and Lucanidae. The ai...

Faunistic research of reptiles and amphibians in Croatia are not so commonplace, especially in the continental part. Here I present the results of an 11‐year inventarisation study of reptiles and amphibians in the village of Vugrovec and its environs, near Zagreb, conducted from 2004 till 2014. A part of the research area falls under the new Natura...

The Nose‐horned Viper, Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) is the largest venomous snake in the western Balkans. However, there’s paucity of research in some aspects of its biology. Here we present the results of the first study of the biology of suburban V. ammodytes in Croatia, from 2008 till 2014, in the inactive Bizek quarry. Our goals were to de...

In recent times there has not been a lot of faunistic research of the herpetofauna in the area of Slavonija. Here we give the list of amphibians and reptiles found on eight localities around Našice, from 2010 till 2014. Amphibians were caught by nets or by hand, while reptiles were caught only by hand. Caught individuals were photographed and relea...

This was a study of reptiles and amphibians which lasted from 2008 till 2014 in the inactive Bizek quarry, where we collected information on the presence of species belonging to those two groups. A variety of habitats occur in the quarry: a mixed deciduous forest of Quercus sp., Fagus sylvatica and Carpinus betulus surrounds the quarry to the north...

Sažetak Iznose se rezultati prebrojavanja orhideja na odabranom području jugoistočnog dijela planine Medvednice, 20 km udaljenom od glavnog grada Hrvatske, Zagreba. Tijekom sezone 2013. obavljeno je detaljno terensko promatranje u kojem su na 23 odabrane plohe zabilježene 24 svojte orhideja iz 11 rodova te prebrojane sve opažene jedinke. Opisuju se...

Entomologists have researched into the butterflies of Zagreb City with different levels of intensity since the beginning of the 20th century and recorded a great number of species. Many butterfly sites historically surveyed are now completely changed or have completely disappeared due to the expansion of the city and changes in habitat management....

Forensic entomology deals with biology and ecology of insects, mainly in estimation of the post-mortem interval, but also provides evidence of body movement when the insect recovered from the corpse is found outside its normal geographical distribution. Here we list the large carrion beetles (Silphidae) present in Croatia with ID photos and figures...

Najstariji podatak o vrsti majmunov kaćun, Orchis simia Lam., na širem području Medvednice (Susedgrad, Rebro) datira iz 1929. godine (Horvat 1929). Nakon toga ista je vrsta na Medvednici (Pečovje) zabilježena 1952. godine (Urlić-Ivanović 1952). Iako je u međuvremenu flora i vegetacija toga područja manje-više kontinuirano istraživana, nije bilo pot...

The ladybird fauna of Croatia is insufficiently known. New ladybird records collected during the last 4 years across Croatia are given. The first preliminary checklist of ladybirds of Croatia consisting of 78 species is presented.

The fauna of Zagreb has been well investigated during the last two centuries, which is evident from a series of publications. Even so, only limited data on dragonfly fauna of Zagreb have been published, and there is no current checklist. During the three years period (2009-2011) we conducted a survey of the dragonfly and damselfly fauna (Insecta, O...

During a butterfly survey on the eastern slopes of Medvednica, in Vugrovec close to Zagreb, an interesting butterfly, Brenthis ino(Rottemburg, 1775) was observed. Although the butterfly fauna of Zagreb is well known and studied, this is the first record of this species around Zagreb. In this pa-per we discuss the finding of this rare species in a n...

Because of the Croatia geographical position in the border of continental and alpine biogeographical region with mediterranean region, it is also the southern distribution border of Vipera berus Linnaeus 1758 in West and Central Europe. Three separate populations of Vipera berus can be distinguished in Croatia: two populations are accredited to Vip...