The wall lizard on Maastricht's fortifications
Managing Maastricht's fortifications to benefit the wall lizard has led to a sharp rise in the numbers of this species.
Trends
Over the centuries, many of Maastricht's old city walls and fortifications have been demolished. This has impacted on the wall lizard, a species that lives on old walls and only occurs in the Netherlands on the ruins of Maastricht's ancient fortifications (Hoge Fronten and Lage Fronten). In the early 1980s there were still several dozen specimens of this species, but thanks to the measures taken to restore the Hoge Fronten and to manage these fortifications to benefit the wall lizard, the population has since increased. To augment the population, specimens were bred and released. This, coupled with a succession of warm summers, has led to a rise in the numbers. There are now about 100 mature and juvenile animals on the Hoge Fronten. This seems to be the maximum this area can support. Recently, the Lage Fronten fortifications have been given protected status; research is currently in progress.
The wall lizard is on the Red List of reptiles and amphibians.
Technical note
The figure shows the fluctuations in numbers of adult and juvenile wall lizard on the Hoge Fronten and Lage Fronten. Research on the fluctuations in the number of wall lizards on the Lage Fronten has only been in progress since 2000.
The data are from the Centrum voor Natuur- en Milieueducatie in Maastricht.
References
- Zuiderwijk, A. (red.) (2001). Nieuwsbrief Meetnet Reptielen nr. 20. Gegevens monitoring 2000. RAVON Werkgroep Monitoring. Amsterdam.
- Moors, C. & M. Heusèrr (2002). Jaarverslag Hoge Fronten 2001. Centrum voor Natuur en Milieu-educatie. Maastricht.
