Verbinden van versnipperde gebieden voor de adder in boswachterij Hardenberg - de eerste resultaten

Connecting fragmented areas for the adder in Boswachterij Hardenberg, first results. Since August 2018 the adder population in forestry Hardenberg is monitored to see if adders use the corridors, which were created ten years ago. In the 20th century the acreage of heather desperately decreased and the acreage of forest increased. The purpose of the “Vipera verbindt...” project is to recover a wide range of heather species by connecting four isolated heathland areas. These areas are Boswachterij Ommen, Boswachterij Hardenberg, Boswachterij Staphorst & Haardennen and De Eese. Within Boswachterij Hardenberg four fragmented heathlands were connected by corridors in 2008. These heathlands consist of common heather with locally some bell heather and purple moor-grass. The adder is the only snake species that inhabits the area. The monitoring takes place by using the methodology from Working group for Adder Research of the Netherlands. Slangenportaal is used as the portal to upload and process all data. In 2018 only three adders were observed. The first adder was a female that was found in a corridor. In total 54 adders were observed, with two recaptures. Adders were found in three different corridors. In total six individuals were found in the corridors, four of them on the edges. The ultimate goal is to find adders crossing the corridors so they can exchange genes with adders in areas that were isolated before.