Authors: Schlindwein, Xenia;

The invasive Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) chytrid fungus rapidly eats its way through fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) populations in Europe. However, monitoring is particularly lacking in southern Germany. This master's thesis examines a population in an urban forest in Tuebingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, that was healthy and estimated at over 600 individuals at the beginning of this millennium. Standard larvae removal sampling and non-invasive nocturnal larval counting methods are compared in population size estimation. Furthermore, a capture-recapture approach of the (semi-)adult, terrestrial salamanders using the individual black and yellow pattern repeats the population count from 2005. Recapturing an individual from that study would confirm an impressive age for these small amphibians, that are tested for Bsal at this opportunity. Furthermore, due to the urgent monitoring needs, an implementation of the fire salamander to a citizen-science pattern recognition project is envisioned. These approaches provide valuable information on the southern expansion of the salamander plague which might provide a solution to save this charismatic species.