Investigation of age structure and some demographic parameters of two populations of Triturus vittatus ophryticus inhabited different altitudes in Trabzon

SUMMARY Investigation of Age Structure and Some Growth Parameters of two populations of Triturus vittatus ophtyticus inhabited at different altitudes in Trabzon. In this study, age determination and some growth parameters were studied in two populations of Triturus vittatus ophtyticus located at different altitudes in Trabzon by skeletochronology. Specimens were collected from Gurbulak (at 300 m altitude) and Hidirnebi (at 1300 m. altitude) and in the lowland population, the minimum age maturity was 2-3 while it was 4 in highland population. While the mean age in Gurbulak population was 4,075, it was 8,686 in Hidirnebi Population. In Gurbulak, the maximum longevity of females was 9 years and males 10 years. And it was 16 years and 14 years in Hidirnebi population. The mean body length was 56,28 mm in Gurbulak population and it was 55,78 mm in Hidirnebi population. Because this subspecies is found only in Turkey, Russia and Georgia and the individuals of the subspecies balance the populations of insects in their areas, this newts have to be controlled. To take the measures for prevention, this study is important. Because, it gives some information about biology of this newts. UfokBULBUL VII