Tupikov A. Distribution, ecology and morphology of Dione snakes in Ukraine

The thesis presents the results of research of Ukrainian populations of the Dione rat snake. A list of registrations points has been created for the Ukrainian part of the range, consisting of 62 records, and the Dione rat snake observations have been confirmed in 53 localities. Thus, the range of the Dione rat snake is now completely located within the two administrative regions.Ecological niche modeling was performed using the maximum entropy method using software MaxEnt and the abiotic and biotic parameters of the territories. Climatic models confirm the great ecological plasticity of the species and its considerable potential for expansion of the range. The most favorable climatic indicators of the territory are located within the steppe zone of Ukraine and cover the central and southern administrative regions. Another model based on Landsat 8 space imagery exhibits a strong fragmentation of the natural habitat the Dione rat snake. In this regard, according to the legal criteria of the Red Data Book of Ukraine, we propose to change the status of the Dione rat snake from «endangered» to «vulnerable», ie species that in the nearest future can be considered as vanishing if the negative impacts on the population continues.