document: Why we must make the adder count More research into adder genetics may prevent small isolated colonies from dying out One of only six reptile species native to Britain , the adder is a fussy creature . Its restriction to specific habitats , and its frequent disturbance by human activity , well-meaning and otherwise , have made its populations isolated and prone to the effects of inbreeding . The Institute of Zoology , Natural England and Oxford University is undertaking a survey of adders -LRB- also known as vipers -RRB- to identify whether their population in the UK is suffering from a lack of genetic diversity . This is encouraging , and I fully support further research into adder genetics . Two of the other reptile species in Britain , the sand lizard and smooth snake , have always had limited natural ranges here . Because of this , they have strict legal protection and have been the subject of conservation programmes to protect and manage the few sites where they occur , and to reintroduce them to places from where they have disappeared . The adder is one of the remaining four species that we call '' `` widespread '' '' because they have much larger natural ranges in Britain . The adder can be found from the very south-west of England all the way north to Scotland . This does not mean that Britain is brimming with them or any other reptile species : within their apparently large ranges , they are restricted to certain types of habitat . The adder prefers grassland , scrub and woodland edge , primarily on sandy soils . There are also other factors that make it a particularly vulnerable species . Back in 2004 , English Nature -LRB- now Natural England -RRB- contacted naturalists around the country who had good knowledge of adder populations and asked them to evaluate the health of '' `` their '' '' adders , with some interesting results . In their opinion , '' `` disturbance '' '' was the greatest threat . But analysis of the data revealed some other trends . A third of the adder populations were small -LRB- estimated as fewer than 10 adult snakes -RRB- , and more than a third of the populations were isolated . Population declines tended to be more frequent among these small or isolated populations , as is to be expected due to chance fluctuations , but also as you would expect from inbreeding . Amphibian and Reptile Conservation co-ordinates Make the Adder Count , a project encouraging local adder conservation and long-term monitoring of populations , pooling information from a small but dedicated band of adder-watchers around the country . They , too , have consistently reported that the greatest threat to adders is disturbance . On further questioning , it become apparent that disturbance can have different causes . In some cases it refers to destruction of habitat - something that can happen even on protected sites , unintentionally , through '' `` habitat management '' '' . Adders are also still being killed by humans , through overly heavy-handed management of some of the areas they inhabit . Sometimes disturbance can also result from people visiting well-known adder sites . So , can the general public help at all ? Certainly . They can visit the Sliding Scales campaign website , a project for recording current or recent distributions of any snakes , as well as visiting the Add an Adder site - which aims to collect '' `` records from the past '' '' -LRB- both from personal experience and anecdotes from friends and relatives -RRB- to get a better idea of not only where adders are , but also where they used to be . If people find shed skins -LRB- or '' `` sloughs '' '' -RRB- of adders , they can also be sent to the ARC Trust - those will be used in a research project to better understand adder genetics . The animals we love face a range of threats . We herpetologists wait with interest to learn more about the genetics of our adder populations .
extractive_keyphrases: knowledge herpetologists zoology human activity populations isolated humans populations natural institute different creature research inbreeding frequent disturbance apparently understand manage six reptile encouraging interest anecdotes disturbance monitoring effects smooth killed personal consistently primarily places pooling questioning population sites unintentionally distributions animals records range england remaining restricted genetics 10 adult wellmeaning coordinates reptile adder found