Understanding how environmental and biotic processes jointly shape species distributions and community composition is a central goal in ecology. Although species distribution models (SDMs) have become essential tools for quantifying environmental drivers of occurrence, their single‐species framework limits inference about interspecific relationships and community‐level patterns. Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) are multispecies distribution models which explicitly acknowledge the multivariate nature of communities, modeling all species at once and considering their interactions. They can be the basis for further community analysis, such as bioregionalization, supplying further insights to ecologically understand and manage a study area. Despite their potential, these methodologies are rarely applied, especially regarding terrestrial vertebrates and small geographical scale. Here, we integrated JSDMs with a data‐driven bioregionalization approach (regions of common profile, RCPs), to explore the determinants of amphibian assemblages and their spatial turnover at a local scale. We applied this framework to 10 amphibian taxa in Oltrepò Pavese (northern Italy), a heterogeneous landscape at the interface between the Po Plain and the Northern Apennines. We specifically investigated the environmental drivers of species distribution and the residual co‐occurrence patterns, relying on the framework Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC). Then, the predicted joint occurrences were used to bioregionalize the study area. Species showed differential effects of environmental covariates. Significant co‐occurrence patterns were highlighted, mostly attributable to factors not explicitly included in the model, such as the type of breeding site. We identified three RCPs, with distinct amphibian assemblages: a lowland region, dominated by farmland adapted species; a transitional one which lies in the lower Apennine and hosts widespread species, quite tolerant but probably not enough for the over‐exploited Po plain; and a mountain region with microtherm and forest amphibians. Alarmingly, the first two RCPs are dominated by the alien marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus , which reached the area in 2005. The work supported the applicability of the HMSC framework to amphibians and the definition of RCPs at a local scale. This integrated approach offers a method to assess community structure and turnover across environmental gradients, an essential step for understanding and conserving biodiversity in rapidly changing landscapes.

Reliable individual identification and minimally invasive tracking are essential for monitoring threatened snake populations. A relict high-altitude population of Vipera ursinii ursinii was studied in the Maiella National Park (Central Apennines, Italy) during two field seasons (2024–2025) to (i) validate dorsal head photo-identification against unequivocal PIT-tag identities and (ii) test a novel, non-invasive telemetry method based on externally attached harmonic diodes detected with a RECCO^® harmonic direction finder (HDF). All analysed snakes were PIT-tagged and photographed under standardised conditions. Manual photo-identification based on dorsal cephalic scale counts was performed independently by four blinded operators. In parallel, software-assisted photo-identification was conducted with two independent programmes (Wild-ID and Hotspotter). Both methods were evaluated exclusively against PIT-tag-confirmed identities. Manual identification achieved moderate-to-high overall accuracy (0.77–0.91) but showed marked inter-operator variability. Software-assisted matching appeared more consistent: Hotspotter identified 75% of true recaptures at first suggestion (85% within the top six suggestions), while Wild-ID identified 56% at first suggestion (88% within the top six). Correct matches were primarily supported by the distinctive pholidosis of the dorsal head region, especially apical, intercanthal and parafrontal scales—which were highly diverse but independent of sex and age class in the studied population. Externally attached HDF diodes enabled repeated short-term relocations with detachments occurring within hours to several days and mostly associated with ecdysis. The method was minimally invasive, supporting its applicability for monitoring small-bodied animals with low-density populations and restricted ranges.