This species occurs in a wide variety of terrestrial habitats from beech woodlands to arid Mediterranean climates, as well as modified habitats such as quarries. Its breeding and larval development take place in various stagnant permanent and temporary aquatic habitats; in Italy, stone wells and water tanks are key breeding sites (Romano et al. 2010, 2012).

Generation length is estimated to be 5–10 years (F. Pasmans pers. comm. July 2021).

Following taxonomic revision, the distribution of this European endemic species is now restricted to Apennine Italy (south to Calabria and part of the Salento Peninsula in Apulia), the extreme south of Switzerland (south of the Alps), the alpine regions of Austria, adjacent extreme southeastern Germany, southern Czechia, and western Hungary, south through Austria to Slovenia, Croatia, and western Bosnia-Herzegovina. The species occurs from sea level to elevations approaching 2,000 m asl.

There are a number of introduced subpopulations in western Switzerland (Geneva), Germany (not mapped), Portugal (São Miguel Island in the Azores), the Netherlands (not mapped), France (not mapped) and the UK (not mapped), however, the introduction pathway has not been confirmed.

This species was previously considered to occur through most of Italy, southern Switzerland, Slovenia, northern Croatia, and northern Bosnia-Herzegovina, with an apparently disjunct population on the Adriatic side of the Balkan Peninsula (in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania, south to central Greece), and with subpopulations north of the Alps in Austria, southeast Bavaria (Germany), western Hungary, and southern Czechia. However, following the recognition of Triturus macedonicus, subpopulations from eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, western, central and southern Serbia, Montenegro, central and western North Macedonia and Albania to northeastern Bulgaria (the latter not included in the previously assessed concept of this species), south into northwestern and central Greece; northwestern Anatolian Türkiye have now been reassigned. Moreover, subpopulations from central and part of southeastern Serbia are now recognized as Triturus ivanbureschi.

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species is present in a number of protected areas over its range and protected by national legislation in several countries. It is listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention and on Annex IV of the EU Natural Habitats Directive. The species is considered Endangered in the Red Book of Czech Republic (Chobot and Něměc 2017), Switzerland (Schmidt and Zumback 2005) and Hungary (Halpern et al. 2019), as Vulnerable in Slovenia (Anonymous 2010), and as Near Threatened in Italy (Rondinini et al. 2013) and Croatia (Jelić et al. 2012). A European Action Plan was approved for the species complex by Bern Convention in 2006 (Edgar and Bird 2006). There have been 24 EC-funded LIFE projects that targeted either the species or its habitat (EC LIFE database).

In Slovenia and Croatia, this species has been included in monitoring projects (Jovanović and Jelić 2015, Stanković et al. 2015). The LIFE AMPHICON (LIFE18 NAT/SI/000711) project will mitigate four road sections for the species by the end of 2024. Supportive breeding is in place through this project. Restoration of current ponds and the creation of new ponds is underway in Slovenia and Italy (central Italy D. Salvi pers. comm. October 2022).

Conservation Needed
Monitoring is needed to substantiate Habitat Directive Article 17 reporting (J. Speybroeck pers. comm. October 2022). Water management should target the restoration of water bodies, serving as breeding habitats for the species throughout its range (B. Halpern pers. comm. October 2022). There is also an urgent need for an EU-wide coordinated approach and implementation of the Bsal Action Plan by Gilbert et al. (2020), which was commissioned by the European Commission.

Research Needed
If an outbreak of Bsal was to occur within this species' range, population monitoring would need to be carried out immediately and this species would need to be reassessed. For comparative reasons, baseline surveys should be undertaken; other emerging pathogens might need to be screened as well (B. Halpern pers. comm. October 2022). Long-term population and habitat studies are needed.