Vipera Berus - Habitat

Habitat

Sufficient habitat complexity is a crucial requirement for the presence of this species, in order to support their various behaviors—basking, foraging, and hibernation—as well as to offer some protection from predators and human harassment. It is found in variety of habitats, including: chalky downs, rocky hillsides, moors, sandy heaths, meadows, rough commons, edges of woods, sunny glades and clearings, bushy slopes and hedgerows, dumps, coastal dunes, and stone quarries. They will venture into wetlands if dry ground is available nearby and thus may be found on the banks of streams, lakes, and ponds.

In much of southern Europe, such as southern France and northern Italy, it is found in either low lying wetlands or at high altitudes. In the Swiss Alps, it may ascend to about 3,000 m (9,842 ft). In Hungary and Russia, it avoids open steppeland; a habitat in which V. ursinii is more likely to occur. In Russia, however, it does occur in the forest steppe zone.