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Understanding the relationship between the distribution of organisms and their environment is important for regional conservation planning. While most herpetofaunal community studies address environmental influence on species richness, few studies describe environmental influence on species composition at geographic scales. Field surveys of herpetofauna were conducted during 1994-2000 in Tochigi Prefecture, which covers ca. 6400 km_ of mainland Japan and includes a wide range of elevation, annual mean temperature, and human population densities. We evaluated whether (i) regional herpetofauna are distributed along a gradient of climate and elevation, as well as land cover and land use, and (ii) 'climate/elevation' and 'landcover' variables differ in their relative contribution. Ordination indicated a strong geographic gradient in species composition that was correlated with climate, elevation, land cover and land use. Reptiles were strongly influenced by land cover and land use (residential, agricultural, and forested area), while amphibians responded to all gradients (climate, elevation, and land cover and land use). All species with declining populations listed in the Prefectural Red Data Book were associated with mid-elevation regions, where anthropogenic modification is most intensive. All exotic species were strongly associated with anthropogenic gradients.
