The marbled newt is typically found in habitats characterized by hilly and forestry terrain, away from open and exposed areas.
[2] Marbled newts live in temporary habitats, such as ponds, that are subject to change depending on the climate conditions of the region.
When rainfall is high and the temperature is lower, typically in the fall and winter months, adult marbled newts stay in the ponds.
However, these shallow ponds are subject to drought in warmer spring and summer months, which forces the marbled newts to remain on land.
Due to the harsher conditions associated with the climate in Mediterranean regions, marbled newts experience a higher rate of adult mortality; therefore, maturing earlier is advantageous.
Migration routes filled with trees and bushes are preferred because they allow for adequate shelter, minimizing the amount of open area that the newt could be exposed to.
Other possibilities for orientation include specific odors of the pond as well as visual landmarks that can serve as cues of correct or incorrect location.
This combined with reaching sexual maturity at a younger age in comparison to males are causes for increased female fecundity.
This trait directly affects male reproductive success as it is used solely in attracting a mate and offers no other benefits.
[10] Since males do not need to be present for egg deposition, females have full control of oviposition, choosing both location and time.
There are cases in which female marbled newts are forced to halt oviposition in order to take a breath at the surface.
By the same reasoning, larger females also experience fewer failed attempts at oviposition than their smaller counterparts, allowing them to be more efficient at reproduction.
[11] Conservation planning should take into consideration buffer zones surrounding ponds and the ecological requirements associated with them while the marbled newts are migrating.
These wetlands in the buffer zone are important in order to allow the newts to successfully complete their biological cycles.
Climate change directly affects the water cycle and temperature—two very important environmental factors for amphibian species.
These changes have the ability to directly affect the migration range and general territory of the marbled newts.
[13] T. cristatus has been known to occupy increasingly larger areas due to climate change fragmenting the habitat of the marbled newt.