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1. Natura 2000 network (N2000) and national protected areas (NPAs) are recognised as the most important core ‘units’ for biological conservation in Europe. 2. Species distribution models (SDMs) were developed to detect the potential distribution of the rare and threatened cerambycid beetle Rosalia alpina L. in Europe, and the amount of suitable habitat within the N2000 network [special areas of conservation (SACs) and special protection areas (SPAs)], NPAs (e.g. national parks, regional parks, state reserves, natural monuments and protected landscapes) and the overall European protected area network (EPAN) (N2000 + NPAs) was quantified. 3. According to this analysis, the suitable habitat for R. alpina in Europe amounts to c. 754 171 km2 and stretches across substantially uninterrupted areas from Portugal to Romania (west to east) and from Greece to Germany (south to north). The overlay between the existing system of conservation areas in Europe (N2000 and NPAs) and the binary map for R. alpina showed that only c. 42% of potential habitat is protected. SACs and SPAs protect c. 25% and 21% of potential habitat, respectively. However, because the two site types often spatially overlap, when taken together the entire N2000 network protects c. 31% of potential habitat. Instead, NPAs offer a degree of protection of c. 29%. Overall, almost 60% of the area potentially suitable for the species is unprotected by the EPAN, an aspect that should be considered carefully when planning the conservation of this beetle at a large scale. 4. These results may also help to focus field surveys in selected areas where greater chances of success are encountered to save resources and increase survey effectiveness.

Sardinia is home to three bat species of chief conservation importance, the endemic Plecotus sardus as well as Myotis punicus and Rhinolophus mehelyi, for which Sardinia is the Italian stronghold. We carried out two gap analyses overlapping the network of protected areas present on the island respectively with 1) the occurrence records of all species and 2) the binarized maps obtained from maximum entropy models. Unlike the other two species, P. sardus known records are confined to the central sector of the island and its suitable habitat partly overlaps with that of M. punicus but not with R. mehelyi. Due to its uniqueness and restricted range P. sardus requires a very specific management strategy for its protection to be successful. Both analyses led to the conclusion that all species considered require more extensive protection than is currently granted so that urgent measures should be taken to improve the current situation.

We report on the sighting of a humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae for the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the species had not been observed previously. Since the 1980s the species has become an increasingly frequent visitor of the Mediterranean Sea, where the mean observation rate is ca. 0.1 subjects/year. The sighting was made on December 10, 2015 at 10 a.m. local time, in the shallow waters of Baia, in the Gulf of Naples (Campania Region, Southern Italy, 40° 49' 0" N, 14° 04' 00" E). The increased sighting frequency of humpback whales suggests that in the near future this species will become more common in the Mediterranean. We remark that Marine Protected Areas might play an important role in protecting the species but appropriate management and effective mitigation of potential threats are essential.

In some municipalities, located within the boundaries of the Vesuvius National Park, several area with forest cover of Pinus pinea showed severe withering of the crowns and damage to pine cones. In the present study, we have isolated in the period may 2013 ??? may 2014 from Ercolano, San Sebastiano, Terzigno, Torre del Greco and Trecase an anamorphic form of Botryosphaeriaceae. The latter cause dieback and serious canker on several woody plants, including species of Pinus. Morphological and cultural characteristics as well as DNA sequence data (5.8S rDNA, ITS-1 and ITS-4) were made on 30 isolates obtained from 5 municipalities. All strains belonged to only two species: Botryosphaeria dothidea and its anamorph, Diplodia africana. These two fungi were present on all pine cones collected and analyzed. Finally we carried out growth assays at different temperatures: 8 °C, 18 °C and 28 °C. All fungi found the optimum of growth at 28°C while at 8°C we noted the lowest growth. This seems to be the first report of D. africana on Pinus species in Campania Region.