Search

In this study, we (a) inventoried the breeding bird community of a town located in Northern Italy using quadrat sampling, (b) quantified bird richness and abundance, (c) measured sample completeness, (d) tested whether the bird community assembly was driven by environmental filtering (i.e., local properties of every single quadrat), e) explained bird richness and abundance in light of the land cover types present in each quadrat, (f) disentangled the marginal effects of every land cover type, and (g) simulated the effects on birds of different planning decisions. We recorded 36 breeding bird species, of which 17 were resident, 10 were mid-range migrants, and 9 were trans-Saharan migrators. The sampling completeness estimated ranged from 82.73% to 99.66% depending on the estimator procedure. Environmental filtering affected significantly (p < 0.10) the bird community assembly. Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) explained both bird richness (R2 = 91.7%) and abundance (R2 = 87.4%) satisfactorily in light of the land cover types. Simulations based on GAMs showed that local planners can largely influence bird richness in the study area, with both positive (urban greening) and negative (urban densification and sprawl) strategies.

The wetlands of Sardinia (Italy) supply food and shelter for many waterbird species that migrate along the central–eastern Mediterranean bird flyway. Despite many different policies and laws (the Birds and Habitats Directives, the European Water Framework Directive, and the Ramsar Convention), the Sardinian wetlands are seriously threatened by human activities and climate change, which in turn menace the associated avifauna. In this study, we (a) inventoried (four sampling dates) the avian metacommunity of the largest coastal wetlands in Sardinia during the crucial period of the year for the avifauna (August–September), (b) explored the spatiotemporal dynamics in bird species assemblage, and (c) used results to refine planning for bird habitat management and bird diversity conservation. We recorded 60 bird species, of which 54 were migratory and 21 belonged to Annex I of the Birds Directive. During August–September, (a) α, β, and γ avian diversity showed no significant temporal trends, (b) the contributions of space (wetlands) and time (dates of sampling) in determining the presence/absence of the waterbird species were comparable, (c) wetlands formed three statistically significant clusters with regard to the species richness, (d) a significant increase in the number of the species belonging to the “mixed” migration guild, and “divers from the surface” foraging guild, occurred, (e) there was a statistically significant chronological succession of the occurrence of waterbird species, (f) twenty-five species made use of the Sardinian wetlands all summer long, while ten further species were present in three sampling dates out of four, (g) the spatial distributions of the waterbird species in the Sardinian wetlands were significantly different between the sampling dates, (h) the Little Egret, the Grey Heron, and the Greater Flamingo were primarily responsible for the observed difference in the spatial distributions of species between the sampling dates, (i) Is Brebeis, Pilo, and S. Giovanni were the wetlands that changed their species composition the most during the studied period, (j) twenty-two waterbird species resulted at high priority for conservation, and thirteen species at medium priority. Based on these results, we have proposed new strategies for the conservation of the waterbird species of the Sardinian wetlands during the post-breeding migration period.

The Sicilian wetlands (Italy) are seriously threatened by human activities and ongoing climate change. The loss of these wetlands as migratory stepping stones could severely hamper the migratory flow of many bird species along the central Mediterranean. Targeted actions for the conservation of the avifauna require thorough knowledge of the utilization that waterbirds make of these habitats. Aiming to inform planning for more satisfactory bird habitat management and bird diversity preservation along the Mediterranean migratory bird flyway, in this study, we inventoried the avian metacommunity of the coastal wetlands in Sicily during the most critical period of the year (July–September) and used a multilevel analytical framework to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics in bird species assemblages. We recorded 73 bird species, of which almost 90% were migratory and 30 belonged to Annex I of the Birds Directive. At the metacommunity level, we found that all the biodiversity metrics were low in July and approximately doubled in the successive sampling sessions (August–September), where they showed little if any change. At the community level, we detected two main clusters of wetlands with regard to species richness, of which one (wetlands Baronello, Gela, Gornalunga, and Roveto) was characterized by higher levels of species richness in nearly all the sampling dates. The pattern of species richness in the Sicilian wetlands was most similar between the first and second half of August, while July was very dissimilar from all the other sampling dates. At the guild level, we found a significant increase during July–September in the number of the species belonging to the “Mediterranean” migration guild and the “divers from the surface” and “surface feeders” foraging guilds. At the species level, we detected a significant temporal sequence of the occurrence of waterbird species: two species were only early dwellers in July, ten species were only late dwellers in September, and twenty-six species made use of the Sicilian wetlands all summer long. The spatial distribution of the waterbird species differed significantly between any pair of sampling dates. Overall, the Little Grebe, the Spotted Redshank, and the Little Tern were the bird species with the highest site infidelity; by contrast, the Black Stork, the Broad-billed Sandpiper, the European Golden Plover, the Common Shelduck, and the Black-necked Grebe changed their spatial distribution among wetlands the least during July–September. Our study allowed us to detect (1) the wetlands and (2) the waterbird species to which the priority for conservation should be assigned, as well as (3) the exact time span during July–September when conservation measures should be mandatory, and not only advisable. These results provide a broader insight of the space–time patterns in bird species assembly in the coastal wetlands of Sicily during the critical summer period.

The European Roller Coracias garrulus has suffered greatly from breeding habitat loss due to the renovation of old farmhouses and rural buildings and changing agricultural practices that took place extensively across Europe in the last decades. As a consequence, this species experienced a significant decline, and local extinctions of breeding populations were recorded in several European countries. We investigated nest sites and nesting area selection by the Italian Roller population during the breeding period (May–August) between 2016 and 2018. We collected 711 points from field surveys and used four types of point pattern analysis to detect space-time patterns of nest site and nesting area selection. We found that: (a) the spatial distribution of selected (i.e., occupied) nest sites was significantly nonrandom (p < 0.01) for all years and months; (b) only 2.6% of the selected nest sites was located within parks or reserves; (c) there were significant (p < 0.01) latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal shifts of selected nest sites between May and August; (d) the geographical barycentres of selected nest sites shifted northward by about 80 km per month from May (southernmost barycentre) to August (northernmost barycentre); (e) four main nesting areas (7886 km2 in total) occurred in central and southern Italy, whose utilization by the European Rollers differed between months but not between years; (f) the detected nesting areas corresponded mainly to non-irrigated arable lands (41.22% of their extent) and natural grasslands (12.80%). Our results are useful to support conservation strategies for the breeding sites of this farmland species, which is not a regular visitor to protected areas in Italy.

Abstract Colonial waterbirds, a major biodiversity element occurring in the core of ultra-anthropized Europe, are ideal indicators of the wellness of inland wetlands. Nonetheless, there is a critical knowledge gap in their trend and population status. We present an uninterrupted 47 years-long dataset of the breeding populations of 12 species of colonial waterbirds (Ardeidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Plataleidae, Threskiornitidae) throughout a 58,000 km2 agricultural region in the higher Po basin (NW Italy). A trained team of collaborators censused with standardized field techniques the number of nests of each species at 419 colonies in the 1972–2018 period, summing up a total of 236,316 records. Data cleaning and standardization were performed for each census year, ensuring robust and consistent data. This dataset is among the largest ever collected for a guild of European vertebrates. It has already been used to describe the factors influencing population trends, and still offers opportunities to explore a wide range of key ecological processes such as biological invasions, global change consequences and biodiversity impact of agricultural practices.

In this study, we (a) formulated a general hypothesis about how wetland (functional and structural) traits influence avian diversity, (b) turned this hypothesis into a non-parametric Bayesian network, (c) disentangled the direct and indirect effects of the variables influencing waterbird species, and (d) simulated the changes expected to the levels of avian diversity as a result of numerous counterfactual and management scenarios. We applied our framework to the Sicilian wetlands as a whole; then, we downscaled simulations locally to a wetland of particular interest (Pantano Bruno). We found that (1) waterbird species are highly sensitive to wetland traits; (2) wetland traits have both direct and indirect effects upon alpha avian diversity; (3) the direct and indirect effects of wetland traits can be contrasting; (4) water level fluctuations (benefit), diversions (cost), and salinity (cost) are key factors for waterbird conservation; (5) these wetlands have the potential for hosting a level of alpha avian diversity that is double the baseline (from 19 to 38 species); (6) these wetlands are prone to ecological collapse if all traits deteriorate (from 19 to 6 species per wetland); and (7) the ecological information gained at the regional scale can be properly downscaled to the local scale to make inferences on single wetlands.

Behavioral and movement ecology have quickly advanced as a result of the development of biotelemetry devices and analytical techniques. Global positioning system (GPS) transmitters assist scientists in gathering location and movement data at detailed spatial and temporal resolutions. Machine-learning methods can then be applied to GPS data to provide insights into the ecological mechanisms of animal behavior and movements. By means of accurate GPS data-loggers, in 2019, 2020, and 2021, we tracked 8 red-footed falcons at the two largest colonies in Italy. We collected 13,484 GPS points and used recently introduced machine-learning methodology Unsupervised Animal Behaviour Examiner (UABE) to deduce the regular, nested, and hourly ethograms of the tracked individuals. We found clear and significant patterns of the red-footed falcons’ behaviors on monthly, daily, and hourly bases. Our study is a step forward in advancing the knowledge of this threatened species, and provides a baseline assessment of the current behavioral patterns of this red-footed falcon population, with which results of future studies can be compared to detect potential behavioral changes that act as early warnings of increased human disturbance.

The red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) is a species that is of great interest to conservation. Because of this, understanding the red-footed falcon’s flight behavior is important for the conservation of this species. In this context, by using accurate GPS data-loggers, in 2019 and 2020, we analyzed its flight activity at the two largest colonies in Italy, and we collected 5840 GPS points. At night, all of the surveyed individuals were active during all of the hourly intervals, and they were in flight for about 10% of the time (40% in the daytime). The nocturnal flight activity showed a dual pattern: frequent and long-distance flights before sunrise (22.22% of time in flight; maximum distance from nest > 3 km) and after sundown (32.14% of time in flight; maximum distance from nest > 12 km), and limited and short-distance flights late at night (10 p.m.–5 a.m.;

The Sardinian wetlands (Italy) act as stopover sites for many migratory birds along the central eastern Mediterranean bird flyway. These wetlands are now severely threatened by human activities and climate change. Accordingly, we built a simulation framework to predict the effects of several counterfactual and management scenarios on the level of avian diversity in the coastal wetlands of Sardinia. We found that the alpha avian diversity (i.e., the mean number of avian species per wetland) is destined to (a) decrease due to the most likely increase in water salinity, water discharges, and tourism pressure; and (b) halve (from 14.9 to 7.4, with 9 wetlands out of 22 predicted to host only between two and five waterbird species) in the worst possible scenario. However, the results also showed that proper management strategies could prevent and reverse such outcomes. Restrictions on tourism activities, water desalination, prevention of future saltwater intrusions, and the prohibition of water discharges could markedly favor the avian diversity in these wetlands, with an expected increase in the alpha avian diversity from 14.9 to 24.8 (and 10 wetlands out of 22 predicted to host from 29 to 32 waterbird species) in the best possible scenario. The importance of our results could be emphasized in the management plans of these important wetlands, most of which belong to the Natura 2000 network.

Abstract The Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) is a species of high international conservation interest. We analyzed its hunting behavior at the two largest colonies in Italy during the nestling period. Using accurate data-loggers, we tracked three adult Red-footed Falcons in June and July, 2019 and collected 4703 GPS points. We detected clear patterns of hovering and perching activity (HPA) in both time and space. HPA occupied one-third of the Red-footed Falcons’ day, and showed two peaks just after sunrise (between 35 and 40% of the monitoring time) and just before sunset (50‒60%) in both June and July, and minimum (20‒30%) at night and during the hottest time interval (10:00 a.m.‒4:00 p.m.). Almost 40% of HPA occurred within 50 m from nests. Our findings, although preliminary, have important implications for the conservation of these two colonies that are located within two Natura 2000 sites. The detected spatio-temporal patterns of Red-footed Falcons’ hunting behavior suggests the creation of two nested protection belts: the inner one is a narrow belt (up to 50 m from the two rows of trees that host the two colonies) with integral conservation, and hopefully increase the alfalfa crops and fallow land, and the outer belt (50 m‒2 km) with optimized agricultural activities.

Abstract Background There is increasing interest in evaluating home-range overlap (or, otherwise, segregation) between bird species, and between or within bird populations, to inform spatial planning. So far, studies of home-range overlap typically make use of comparisons between pairs of individuals, populations or species, and return a matrix of pairwise overlaps (e.g., percent overlaps). However, when the number of individuals, populations or species to be compared is elevated, an overlarge overlap matrix is difficult to interpret from an ecological viewpoint. Methods We propose here a new, conceptually simple and computationally efficient index (general overlap index; GOI) for the ready computation within GIS of home range overlap of an arbitrarily large number (i.e., n ≥ 2) of individuals, populations or species. Whatever the number of home ranges to be compared, GOI always returns a single score between 0 and 100. As a case study, we applied our index to 24,074 GPS points of 10 Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni) in order to estimate within-colony and between-colony overlaps in two neighboring colonies in Southern Italy. Results Within-colony overlap was elevated for both colonies (96.41% at Cassano delle Murge, n = 5 individuals; 81.38% at Santeramo in Colle, n = 5 individuals), while between-colony overlap was low (19.12%; n = 2 colonies) and, after a randomization procedure, more spatially-segregated than expected by chance. Conclusions Modern biotelemetry offers huge amounts of data describing the space use of animal species. The use of intuitive and straightforward indices, like GOI, can be useful to promptly extract ecological information from such an amount of data (e.g. detecting change in space use over successive years, evaluating the reliability of various home-range estimators).

In this study we solved the issue of measuring the degree of overlap/segregation among an arbitrarily large number (n ≥ 2) of 3D volumetric home ranges (i.e., x, y, and hg; where hg is height above ground level) for the first time. For this purpose, we introduced the novel non-pairwise index MVOI (Multiple Volumetric Overlap Index) and its complement to 100 MVSI (Multiple Volumetric Segregation Index). Regardless of the number of 3D volumetric home ranges, the MVOI and MVSI generate a single score of overlap/segregation between 0 and 100, making ecological interpretation much easier and more meaningful when compared to n × n pairwise overlap indices. As a case study, we applied the MVOI and MVSI to 12,081 GPS points of five lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) during the nesting period at Santeramo in Colle (Apulia region; Italy) in an area with the most elevated density of lesser kestrels in urban colonies worldwide. The 3D volumetric home ranges ranged between 1.79 km3 and 8.19 km3. We found that the tracked birds had different vertical profiles, possibly to limit intraspecific competition, resulting in a 3D home range overlap that was only 61.1% of the 2D overlap and 52.8% of the probabilistic one.

Abstract Background Inland wetlands are crucial for biodiversity conservation, especially in highly-urbanized landscapes. In the European Union, many wetlands are included in the EU ‘Natura 2000’ network, the main tool for biodiversity conservation over the continent, which requires the development of site-specific management plans. Clear and feasible recommendations are necessary to provide site managers with effective tools for the maintenance of biodiversity in these unstable environments. Birds are excellent umbrella species, therefore a management targeted at increasing habitat suitability for focal bird species would likely benefit broader wetland biological communities. Methods During spring–summer 2017, we collected presence/absence data for 10 bird species of conservation interest at a site scale for 21 Natura 2000 sites. We also carried out a point count survey to detect presence/absence of four reedbed-dwelling species at 75 points. At the site level, we estimated landscape characteristics from regional GIS-layers, whereas fine-scaled habitat composition was recorded on the field within a 100 m-buffer around the 75 points. We analysed the effect of the extent of different habitats on species’ occurrence probability by means of multi-species binomial multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) at both scales. We also run species-specific MARS models to compare their performance with those of multi-species models. Results At the site scale, the extent of the reedbeds/mires was positively associated with the occurrence of all species of conservation concern. At the point-count scale, reedbed extent positively predicted species’ occurrence, but only in presence of patches of clear shallow water. Species-specific MARS models showed qualitatively similar results for some species, but generally were outperformed by multi-species ones. Conclusions Multi-species MARS models confirmed to be an efficient tool in disclosing species-habitat relationships even for set of species including scarce taxa and when only short-term monitoring data are available. In terms of conservation measures, our findings stress the importance of Phragmites australis reedbed as a key habitat for avian biodiversity, but only when it is flooded and interspersed with scattered patches of open water. The preservation of wide (> 100/150 ha) and flooded reedbeds structured in spots of no less than 2 ha emerges as the main conservation measure for the long-term conservation of the threatened avifauna of inland pre-Alpine wetlands.

Not Available

Our study shows that the current levels of anthropogenic exploitation of the Sicilian wetlands (Italy), combined with the likely exacerbation of climate-driven variables, are unsustainable and could soon exclude many bird species from this metacommunity. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and its wetlands represent a network of unreplaceable stopover sites that allow waterbirds to rest and refuel during migratory journeys along the central-eastern Mediterranean bird flyway. During the summer period, these species experience higher levels of environmental stress as water scarcity and anthropogenic pressure are at their peak. Through field surveys, geoprocessing and statistical analyses, we investigated: (a) the structure of the avian metacommunity of the largest Sicilian wetlands during July–September and (b) the effects of 10 (geographic, hydrological and anthropogenic) wetland attributes on avian diversity. We sampled 73 bird species, of which 30 are listed in annex I of the Birds Directive. The avian metacommunity was significantly nested and non-modular; in addition, it presented elevated beta diversity and random species assemblage. Environmental filtering superseded biotic interactions in determining species composition. Avian diversity was significantly favored by higher water levels, water-level fluctuations and water discharges, and disfavored by water diversion, salinity and tourism pressure. The knowledge concerning the particular structure of the avian metacommunity of the Sicilian wetlands can facilitate the implementation of conservation policies that could mitigate and compensate the effects of short- and mid-term risks.

The conservation of threatened species is prevalently oriented towards two management strategies, i.e., habitat-level and species-level approaches. The former is focused on improving the conditions of the habitat of a certain species, whereas the latter is aimed at directly strengthening the species of interest. In this work, we adopted a different solution based on a community-level approach. Firstly, we identified the species (predators, competitors, prey) that interact with the species of interest (the lesser kestrel, Falco naumanni) in Southern Italy and mapped all of the ecological interactions among these species. Secondly, we built a simulation framework of the entire ecological network of the lesser kestrel. Thirdly, we simulated different management strategies that could increase the lesser kestrel population stock by targeting the species that interact with it. We found that the lesser kestrel in Southern Italy can be effectively protected by targeting the species interacting with the lesser kestrel, and that natural changes in the abundance of the interacting species could be used to pro-actively predict the dynamics of the lesser kestrel population. Our study demonstrates that a community-level approach to species conservation is highly appropriate on a local scale. Our methodological framework, based on qualitative modeling and what-if scenarios, can be applied in the absence of quantitative estimations of population stocks and interaction strengths.

[The waterways Rivers, especially in lowland areas, often result the elements of highest naturalistic value and play an important role as ecological corridors. Rivers are characterized by high dynamism and biological complexity, and the distribution of several bird species often depends on their physical characteristics and water velocity. During spring 2018, we studied the bird community dwelling in the Arcola Reserve, managed by Lipu, in province of La Spezia (NW Italy), included within the Montemarcello Magra Regional Natural Park (SCZ IT1343502). This site presents a portion of plain woodland with presence of arboreal substrate dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Populus nigra, Populus alba, Salix alba, and a portion consisting of scattered trees, xeric meadows with shrubby formations comprising Rosa canina, Rubus sp., Spartium junceum, Prunus spinosa. Besides, rare reed formations are present. In the 20 hectares of the study area, we carried out field samplings through 8 monitoring sessions since April 23th until June 26th 2018. Overall, we found 62 species of which only 32 were (potentially, probably or certainly) nesting inside the reserve (22 belonging to Passerines and 10 to the non-Passerines species). Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos (16.87 ± 4.37 individuals), Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla (16 ± 1.41 individuals), Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti (13 ± 2.06 individuals), Melodious Warbler (11.88 ± 6.88 individuals), Blackbird Turdus merula (10.75 ± 1.30 individuals) and Great Tit Parus major (9.88 ± 4.04 individuals) were the most abundant species. The density was 62.97 pairs/10 ha, whereas diversity resulted 2.47, this evidencing a considerable degree of complexity, while the evenness value suggests a certain degree of homogeneity in the abundance of the surveyed species. Five dominant species were present. Although the Passerines resulted the most important order in the community, also the non-Passerines showed a value higher than the one reported by other authors, although in less heterogeneous environments. Less than one third of the breeding species resulted to be long migrant species. Results of the present study represent a first step towards the increased knowledge about the avian community of the Arcola Reserve, especially addressed to its administrators as to highlight the need of preserving natural habitats and associated animal and plant species]. [Article in Italian]

Abstract Background So far, studies of avian space use are mostly realized in 2D, with the vertical dimension ignored. We propose here a new, relatively simple and computationally reasonable method for the estimation of volumetric (i.e. 3D) avian home ranges. Methods Through accurate GPS data-loggers, we collected 25,405 GPS points on Lesser Kestrels’ (Falco naumanni) space use during the nestling period in one main colony in Italy. We applied our 3D home range estimator to the whole GPS dataset, and also separately to diurnal and nocturnal GPS points. Results The 3D colony home range resulted equal to 28.12 km3. By considering daytime and night-time separately, the volumetric home ranges resulted considerably different. Conclusions Our 3D home range estimator, because of its intuitive and straightforward properties, can easily capitalize on the datasets offered by modern biotelemetry (data-loggers, light detection and LIDAR sensors) and enhance conservation strategies for mitigating anthropogenic impacts on bird species. Its applications embrace, but are not limited to, more accurate estimates of collision risk with power lines, aircrafts and wind farms, and increased knowledge of birds’ space requirements in order to persist in their distribution areas.

We present here the first report about Lesser Kestrels' flight height behaviour and potential collision risk with wind farms and power lines in two colonies (Gravina in Puglia and Altamura; Apulia, Italy) that present the highest density of Lesser Kestrels worldwide in urban areas. Using accurate GPS data-loggers on nine Lesser Kestrels, we collected data on flight activities during the nestling period. The tracked Lesser Kestrels spent 50% of the monitoring time at heights above ground level (AGL) lower than 41 m, and 75% of time below 98 m AGL. Flight heights resulted not significantly different between the two colonies. Instead, at night Lesser Kestrels resulted to fly at significantly lower altitudes than in the daytime. Our findings, although preliminary, underline the potential collision risk with power lines and wind farms at night in the Lesser Kestrels' colony of Gravina in Puglia. Instead, collision risk resulted negligible during the daytime for both colonies. We conclude that the disappearing of pseudo-steppes in the study area is forcing Lesser Kestrels to flight also at night for foraging purposes during the breading season, which in turn leads to an increased risk of collision with power lines and wind farms.

Home range overlap/segregation has several important applications to wildlife conservation and management. In this work, we first address the issue of measuring the degree of overlap/segregation among an arbitrarily large number (i.e., n ≥ 2) of probabilistic animal home ranges (i.e., utilization distributions). This subject matter has recently been solved for home ranges measured as polygons (e.g., percent minimum convex polygons and multinuclear cores) but not yet for probabilistic ones. Accordingly, we introduce a novel index named the PGOI (probabilistic general overlap index), and its complement, the PGSI (probabilistic general segregation index), an index for computation of probabilistic home range overlap/segregation at individual, population and species levels. Whatever the number of probabilistic home ranges, the PGOI returns a single score ranging in the [0, 100] interval. We applied the PGOI to five lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) at Santeramo in Colle (Apulia region; Southern Italy) as a case study. Our new index can be applied to any animal species and to home ranges derived from any type of probabilistic home range estimator.

Biodiversity loss has multiple causes, but habitat degradation through land-use change is the predominant driver. We investigated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in preserving the main wetlands of the two largest islands of the Mediterranean region, whose conservation is critical for many avian species at European and global level, in a 23-year period (1990–2012). In Sardinia, the surroundings of 22 wetlands were affected by an increase in artificial areas (+64 ha/year) and decrease in agricultural (−54 ha/year) and natural (−17 ha/year) ones. In Sicily, the surroundings of 16 wetlands were impacted by an increase in agricultural areas (+50 ha/year) and decrease in natural and semi-natural ones (−62 ha/year). Results show that the Natura 2000 policies were effective in preserving wetlands (no shrinkages detected in both regions), but their surroundings experienced intense processes of degradation and artificialization in all the sub-periods considered (1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012), whose effects are now threatening waterbirds and wetland integrity. The enlargement of the existing Natura 2000 sites, the creation of new ones and the speedup of the application of the rules of the Habitats and Birds Directives seem necessary to counteract the rapid land-use changes around these important stopover sites.

Le linee guida comunitarie per monitorare lo stato di conservazione delle specie e degli habitat richiedono che gli Stati membri forniscano un’indicazione del “Favourable Reference Value” (FRV), o “Valore di Riferimento Favorevole”. Il FRV rappresenta un obiettivo di conservazione a lungo termine, tale da rappresentare una situazione indubbiamente favorevole per una data specie, in grado di garantirle ottime possibilità di persistenza nel lungo periodo. La disponibilità di FRV consente una valutazione più oggettiva e trasparente dello stato di conservazione di una specie. Il presente lavoro ha valutato lo stato di conservazione delle specie ornitiche nidificanti in Italia, sviluppando un metodo basato sui requisiti delle direttive comunitarie che integra al suo interno la definizione dei valori di riferimento. Attualmente, è stato proposto un metodo per la definizione dei FRV per popolazione, range e habitat per ciascuna specie, ma è stato possibile procedere ad una identificazione su base quantitativa del solo FRV relativo alla popolazione per le specie di uccelli regolarmente nidificanti in Italia e non attualmente in fase di espansione demografica in seguito a recente colonizzazione (ultimi 30 anni). L’approccio sviluppato per definire il FRV di popolazione ha previsto l’utilizzo di tecniche di Population Viability Analysis o, in alternativa, valutazioni basate sulla densità riproduttiva, secondo le caratteristiche di abbondanza e distribuzione delle specie nidificanti (popolazioni maggiori o minori di 2500 coppie, coloniali o non). Sono state prese in considerazione 250 specie nidificanti in Italia, di cui 88 (che comprendono due sottospecie) incluse nell’Allegato I della Direttiva Uccelli (147/2009CE). Complessivamente, per 46 popolazioni appartenenti a 20 specie inserite nell’Allegato I e per 10 popolazioni di 6 specie non incluse, è stato possibile calcolare un valore di FRV attraverso tecniche di PVA. Per 15 specie inserite nell’Allegato e per 92 specie non inserite è stato formulato un FRV in termini di densità riproduttiva a una o due scale spaziali; per le specie con popolazioni superiori a 2500 coppie esigenze spaziali elevate (territori o home ranges di decine di ettari o più) non è stato formulato il FRV a scala locale. Per valutare lo stato di conservazione è stato utilizzato un adattamento della classificazione a “semaforo” proposta dalla Commissione Europea per la Direttiva Habitat, attribuendo a ciascuna delle tre voci considerate (popolazione, range e habitat), un giudizio sintetico: - favorevole: semaforo VERDE. Tutti favorevoli oppure due favorevoli ed uno sconosciuto; - inadeguato: semaforo GIALLO. Uno o più inadeguato/i ma nessuno cattivo; - cattivo: semaforo ROSSO. Uno o più cattivo/i; - sconosciuto semaforo BIANCO. Tre sconosciuti oppure due sconosciuti ed un favorevole. Prima di poter attribuire il giudizio a ciascuna voce, è necessario verificare se vi sono fattori che possono portare almeno uno dei tre valori di riferimento favorevole a non essere raggiunto, mantenuto o raggiungibile nel futuro prossimo (warning lights). Complessivamente, 42 specie incluse nell’Allegato I della Direttiva Uccelli hanno stato di conservazione cattivo, 39 inadeguato, 6 favorevole e 1 sconosciuto; tra le specie non inserite, 35 hanno stato di conservazione cattivo, 44 inadeguato, 67 favorevole e 16 sconosciuto Per alcune specie è stato possibile valutare lo stato di conservazione per singole bioregioni e sono state prodotte classificazioni “a semaforo” per ciascuna bioregione ospitante la specie in oggetto. Per essere in stato di conservazione favorevole, una specie non deve essere semplicemente al riparo dal rischio di estinzione, ma deve avere un ruolo “significativo” nel proprio habitat di riferimento, rinvenendosi con frequenze e densità soddisfacenti e ricoprendo le funzioni ecologiche che le sono proprie. Le forti pressioni cui molte specie e popolazioni sono sottoposte (cambiamenti climatici, continuo degrado ambientale, variazioni ad ampia scala nella dinamica di popolazione), rendono necessario valutare accuratamente le minacce e pressioni cui la specie/popolazione sono soggette o potranno esserlo nel prossimo futuro, anche in caso di popolazioni superiori al FRV. Risulta, infine, evidente come i FRV dovranno essere sottoposti a periodica rivalutazione e aggiornamento, sulla base soprattutto dei nuovi dati che ogni sei anni vengono forniti dal Reporting sull’applicazione della Direttiva Uccelli.

The production rules of the Parmesan cheese, influencing the nature and the extension of the cultivation of the area of production of this famous cheese, have a positive impact on breeding and wintering birds. The project is still running in order to confirm these first results.

First data on the Leiothrix lutea, its relative abundance and its dominance within the bird community in four SCIp are presented.

We carried out 103 point counts in spring 2007 to check the presence of the Little Bustard in three SPA’s of Sardinia of which: 44 in SPA ITB013048 “Campi d’Ozieri e pianure comprese tra Tula e Oschiri”, 35 in SPA ITB023050 “Altopiano di Campeda” and 24 in SPA ITB023051 “Altopiano di Abbasanta”, for a total of 103 point counts. We located, overall, about 60 males of the species.

Black Rat, Rattus rattus, is one of the most common species on Mediterranean islands; it is found on all of the large and medium-sized islands, and on many of the smallest ones as well (Perfetti et alii, 2001). On Linosa, the Black Rat was introduced by man and its density is not evaluable at present. Linosa island hosts the largest breeding colony of Cory’s Shearwater, Calonectris diomedea, in Italy (estimated at 10.000-15.000 pairs, Iapichino & Massa, 1989), and the second largest colony in the west-central Mediterranean (Granadeiro et alii, 1997). The aim of this work was to verify for the first time the limiting factors influencing breeding success in the Cory’s Shearwater breeding colony on the island of Linosa, with special attention to the impact of Black Rats.

In order to verify the use of nest-boxes as instruments of efficient conservation, research was carried out with the aim of studying the usage rate of nest-boxes and to compare reproductive performance of nest-box vs. natural nest. The results obtained showed a usage rate of only 7% in the first year.

Spring raptor migration observations were performed from the island of Panarea in the period 20/4-20/5 of the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. The highest numbers were recorded for the Honey Buzzard, but also other species such as Marsh Harrier, Black Kite and Montagu’s Harrier were observed.