The spreading of invasive species in new continents can vary from slow and limited diffusion to fast colonisations over vast new areas. We studied the sacred ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus along a 31-year period, from 1989 to 2019, with particular attention to the first area of release in NW Italy. We collected data on species distribution through observations by citizen science projects, population density by transects with distance method, breeding censuses at colonies, and post breeding censuses at roosts. The birds counted at winter roosts in NW Italy increased from a few tens up to 10,880 individuals in 2019. Sacred ibises started breeding in 1989, with a single nest in north-western Italy. The number of breeders remained very low until 2006, when both overwintering and breeding sacred ibises started to increase exponentially and expand their range throughout northern Italy with isolated breeding cases in central Italy. In 2019, the number of nests had increased to 1249 nests in 31 colonies. In NW Italy, the density of foraging birds averaged 3.9 ind./km2 in winter and 1.5 ind./km2 in the breeding period, with a mean size of the foraging groups of 8.9 and 2.1 birds respectively. Direct field observations and species distribution models (SDM) showed that foraging habitats were mainly rice fields and wetlands. A SDM applied to the whole Italian peninsula plus Sardinia and Sicily showed that the variables best related to the SDM were land class (rice fields and wetlands), altitude, and the temperature seasonality. The areas favourable for species expansion encompass all the plains of Northern Italy, and several areas of Tuscany, Latium, Sardinia, and Apulia.
[In an Ardea purpurea colony regularly monitored from 2004 to 2018, some predatory events of Vulpes vulpes have been observed since 2010. This was followed by a reduction in the reproductive success and in the number of breeding pairs. Some herons likely abandoned their nests in the reed bed and moved to nesting on trees. The Authors discuss the possibility that these events were a consequence of the predatory activity of the red fox.] [Article in Italian]
During the Spring of 2011, we studied the bird community in an area of Val Borbera, in the province of Alessandria (NW Italy). In the study area, situated at an altitude between 655 and 1700 m a.s.l., we conducted 110 points count ten minutes each in four microhabitats (agricultural areas, shrubs, forests, and prairies). In total, we surveyed 72 species, of which 51 were passerine and 21 non passerine. The most abundant species were Sylvia atricapilla, Phylloscopus collybita, Apus apus, and Turdus merula. In the agricultural areas, we detected a total of 50 species (Sylvia atricapilla, Parus major, Turdus merula were the most abundant). In the shrubs, we detected 30 species (Sylvia atricapilla, Parus major, Fringilla coelebs, Phylloscopus collybita, Turdus merula, Erithacus rubecula were the most abundant). In the forest areas, we found 45 species (Sylvia atricapilla, Parus major, Fringilla coelebs, Phylloscopus collybita, Turdus merula, Erithacus rubecula were the most abundant), and in the prairies, we detected 48 species (Alauda arvensis, Anthus campestris, Sylvia atricapilla, Turdus merula, Anthus trivialis, Sylvia communis were the most abundant). Compared to the other macro habitats, the agricultural areas have a significantly high abundance and richness in species, which highlights the importance of the agricultural mosaics in the Piedmont and mountain areas. The data which has been collected so far confirms the important role of this area, given the presence of some species which are rare at a regional scale.
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.
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