Guidelines for the monitoring of Rosalia alpina

Abstract

Rosalia alpina (Linnaeus, 1758) is a large longhorn beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) which is protected by the Habitats Directive and which typically inhabits beech forests characterised by the presence of mature, dead (or moribund) and sun-exposed trees. A revision of the current knowledge on systematics, ecology and conservation of R. alpina is reported. The research was carried out as part of the LIFE MIPP project which aims to find a standard monitoring method for saproxylic beetles protected in Europe. For monitoring this species, different methods were tested and compared in two areas of the Apennines, utilising wild trees, logs and tripods (artificially built with beech woods), all potentially suitable for the reproduction of the species. Even if all methods succeeded in the survey of the target species, these results showed that the use of wild trees outperformed other methods. Indeed, the use of wild trees allowed more adults to be observed and required less intensive labour. However, monitoring the rosalia longicorn on wild trees has the main disadvantage that they can hardly be considered "standard sampling units", as CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE Launched to accelerate biodiversity conservation A peer-reviewed open-access journalAlessandro Campanaro et al. / Nature Conservation 20: 165-203 (2017) 166 each tree may be differently attractive to adults. Our results demonstrated that the most important factors influencing the attraction of single trunks were wood volume, sun-exposure and decay stage. Based on the results obtained during the project LIFE MIPP, as well as on a literature review, a standard monitoring method for R. alpina was developed.

A first assessment of genetic variability in the longhorn beetleRosalia alpina(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the Italian Apennines

“…Collection of individuals was performed during the monitoring of R. alpina carried out in the framework of the EU LIFE-MIPP Project (Campanaro et al 2017;Carpaneto et al 2017;Rossi De Gasperis et al 2017) in two Italian National Parks (also "Sites of Community Importance" or SCI): "Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Faltenora e Campigna" National Park (hereafter abbreviated as "FC"; SCI: IT4080001), located in the Northern Apennines (Forlì-Cesena and Arezzo provinces), and "Abruzzo Lazio e Molise" National Park (hereafter abbreviated as "PA"; SCI: IT7110205), located in the Central Apennines (L'Aquila, Isernia and Frosinone provinces). The distance between the two areas is about 250 km.…”

“…In PA, three sub-areas were selected: "Difesa di Pescasseroli" (DP; 1300 m asl; 41.8461°N, 13.8600°E), and "Val Fondillo" (VF; 1200 m asl; 41.7841°N, 13.9563°E), characterized by pure beech forests with wide clearings and old growth trees (the distance between these two subareas is about 6.5 km); and "Zio Mas" (ZM; 1700 m asl; 42.0802°N, 14.0566°E), characterized by fragmented beech woodlands interspersed among open mountain grasslands (distant~10 and 30 km from VF and DP, respectively; for more detail on the ecological features of the sampling areas see Carpaneto et al 2017). The sample tissues for molecular analysis were obtained over a 2year sampling period (2014-2015, during July and August), from specimens caught on trees along specific sampling transects (for details on positions of "wild trees" and the areas covered by the sampling transects, see figs 6 and 7 in Campanaro et al 2017). Tarsomeres of one middle leg of the insect (as in Drag et al 2015) were stored in vials containing 96% ethanol.…”

“…The larvae of the Rosalia longicorn complete their development in 2-3 years, mainly feeding on deadwood of mature, dead (or moribund) and sun-exposed beech trees (Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus and F. orientalis Lipsky). Therefore, the habitat of the species consists in mountain forest clearings, wooded grasslands and forest patches, having a low percentage of canopy closure (Sama 1988(Sama , 2002Duelli & Wermelinger 2005;Campanaro et al 2017). It is worth noting that the larval stage can also develop in other deciduous trees (e.g.…”

“…The last assessment of the conservation status of this insect in the Italian peninsula (performed during the years 2006-2012) placed this species in the category "Inadequate (U1)" (Genovesi et al 2014), and the recently published Italian Red List of Italian Saproxylic Beetles evaluated the species as "Nearly Threatened" (Audisio et al 2014;Carpaneto et al 2015). To perform a first genetic survey of Italian populations, we gathered data from R. alpina populations in two areas where monitoring protocols were recently standardized and performed in the framework of the EU-LIFE monitoring insects with public participation (MIPP) Project (Mason et al 2015;Rossi De Gasperis 2016;Campanaro et al 2017): the first area is placed in the Northern Apennines ("Foreste Casentinesi" National Park), and the second in the Central Apennines ("Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise" National Park).…”

Analyses of occurrence data of protected insect species collected by citizens in Italy

“…Biology, ecology and monitoring methods of R. alpina are presented in detail by Campanaro et al (2017).…”