Man-induced habitat changes and sensitive species: a GIS approach to the Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) distribution in a Mediterranean wetland

The Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris suffered declines in western Europe during the 20th century, partly because of wetland reclamation. The species has been traditionally considered a reedbed specialist but recent studies identified a greater ecological plasticity than previously believed. We investigated habitat associations of a Eurasian Bittern population that has started to breed in the ricefields of northwest Italy since the early 1990s. Booming Bitterns had a higher probability of occurring in ricefields with taller rice plants, more vegetated field banks, more weeds, a larger surface and closer to remaining natural wetlands. The positive effect of field bank vegetation height on the probability that a ricefield hosted a booming Bittern declined late in the season, in contrast to the effects of weeds and ricefield area, which were stronger later in the season. A decreasing importance of vegetation on field banks to booming Bitterns may be a consequence of seasonal changes in habitat structure through the Bittern's breeding period. The degree of flooding did not affect the probability of occurrence of booming Bitterns, probably because most ricefields were homogeneously flooded during the peak breeding season (June-July). Our findings have important implications for the management of Bittern populations breeding in the ricefields of northwest Italy. We propose simple conservation actions that may favour the occurrence of booming Bitterns and help the species spread in this novel habitat.

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“…A similar preference for large, uninterrupted reed stands has been observed in natural wetlands as well (e.g. Puglisi et al. 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Habitat preferences of Eurasian Bitterns Botaurus stellaris booming in ricefields: implications for management

Longoni

Rubolini

Ambrosini

et al. 2011

Ibis

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“…Owing to the degradation and loss of these lake wetlands, the cranes have changed their dietary structure (Zhou et al 2010) and are declining in number (Harris et al 2000;Zhao et al 2013). Although some recent studies have revealed considerable flexibility in wader habitat use (Puglisi et al 2005;White et al 2006), including Grus species (Liu et al 2010;Li et al 2013), this flexibility of habitat use by larger migratory waders is regional and species-specific (Ma et al 2003;Aborn 2010;Liu et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of variation in food resources on foraging habitat use by wintering Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha)

et al. 2015

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Background: The ideal habitat use of waterbirds can be considered to be fixed, but current habitat use depends on environmental conditions, especially those of food characteristics, considered crucial to their use of habitats. Understanding how waterbirds respond to variation in food availability at degraded wetland sites and change their habitat use patterns over spatial and temporal scales should direct future conservation planning. The objectives of this study were to identify these spatial-temporal foraging habitat use patterns of Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) and their relationship with food characteristics in the severely degraded wetlands of the Shengjin and Caizi lakes along with the Yangtze River floodplain. Methods: We investigated the changes in food characteristics, relative abundance and density of Hooded Cranes in various habitat types across three winter periods from November 2012 to April 2013. We examined the effect of these winter periods and habitat types on the pattern of use by the cranes and explored the relationship between these patterns and food characteristics using linear regression. Results: The food characteristics and habitat use clearly changed over spatial-temporal scales. In the early and mid-winter periods, the most abundant, accessible and frequented food resources were found in paddy fields, while in the late period the more abundant food were available in meadows, which then replaced the paddy fields. There were fewer effects of winter periods, habitat types and their interactions on habitat use patterns except for the effect of habitat types on the relative abundance, determined as a function of food abundance, but independent of food depth and sediment permeability. Conclusions: In response to the degradation and loss of lake wetlands, the cranes shifted their habitat use patterns by making tradeoffs between food abundance and accessibility over spatial-temporal scales that facilitated their survival in the mosaic of these lake wetlands.

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“…Maiorano et al 2006;Rondinini et al 2006;Zielinski et al 2006;Tapia et al 2007) or assess the effects of environmental changes (e.g. Berry et al 2002;Thuiller 2003;Araú jo et al 2004;Puglisi et al 2005;Seoane et al 2006). For this reason, habitat suitability models (HSMs) have been increasingly used in the last decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usefulness of coarse grain data on forest management to improve bird abundance models

Massimino

Orioli

Pizzardi

et al. 2010

Italian Journal of Zoology

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We tested the use of coarse grain data on forest management systems to improve habitat suitability models in predicting distribution and abundance of five bird species, nesting in broadleaf forests in Lombardy (Italy). They were the long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus, marsh tit Poecile palustris, blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, wood nuthatch Sitta europaea and short-toed tree-creeper Certhia brachydactyla. Bird data were collected from 4552 point counts from 1992 to 2002. To model the habitat suitability for each species, we used generalized linear models with negative binomial distribution and log link function. Environmental predictors were land-use fractional covers, forest isolation, elevation, slope, aspect, and coarse grain data on forest management systems aggregated for administrative provinces. They were selected by a stepwise procedure based on the Bayesian Informative Criterion. Predictors on forest management system were useful to improve model fit for all cavity-nesting species, which was also shown to be affected by forest isolation. The long-tailed tit, which is not an obligate cavity nester, did not exhibit any preference with respect either to forest management or isolation.

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Man-induced habitat changes and sensitive species: a GIS approach to the Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) distribution in a Mediterranean wetland

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

Habitat preferences of Eurasian Bitterns Botaurus stellaris booming in ricefields: implications for management

Habitat preferences of Eurasian Bitterns Botaurus stellaris booming in ricefields: implications for management

Effects of variation in food resources on foraging habitat use by wintering Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha)

Usefulness of coarse grain data on forest management to improve bird abundance models

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