Steppes vs. crops: is cohabitation for biodiversity possible? Lessons from a national park in southern Italy

Campedelli, Tommaso; Londi, Guglielmo; Gioia, Giuseppe La; Frassanito, Anna Grazia; Florenzano, Guido Tellini

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2015.07.012

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Considering that not irrigated crops are the most important land use in the study area (32.4%), these negative effects underlined the importance of this habitat, as also showed by the importance for breeding birds of the Alta Murgia Plateau (in the central part of the study area and comprised in the Alta Murgia National Park), one of the largest steppe areas of Italy. This importance was noted, mainly for larks, by a recent research carried out in this area [ 64 ]. Further, the importance of wetlands for wintering birds is usual in the Mediterranean Basin [ 65 – 68 ] and the Margherita di Savoia salt flats are one of the most important wintering areas for waterbirds in Italy [ 69 , 70 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas

Chiatante

Meriggi

2016

PLoS ONE

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Nowadays we are seeing the largest biodiversity loss since the extinction of the dinosaurs. To conserve biodiversity it is essential to plan protected areas using a prioritization approach, which takes into account the current biodiversity value of the sites. Considering that in the Mediterranean Basin the agro-ecosystems are one of the most important parts of the landscape, the conservation of crops is essential to biodiversity conservation. In the framework of agro-ecosystem conservation, farmland birds play an important role because of their representativeness, and because of their steady decline in the last Century in Western Europe. The main aim of this research was to define if crop dominated landscapes could be useful for biodiversity conservation in a Mediterranean area in which the landscape was modified by humans in the last thousand years and was affected by the important biogeographical phenomenon of peninsula effect. To assess this, we identify the hotspots and the coldspots of bird diversity in southern Italy both during the winter and in the breeding season. In particular we used a scoring method, defining a biodiversity value for each cell of a 1-km grid superimposed on the study area, using data collected by fieldwork following a stratified random sampling design. This value was analysed by a multiple linear regression analysis and was predicted in the whole study area. Then we defined the hotspots and the coldspots of the study area as 15% of the cells with higher and lower value of biodiversity, respectively. Finally, we used GAP analysis to compare hotspot distribution with the current network of protected areas. This study showed that the winter hotspots of bird diversity were associated with marshes and water bodies, shrublands, and irrigated crops, whilst the breeding hotspots were associated with more natural areas (e.g. transitional wood/shrubs), such as open areas (natural grasslands, pastures and not irrigated crops). Moreover, the results underlined the negative effects of permanent crops, such as vineyards, olive groves, and orchards, in particular during the winter season. This research highlights the importance of farmland areas mainly for wintering species and the importance of open areas for breeding species in the Mediterranean Basin. This may be true even when the species’ spatial distribution could be affected by biogeography. An important result showed that the hotspots for breeding species cannot be used as a surrogate for the wintering species, which were often not considered in the planning of protected areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas

Chiatante

Meriggi

2016

PLoS ONE

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“…2a). This corroborates earlier studies showing that woodlarks, and farmland associated species generally, prefer heterogeneous habitat arrangements and variegated landscape mosaics (e.g., Fahrig, 2003; Vickery & Arlettaz, 2012; Campedelli et al ., 2015; Fahrig, 2017; Leroux et al ., 2017). When selecting their home ranges, woodlarks are ecologically more constrained in high‐intensity vinicultural areas where vegetated vineyard fields are rare.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A small fraction of the local woodlark population breeds in steppe habitats on south‐exposed, shallow slopes. Human settlements were avoided at the 100 m radius scale (PLAND residential area), supporting the view that woodlarks are non‐synanthropic and generally need unsealed land covered by a mixture of extensive agricultural area and semi‐natural habitats (Campedelli et al ., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Slope position was positively related to ground vegetation cover (NDVI within 50 m radius), indicating that evenly sloped landscapes are more likely to be vegetated and are thus (indirectly) used more often. At this scale, woodlarks were also found in areas that had a mosaic of grove patches and steppes, again demonstrating a preference for heterogeneous landscapes within the home range (Campedelli et al ., 2015), in particular where grove edge length is increased (Brambilla & Rubolini, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fragmentation effects on woodlark habitat selection depend on habitat amount and spatial scale

Bosco

Cushman

Wan

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

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Habitat loss and fragmentation are key drivers of biodiversity loss. However, they are usually confounded, making it difficult to separate fragmentation effects from those of habitat loss. In addition, it has been shown that often fragmentation negatively affects biodiversity only below a certain threshold of habitat amount. We investigated the separate and interactive effects of habitat amount and fragmentation on habitat selection of the woodlark at 10 spatial scales. In southern Switzerland this passerine mainly breeds in ground‐vegetated vineyards, which therefore represent the focal habitat type in this study. Additionally, we investigated land cover, topographic and climatic variables at the same 10 scales to obtain a holistic picture of species‐habitat associations. Habitat selection was analyzed at two hierarchical levels: home range selection within the study area and habitat use within home ranges. Home range selection was strongly driven by an interactive effect of habitat amount and fragmentation: woodlarks avoided fragmented areas if habitat amount was below 20% but exhibited a preference for fragmented areas if habitat amount exceeded this threshold. Both habitat amount and fragmentation most strongly affected habitat use at the 100 m scale. We did not find such interactive effects for habitat use within home ranges. At this level, habitat amount at a 50 m scale influenced woodlark presence positively with no significant effects of fragmentation. Furthermore, woodlarks preferred evenly sloped landscape mosaics interspersed with steppes and groves. Two main insights emerge from our study. First, these results highlight the necessity of studying scale explicit and interactive effects of habitat amount and fragmentation when addressing ecological questions, such as habitat selection in birds. Second, we provide management recommendations for farmers: more vineyards should be vegetated and arranged as disjunct patches where their surface covers more than 20% of the landscape but be aggregated where vegetated area is lower.

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“…In addition, bird-habitat associations can vary spatially across a species’ geographic range. Woodlarks, for example, are associated with heathlands ( Mallord et al, 2007a ) and forest clear cuts in Britain ( Wright et al, 2007 ), Christmas-tree plantations in Germany ( Fartmann et al, 2018 ), vineyards in Switzerland ( Arlettaz et al, 2012 ; Bosco, Arlettaz & Jacot, 2019 ; Buehler et al, 2017 ), and crop-steppes in Italy ( Campedelli et al, 2015 ). Therefore, a species might occupy different habitats across its range to reflect different limiting factors or abiotic conditions ( e.g ., Boves et al, 2013 ; Koleček, Reif & Weidinger, 2015 ; Piotr et al, 2011 ; Wesołowski & Fuller, 2012 ; Whittingham et al, 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Both landscape heterogeneity and configuration determine Woodlarks (Lullula arborea) breeding territories

Resch¹,

Suarez‐Rubio²

2021

PeerJ

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Farmland birds have declined in the last decades mostly due to agriculture intensification. The Woodlark Lullula arborea, a farmland species of conservation concern and protected by the European Bird Directive, occurs in a variety of habitats across its geographic range. Although habitat heterogeneity has been recognized as a key feature, the preference or avoidance of particular habitat attributes might differ across its range because different localities may have distinct conditions. Such variation would challenge conservation efforts at the local level. Our aim was to assess habitat associations of Woodlarks and determine whether the habitat attributes identified as important in other locations across its range could be generalised and applied to Austrian populations. In addition, habitat associations can be influenced by land-use change. We examined changes in land use from 2007 to 2016 in 15 municipalities surrounding areas occupied by Woodlarks. We quantified the composition and configuration of the local landscape surrounding 18 singing males’ territories and 16 non-territory sites. We found that the probability of Woodlarks territories increased with landscape heterogeneity between 50% and 70%, increased with dispersed bare soil patches, decreased with overall patch density and were away from dirt roads. Contrary to our expectation, there was no indication of land-use change. In contrast to previous studies, vegetation height, the presence and proximity to woodland were not identified as important habitat characteristics. Thus, some conservation recommendations can be derived from other localities, for example, maintaining or enhancing landscape heterogeneity. However, others should be adapted to local conditions. In Austria, conservation efforts should focus on including dispersed patches of bare soil and limiting the development of dirt roads nearby Woodlark territories, in addition to promoting a heterogeneous landscape.

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Steppes vs. crops: is cohabitation for biodiversity possible? Lessons from a national park in southern Italy

Cited by 11 publications

References 40 publications

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas

Fragmentation effects on woodlark habitat selection depend on habitat amount and spatial scale

Both landscape heterogeneity and configuration determine Woodlarks (Lullula arborea) breeding territories

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