Long-Term Monitoring of the Endemic Rana Latastei: Suggestions for After-LIFE Management

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Long-Term Monitoring of the Endemic Rana Latastei: Suggestions for After-LIFE Management Long-term monitoring of the endemic Rana latastei: suggestions for after-LIFE management L UCA C ANOVA and A LESSANDRO B ALESTRIERI Abstract We monitored egg clutch numbers of a popula- loss (Houlahan & Findlay, ; Cushman, ), pollution tion of the endemic Italian agile frog Rana latastei in a (Bridges & Semlitsch, ), disease epidemics and climate Site of Community Interest in northern Italy (SCI IT change (Kiesecker et al., ; Ficetola & Maiorano, ). ) during – with the aim of assessing the As for many other taxa (Menzel et al., ; Thackeray long-term variation in its abundance. We walked along et al., ; Chen et al., ), a shift to earlier breeding as the banks of canals and small ponds (n = ) – times per a result of global warming has been reported for several week between early February and mid-April each year to anuran species (Terhivuo, ; Reading, ; Corn, ; detect egg clutches. The relationships between the start of Tryjanovski et al., ). Shifts are stronger for anurans than the breeding season, yearly egg mass counts, rate of yearly those reported for trees, birds and butterflies (Parmesan, change in the number of recorded egg masses and climat- ), but the consequences of earlier breeding for popula- ic and environmental variables were assessed by multiple re- tion dynamics are still unknown. gression. The first deposition of eggs occurred progressively Neither phenological shifts (Blaustein et al., ), nor later in the year throughout the study period and mean air population decline (Blaustein et al., ; Richter et al., temperature during the breeding season decreased over this ; Stuart et al., ) affect all amphibian populations. period. Agile frogs showed high deposition site-fidelity. The reasons for these variations are still being debated Despite large variations in the number of egg clutches and identifying them requires information on breeding detected from year to year, the population size remained ecology and population trends, which is often difficult to ob- stable in the long term. Peaks in the number of egg clutches tain, particularly for rare or declining species (Richter et al., occurred years after the dredging of canals, carried out ). every – years to improve water availability, starting in In amphibians clutch size (the number of egg masses de- as part of a LIFE Nature Project. This was the only posited) is an important life history trait that varies between predictor of the number of egg clutches deposited, suggest- taxonomic groups, populations, and individuals within the ing that periodical management is needed to support the same population (Wells, ; Cadeddu & Castellano, ). agile frog population. Our results reinforce the need for At population-level, variation in clutch size depends on food multi-year monitoring to determine both the long-term availability and environmental conditions, mainly tempera- success of habitat restoration projects and the status of ture (Reading, ), rainfall (Jensen et al., ) and hydro- residual populations. period (Semlitsch et al., ). Climatic conditions in spring may affect the length of the breeding period (Jørgensen, Keywords Clutch size, conservation, habitat restoration, ; Reading & Clarke, ), resulting in variations in Italian agile frog, LIFE projects, long-term monitoring, clutch sizes (Morrison & Hero, ). population trend, Rana latastei Egg clutch counts have been widely used for monitoring amphibian populations (Crouch & Paton, ; Bernini et al., ; Loman & Andersson, ) and are considered Introduction a valid indicator of population trends (Meyer et al., ; Houlahan et al., ). Because the number of egg masses mphibian populations worldwide are declining at an deposited can vary significantly between years, collecting Aalarming rate (McCallum, ; Hayes et al., ), data for . years may be necessary to assess the trend with % of amphibian species threatened; i.e. categorized of an amphibian population with sufficient precision as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered on (Scherer & Tracey, ). the IUCN Red List (Stuart et al., ). Several anthropo- In addition to providing descriptions of population genic factors contribute to their decline, including habitat dynamics, long-term data are needed to identify changes driven by anthropogenic stressors (Magurran et al., ) and the causes of declining amphibian populations (Stuart LUCA CANOVA Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy et al., ). Long-term data improve ecosystem models ALESSANDRO BALESTRIERI (Corresponding author) Department of Biosciences, and forecasts, supporting effective management actions University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, I-20133 Milan, Italy E-mail [email protected] (Giron-Nava et al., ). Received August . Revision requested October . Despite its importance for conservation management, Accepted December . First published online July . long-term monitoring and collection of basic data on Oryx, 2018, 52(4), 709–717 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317001879 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 26 Sep 2021 at 09:06:38, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001879 710 L. Canova and A. Balestrieri fecundity and population trends are often hampered by low (Bernini et al., ). The Action Plan has highlighted the funding and unstable political conditions (Elzinga et al., need for long-term (. years) studies (Edgar & Bird, ; Estrada, ). Only a few egg clutch time series span- ) to account for large annual fluctuations of population ning . years are available, including – years for Rana size. We monitored egg clutch sizes over a -year period temporaria (Switzerland; Meyer et al., ), years for (–) in a small protected area in the Lombardy re- Lithobates sylvaticus (New England; Raithel et al., ), gion with the aim of determining long-term variation in and years for Rana dalmatina (Italy; Bernini et al., ). agile frog abundance. Because the area was the subject of a Although Palearctic amphibians are less threatened than -year LIFE Nature Project (LIFE NAT/IT/)to tropical species, northern Italy is among the Eurasian areas increase habitat suitability for amphibians and Ardeidae hosting the highest number of endemic and threatened spe- during –, we also aimed to assess the Project’s cies: out of (%) are endemic and are categorized as long-term impact on R. latastei. threatened ( Endangered and Vulnerable) on the IUCN Red List (Stuart et al., ; Rondinini et al., ). The Mediterranean region is considered a hotspot for conserva- Study area tion investment (Myers et al., ; Brooks et al., ). The Italian agile frog Rana latastei is a monotypical, en- The study area is located at the Site of Community Interest demic species of northern Italy, the Swiss canton Ticino ‘Riserva di Monticchie’ (SCI IT ; N, (Grossenbacher, ) and the Istria peninsula (Burlin & E). The Site covers c. ha on the left bank of the River Dolce, ), and also occurs locally in lowland hygrophil- Po, of which . ha are hygrophilous forest and . ha ous woods below m in Slovenia and Croatia (Barbieri & are agricultural land. Residual forested areas consist of allu- Mazzotti, ). Females lay their eggs in February–April in vial woods with alder Alnus glutinosa, white willow Salix single clutches (one per year), which are usually deposited alba and common ash Fraxinus excelsior, and deciduous ri- within cm of the water surface of river pools, ponds, parian woods with oak Quercus robur and elms Ulmus spp. springs and canals in wooded areas. Deposition sites are R. latastei has been recorded in the area since the early typically rich in aquatic vegetation or provide submerged s (Ferri, ). In – the LIFE Nature Project branches and leaves (Barbieri & Mazzotti, ). R. latastei ‘Ardeides and Amphibians: habitat conservation in the is an explosive breeder, with most ovipositions occurring Monticchie Natural Reserve’ (LIFE NAT/IT/) within – days, eggs hatching – days after deposition, aimed to increase the cover of alluvial forests through select- and tadpoles completing their metamorphosis in c. ive cutting of allochthonous species, planting of , indi- months (Sindaco et al., ). Less than breeding sites genous trees and shrubs over a ha area, and restoration of are known (Grossenbacher, ), most populations are water quality and availability in canals and springs by im- fragmented and genetic diversity decreases from east to proving the existing canal network and the circulation of west and in peripheral populations (Garner et al., ). ground water arising from the foot of a fluvial terrace The species is included in Annexes II and IV of the (Fig. ). Since , canals have been periodically dredged Habitat Directive of the European Union (EC /) to remove sediments and improve water availability. and categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Reasons for concern are water pollution, increasing urban- ization and widespread intensive agriculture, which threat- Methods en the residual humid deciduous forests of the Po-Venetian plain, one of the most densely populated areas in Italy From to all waterbodies (n = ) of the site were (Lassini et al., ; Sindaco et al., ). Additional threats surveyed – times per week from early February until are invasive predatory fishes and crayfish, which have a c. mid April (depending on rainfall and frog breeding activ- negative impact on amphibian communities (Ficetola ity) and deposited egg masses were counted. Clutches were et
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