Tinarelli:Important areas for breedingwaders in Italy

Important areasfor breeding wadersin Italy R. Tinarelli

Tinarelli,R. 1998.Important areas for breedingwaders in Italy. International Wader Studies 10: 245-250.

Twelvewader species bred regularly in Italy during1983-1994, in a wide rangeof habitats.A classificationof themost important habitats and areas used for breedingwas made by analysisof themost recent data on thedistribution and population size of eachspecies. Salt-pans were the mostimportant habitat both for thenumber of breedingspecies and the number of pairs. Salt-pans arealso the most threatened habitat in view of rapidand widespread habitat changes.

R. Tinarelli,Via Massa Rapi 3,1-40064 Ozzano Ernilia, Bologna, Italy.

Tu,apeaau,P.t998. Ba;•mae Mec?a o6•f?a]ma r]teaAatlI•fxca liyamiOB BH?aal•f. International g•ader Studies 10: 245-250.

B ?o•elmet98,3-t994 rr. • H?aaio•perya,splto rne•Auaoc• t2 BUAO••ya,•o• • mu•gOM guanasone6U•OnOB. Anaau•M noBefimux gann• nopacn•Tpa.enum u nonyaa6uonnofi qHG•eHH•THKa•oro BHAa6•Aa cAeaaHa Kaacc•KaB•a • • 6•onoB • MeCT, •CUO•b3OBaHHNX•a rHe3AoBa•a. Baccefi• •a •cna•a •o•ofi BoA•6• ca• Ba•H• 6u•ona• •a• gas•ucaa rH•auxca B•AOB,TaI • Aaa•caa nap.BB•Ay 6•CTp• • m•Ko-pacn•TpaHeHH• u3MeHeH•i6UOTOnOB, TaKue 6acceiH•, Ta•xe, NBaN•TCa •T•uTa•ue•, •axoga•u•ca hog•au•abmel yr•i.

Introduction havebeen produced, as for all thebreeding birds in Italy in the period1983-1986, by Brichetti& Thispaper highlights the most important areas and Meschini (1993) in the framework of the Italian habitatsfor breedingwaders in Italy,both at Atlas. international and national level. Since1986, accurate estimates have been produced The firstdescription of breedingwader distribution annuallyfor Avocetand Black-winged Stilt on the in Italy wasavailable only in the late 1980s(Tinarelli basisof countsin the mostimportant breeding areas & Baccetti1989) as a resultof the Atlas Project and habitats.For Oystercatcher,censuses were (Meschini& Frugis1993) and national or regional carriedout in 1991,1992 (Scarton et al. 1993) and enquiriesabout single species. For the period1983- 1994 (Valle et al. 1996);for Redshankan almost 1988,the population size has been assessed for completenational census was carried out in 1993 Black-wingedStilt Himantopus himantopus and (Valleet al. 1995);for Black-tailedGodwit countsare AvocetRecurvirostra avosetta (with countsin all, or availablefor eachyear (DellaToffola pers. comm.). almostall, thebreeding sites), for Oystercatcher For theother species, it hasbeen possible to produce Haematopusostralegus and Black-tailedGodwit updatedand more reliable estimates, especially for Limosalimosa (which have very localised Lapwing,Collared Pratincole and Kentish Plover, by populations)and for RedshankTringa totanus, increasingthe areas censused. In particular,the LapwingVanellus vanellus, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus and Collared Pratincole preparationof a detailedreport on availabledata concerningbiology, distribution and population of Glareolapratincola on the basis of partialcensuses eachbird speciesrecorded in Italy (Brichetti,De (Tinarelli& Baccetti1989). For Little RingedPlover Franceschi& Baccetti(eds.), Volume 2 in press) Charadriusdubius, Stone Curlew Burhinus includesmuch previously unpublished information. oedicnemus,Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos and WoodcockScolopax rusticola rough estimates

245 International Wader Studies 10- 245-250

Results and Discussion organicsubstances from March/Apriluntil August); Informationon populationsize of breedingwaders j) sandyand gravelflats of riversand streams; in differenthabitats and areashas been mainly k) cultivatedand pasture-lands of arid areaswith takenfrom the mostrecent reports by Casini& steppe-likevegetation in inlandplains and Tinarelli(in press);Grussu & Tinarelli(in press); hills; and Iapichino& Massa(1989); Schenk et al. (1995); 1) deciduousand coniferouswoods with moist Tinarelliet al. (1995);Tinarelli (in press);Valle et al. soilin northernItaly. (1995,1996). For eachwader species the percentagesof pairs ForLittle RingedPlover, Common Sandpiper and breedingin the abovehabitat categories are givenin StoneCurlew the populationestimates shown in Table2; with thepercentages of breedingpairs, by Table1 are an improvementon thosereported by Brichetti & Meschini (1993) but should still be meansof the proportionalsimilarity index of Colwell& Futuyma(1971), a dendrogram(Figure 1) consideredapproximate. So, for Little Ringed showsthe habitat affinities among different species. Plover,Common Sandpiper and StoneCurlew the Table1. Populationsizes of waders breeding in Italyin thePeriod 1983-1994; numbers ofpairs and years considered are indicated.

No.of pairs Yearsof:data: Trend in Source. 1983-94

ß Haematopusostralegus 59 1993-94 increasing Valleet al. 1996 Himantopushimantopus 1860-2150 1993 increasing Tinarelliin press Recurvirostraavosetta 1636-1838 1993 increasing Casini& Tinarelliin press Charadriusalexandrinus 1600-2000 1990-93 stable? Tinarelliin press Charadriusdubius 3000-4000 1988-93 stable? Tinarelliin press Charadriusmorinellus <10 (1978-84) ? Tinarelli & Baccetti1989 Vanellusvanellus 1300-1600 1990-93 increasing Limosalimosa <10 1993 stable M. Della Toffolapers. comm. Scolopaxrusticola 30-100 1983-86 ? Brichetti& Meschini1993 Tringatotanus 1076-1169 1993 ? Valleet al. 1995 Actitishypoleucos 200-1000 1983-86 ? Brichetti& Meschini1993 Glareolapratincola >110-120 1993-94 ? Grussu& Tinarelliin press Burhinus oedicnemus >500 1988-93 ?

figuresfor thepercentages of pairsbreeding in each The areasof internationalimportance for breeding habitat are estimates based on local situations. wadersin Italy havebeen determined by meansof Habitatsused by breedingwaders in Italy include: the 1% criterionproposed by Atkinson-Willeset al. (1982)and accordingto the populationestimates a) sandysea-beaches and coastaldunes; reportedby Rose& Scott(1994). Areas of national b) operationaland recentlyabandoned salt-pans; importanceare those supporting 10% or moreof the c) brackishlagoons and marshespermanently Italianbreeding population. Names and extentsof connected with the sea; eacharea of internationaland nationalimportance d) coastalbrackish ponds occasionally connected for breedingwaders (Table 3 and Figure 2) are with the sea,temporarily flooded ponds with (wheneverpossible) those used in the Italian list of saltedsoils (including ancient abandoned salt- pans); Haematopusostralegus e) dammedponds of brackishwater used for Charadrius alexandrinus extensivefish-farming, including small islands Himantopushimantopus and foreshorefound by recentchanges of Recurvirostra avosetta lagoonsand coastalmarshlands; Tringatotanus f) freshwater marshlandswith low water levels Glareolapratincola (includingman-made ponds for fish-farming and/orhunting, flooded clay-pits and drainage E Liraosaandlus limosavaneflus canalswith gentlysloping banks, borders of lakes); E ActitisCharadriushypoleucos dubius g) arablelands and meadows (mainly in northern Burhinus oedicnemus Italy); Scolopaxrusticola h) ricefields (floodedfrom the lastten daysof ! Marchuntil Augustand situatedmainly in the north-westernregions); Figure1. Dendrogramof the habitataffinity among i) settlingponds of sugarfactories, piggeries, breedingwaders in Italy.Habitat affinity was estimated by byresand wastewaters (scattered mainly in the theproportional similarity index Cila = 100- 0.5S (Pij- Phj) Po plain far from the largestwetlands and with (Colwell& Futuyma1971) where P is the proportionof low water levelsand emergentmud flats of habitatj thatis respectivelyused by thetwo speciesi and h.

246 Tinarelli: Importantareas for breedingwaders in Italy

Table2. Habitatsused by breedingwaders in Italy. Foreach species, according to the datareported in Table1, the percentagesof pairsbreeding in differenthabitat categories are indicated. (+) indicateshabitat used occasionally or by less than1% of theItalian breeding population in theperiod 1983-1994.

-SPECIES

Sandysea beaches and (+) 2 43 3(1) coastal dunes

Operationaland recently 84 (+) (+) (+) 17 2 4(3) abandonedsalt-pans

Brackishlagoons and (+) 1 (+) (+) 6 84 4(3) marshespermanently connected with the sea

Coastalbrackish ponds 19 1 38 (+) 26 (+) 4(2) with saltedsoil or occasionally connected with the sea

Dammedponds of brackish 13 14 (+) 8 (+) 14 4(2) waterfor extensivefish-farming

Freshwater marshlands 10 (+) 1 5 (+) 3 (+) 4(3) with low water levels

Arable lands and meadows (+) (+) 61 (+) 93 100 3 (3)

Rice fields 12 (+) 3 (+) 2(2)

Settlingponds of sugarfactories, 16 (+) 3 1 1 4(1) piggeries,byres and waste waters

Sandyand gravelflats of rivers and streams (+) lO 90 (+) 100 3(2)

Cultivatedand pasture-landsof 90 arid areaswith steppe-like vegetation

Deciduous and coniferous 100 1 woods with moist soil

ImportantBird Areas (Grimmett & Jones1989). thanelsewhere. For example,the salt-pansof Italy harboursimportant populations, at a European Comacchio,which are listedtogether with the and Mediterraneanlevel, of Black-wingedStilt, Comacchiolagoon in Table3, had 33 breedingpairs/ Avocetand Redshank. These three species, together k_lTi2in 1993whereas the neighbouringlagoon had with KentishPlover, have a high habitataffinity only 3.9pairs/krn 2. (Figure1), occurringmainly in salt-pansand other wetlands with brackish water. Threats A list of threats to each habitat (Table 4) has been The highestnumbers of breedingwaders are found madeusing bibliographical data and unpublished in the Venicelagoon, wetlands of Comacchio,salt- studies. Information on the real effect of these pansof Cervia,salt-pans of Margheritadi Savoia threats often remains anecdotal. and in wetlands(lagoon, ponds and salt-pans) aroundCagliari. These areas are among the largest Destructionof wetlandhabitat suitable for breeding coastalwetlands in Italy,and salt-pansseem to be wadersin Italy includes: the habitatpreferred by breedingwaders since all ß creationof pondsfor intensivefish-farming in suchareas have higher densities of breedingpairs salt-pans,coastal ponds and lagoons;

247 International Wader Studies 10: 245-250

Table3. Mostimportant areas for breedingwaders in Italy. I = areaof internationalimportance according to 1%criterion (Atkinson-Willeset al. 1982)and population estimates reported by Rose& Scott(1994). N = areaof nationalimportance (>10%of theItalian breeding population).

. • •krea Haenmtop• Htmantopu,s.Recutvi .rosz•.a 'Tringa Gt•a o•'.• •.• a•os• .•. .. •.'•.• :

Lagoonof Ve•ce 55,000ha I Po Delta(•clud•g V. Ber•zzi) 25,000ha N •ce fields near Ve•e•i c. •,000 ha I N Wetlands of Comacchio 28,570 ha I I Salt-p• of Celia 1,000ha N Salt-p• of M•ghefita Di Savoia 6,000ha I Wetlands of Ofist•o Z500 ha N Wetlands•o•d Cag• 4,800ha I I N Arable lands near •la N

of Black-wingedStilt and LittleRinged Plover breedingin settlingponds of sugarrefineries and an tindeterminednumber of nestsof Black-wingedStilt ,,•.•.""• '• • LagoonofVenice breedingin ricefields (Tinarelli 1990). • : / •Podelta % , ".aJ'"'•.. • WetlandsofCommachio •1[,;•/ •.- .•.•.•Saltpansof Cervia Poaching(i.e. shooting) of breedingwaders was Ricefields recordedonly occasionally;it happens most often on coastalwetlands of southernItaly and in thePo nearVercelli Delta,mainly to supplybird-collectors. Black- WetlandsofOristano N •.. L,.'•. Sa,,an.o,Mar! ' ' ' winged Stilt,Avocet, Oystercatcher and Collared ß"•'t' • MargheritadlSavo•a Pratincoleare the speciesusually involved. Gatheringof molluscsby handand the presence of sunbathersseem to be themain factors limiting the breedingof KentishPlover and Oystercatcheron the Wetalndsaround•agliaribeaches of the Po Delta and in other coastal wetlandsafter the end of May. Thepresence of ArablelandsnearGela• fishermen,sunbathers and motorcyclists causes localdisturbance to LittleRinged Plover and Stone Figure2. Areasof internationaland national importance Curlew alongrivers. for breedingwaders in Italy (seeTable 3). In recentyears, agricultural activity has destroyed ß urbanisafionand infrastructuredevelopments for all thenests of the smallpopulation of Black-tailed tourismand recreationon wetland edges,at times Godwit on corn fields near Vercellirice fields (Della insidecoastal ponds and lagoons,with consequent Toffolapers. comm.). It is alsoan importantfactor increasein pollution. limitingthe breeding success of Lapwingin riceand corn fields (Boano& Brichetti1986). Otherdamaging changes in breedingwader habitats in Italy are: Nest robbingof wadersbreeding in coloniesand on e cessationof salt-extractionactivity; beachesis well verified, but it is now one of the • losingof sugarrefineries; lesserthreats, having diminished considerably over • cultivationof river shoresand steppe-likeareas the pastfew decades. suitablefor StoneCurlew (Rizzi & Cripezzi1994; Tinarelli et al. 1991); Wanderingdogs and catshave a considerable • cultivationof marginalareas in recentlyclaimed impacton wadersbreeding in coloniesin all the marshlands(e.g. Valle Mezzano) suitable for habitatcategories. Collared Pratincole; • increasesin the waterlevel of dammedponds of Many nestscan be destroyedby tramplingcattle but brackishwater used for extensivefish-farming, it is uncommonand localised.It happensespecially with a consequentdisappearance of suitable in meadows,salt-pastures and on the edgeof islandsand foreshore used by breedingwaders. freshwatermarshlands, coastal ponds and rivers, affectingmainly Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Collared Suddenrises in the water level occurregularly in Pratincole,Black-winged Stilt and StoneCurlew. ricefields, salt-pans and settlingponds of sugar Predators(Black Rat Rattusnorvegicus, Red Fox factoriesdue to productionactivities or heavy Vulpesvulpes, Crow Corvuscotone, Yellow-legged springrains. A suddenrise of the waterlevel Gull Laruscachinnans) may have a localeffect on dstroysannually 7-40% of the nestsof Black-winged wadersbreeding colonially in coastalwetlands, but Stilt andAvocet breeding in salt-pans,6-36% of nests

248 Tinarelliß Important areas for breedingwaders in Italy

Table4. Threatsin differenthabitats to wadersin Italy. ß arethe most frequent threats with a majorimpact on breeding waders;O areless frequent and/or less major threats; blank indicates threats are not consideredto occur.

habitat .habi..tatsudden:•8 unconUonea'•'•m• nest-robbingwanaerin•..traml•lin s pteaatt•u 'military destnlction•es level human ' work dogs -by•attle b• •'eXerci•es changes activities andcats animals

Coastalsandy beaches O O ß O O

Operational& recently 0 ß ß 0 0 0 abandonedsalt-pans

Brackishlagoons 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 and marshes permanentlyconnected to the sea

Coastalbrackish pools with o o o o salinesoil or occasionally connected to the sea

Brackishponds dammed for O O O O extensivefish farming

Freshwater marshes with O O O O low water levels

Arable land & meadows o ß o

Rice fields

Wastewatersettling ponds: sugarfactories, piggeries and byres

Riverine sand and o o ß o o gravelflats

Arableand pasturein arid O O O O areaswith steppe-like vegetation

Deciduous & coniferous woods with moist soil

are probablyuncommon threats. At a nationallevel of importance,the ricefields near Vercelli(north-west Italy) supportalmost the entire Military exercisesseem to be the main factor Italianpopulation of Black-tailedGodwit, whereas limitingthe breeding of StoneCurlew on the the Po Delta supportsa populationof Oystercatcher alluvialareas with steppe-likevegetation near rivers whichprobably belong to the subspecieslongipes and streamsin Friuli-VeneziaGiulia Region(north- (Passarella1995). These two species,being at the eastItaly) (Tmarelliet al. 1991);they prevent edgeof their ranges,are of greatinterest at a breedingin otherareas suitable for StoneCurlew nationallevel andmay be considered,together with suchas estuariesand coastaldunes (e.g. the mouths CollaredPratincole, among the mostthreatened of the Renoand Serchiorivers) and in someinland wadersin Italy. areas. The lessthreatened species are Little Ringed Plover, Conclusions CommonSandpiper, Woodcock (which are widely dispersed)and Black-wingedStilt (which use a wide At present,salt-pans are the habitatmost threatened rangeof habitats). by imminentchanges arising from the cessationof salt-extractionactivities, by new methodsof salt- The restrictionsimposed on huntingduring winter extraction,and by thecreation of pondsfor by the recentnational law (enactedin 1992)are intensivefish-farming in recentlyabandoned parts, or in sectors less used for saR extraction. allowingan increaseof the breedingpopulations of

249 International Wader Studies 10: 245-250

Lapwingand Black-tailedGodwit which start to Rizzi, V. & Cripezzi,V. 1994. Dati preliminarisulla attuale breedearly in March and occuron thegame species distribuzionedella Gallina prataiola Tetrax tetrax e list. dellOcchioneBurhinus oedicnemus in provincia di Foggia.Proc. VI ItalianCongr. Ornithology. Mus. reg. Acknowledgements Sci. nat. Torino,501-502. I am gratefulto Lino Casini,Andrea Corso, Marcello Rose,EM. & Scott,D.A. 1994. WaterfowlPopulation Grussu, Mauro Della Toffola and Giovanni Tiloca Estimates.IWRB Publication No. 29, Slimbridge, who kindly providedunpublished information. I UK. should like to thank Nicola Baccetti for his Scarton, F., Valle, R., Borella, S., Vettorel, M. & Utmar, P. commentson thispaper 1993.Breeding population and distribution of the Oystercatcher(Haematopus ostralegus) in Italy. References Avocetta 17: 15-17. Atkinson-Willes, G.L., Scott, D.A. & Prater,A.J. 1982. Schenk,H., Murgia,P.E & Nissardi,S. 1995. Prima Criteriafor selectingwetlands of international nidificazionedel Fenicotterorosa (Phoenicopterus importance.Proposed amendments and guidelines ruber)in Sardegnae problemidi conservazione on use. Proc. Conf. Conservation of Wetlands of dellespecie coloniali nello Stagno di Molentargius. InternationalImportance especially as Waterfowl Suppl.Ric. Biol. Selvaggina 22: 313-321. Habitat,Cagliari 1980. Suppl. Ric. Biol. Selvaggina 8: Tinarelli,R. & Baccetti,N. 1989. Breedingwaders in Italy. 1017-1104. WaderStudy Group Bull. 56: 7-15. Boano,G. & Brichetti, P. 1986. Distribuzionee Tinarelli,R. 1990. Risultatidellindagine nazionale sul nidificazione della Pavoncella Vanellus vanellus in CavalieredItalia Himantopus himantopus (Linnaeus, Italia. Avocetta 10: 103-114. 1758). Ric.Biol. Selvaggina 87: 1-102. Brichetti,E & Meschini,E. 1993.Stima delle popolazioni Tinarelli, R., Parodi, R. & Candon, I. 1991. di uccellinidificanti. In: MeschiniE. & FrugisS. Sperimentazionedi un metodoper il censimento (eds.),Atlante degli uccelli nidificanti in Italia. Suppl. dellOcchione(Burhinus oedicnemus). Suppl. Ric. Ric.Biol. Selvaggina 20: 1-344. Biol.Selvaggina 17: 385-388. Brichetti,E, De Franceschi,E & Baccetti,N. (eds.).In press. Tinarelli,R., Serra,L., & Magnani,A. 1995. Nuovi dati Fauna d'Italia. Uccelli II. sugliuccelli acquatici nidificanti nella salina di Casini,L. & Tinarelli,R. In press.Avocetta (Recurvirostra Margheritadi Savoia(Foggia). Suppl. Ric. Biol. avosetta).In: Brichetti,P., De Franceschi,P. & Selvaggina22: 713-716. Baccetti,N. (eds.),Fauna dItalia. UccelliII. Tinarelli,R. In press.Cavaliere dItalia (Himantopus Colwell,R.H. & Futuyma,D.J. 1971. On themeasurements himantopus)- Fratino ( Charadrius alexandrinus) - of nichebreadth and overlap.Ecology 52: 567-576. Corrierepiccolo (Charadrius dubius). In: Brichetti Grimmet,R.EA. & Jones,T.A. 1989.Important Bird Areas in E, De Franceschi,P. & Baccetti,N. (eds.). Fauna dItalia. Uccelli II. Europe.I.C.B.P. Technical Publication No. 9. Cambridge. Valle, R., Scarton, E, Tinarelli, R., Grussu, M., Utmar, P. & Grussu,M. & Tinarelli,R. In press.Pernice di mare Borella, S. 1995. Primo censimento della (Glareolapratincola). In: Brichetti,P., De Franceschi, popolazionedi Pettegola(Tringa totanus) P. & Baccetti,N. (eds.),Fauna d'Italia. Uccelli II. nidificantein Italia. Suppl.Ric. Biol. Selvaggina 22: 601-605. Iapichino,C. & Massa,B. 1989.The birds of Sicily. BOU Check-listNo. 11. Tring,Herts, UK. Valle, R., Scarton,F. & Utmar, P. 1996. Recent counts of Meschini,E. & Frugis,S. (eds.).1993. Atlante degli uccelli breedingwaders along the north-easternItalian nidificantiin Italia. Suppl.Ric. Biol. Selvaggina 20: coastline.Wader Study Group Bull. 80: 36-38. 1-344. Passarella,M. 1995.Distribuzione di alcunespecie ornitichenel Delta del Po. Quad.Staz. Ecol. civ. Mus. St. nat. Ferrara, 9: 313-320.

25O