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 mostthreatened 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 the otherspecies, 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 the two 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
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