amphibian conservation and habitat restoration: example of … · 2021. 6. 7. · m uscovi ci, scis...
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AMPHIBIAN CONSERVATION AND HABITAT RESTORATION:
EXAMPLE OF REPLICABILITY OF A LIFE PROJECT FOR HALTING
THE DECLINE OF THE APENNINE YELLOW-BELLIED TOAD IN A
NATURA2000 SITE IN SOUTHERN ITALY
Ilaria Bernabò
REGIONE CALABRIA
Dipartimento Tutela dell’Ambiente
Settore Parchi e Aree Naturali Protette
Photo: A. Brusco
I. Bernabò
Ministero della
Transizione Ecologica
Ente gestore Riserve
3rd NATURA 2000 SEMINAR FOR
THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION
THE APENNINE YELLOW-BELLIED TOADBOMBINA PACHYPUS
Species endemic to peninsular Italy
Habitats Directive – Annex II and IV (under Bombina variegata)
In Calabria, it occurs in 34 SACs
It is commonly found in small water bodies and unshaded temporary wetlands (even water-filled wheel ruts), including
those associated with human activities, such as cattle and irrigation ponds, stone wash tubs and drinking trough.
Ecology
THE APENNINE YELLOW-BELLIED TOADBOMBINA PACHYPUS
This species is one of the EU’s most threatened amphibians; it has declined throughout its range in the last three decades (50-80%).
New report ex art. 17 confirmed an unfavourable conservation status and declining trend.
Reporting data from the Article 17 on the conservation status at national and
biogeographical levelIUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009 Red List of Italian Vertebrates 2013
CURRENT POPULATION TREND: DECREASING
• Habitat loss and degradation
• Drainage of wetland habitat
• Fungal disease chytridiomycosis
• Loss of genetic diversity in small populations
• Abandonment of traditional agricultural practices with
disappearance or degradation of artificial water bodies
(e.g. cattle and irrigation ponds, drinking trough) used as
breeding sites by the species (Canessa et al. 2013)
Pressures & Threats
Hotspot of genetic diversity has been identified at the southernmost portion of its range
(Canestrelli et al. 2006; Zampiglia et al. 2019).
"STUDY, CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND MAINTENANCE OF BOMBINA PACHYPUS POPULATIONS THROUGH DIRECT ACTIONS OF CREATION AND RESTORATION OF HABITATS, OF TRANSLOCATION, AND INFORMATION AND DISSEMINATION".
Project organisation
FUNDING: Regione Calabria – Department of Environmental Protection - ERDF 2014- 2020 (POR Calabria AZIONE 6.6.1)
FINANCE: 200.000,00 EUR
DURATION: 2017 – ongoing
Project owner: Site manager «Riserve naturali regionali Lago di Tarsia – Foce del fiume Crati»
Project manager: Agostino Brusco, Direttore Ente gestore Riserve Lago di Tarsia-Foce fiume Crati
Research: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences. University of Calabria
Regione Calabria
Dipartimento Tutela dell’Ambiente
Settore Parchi ed Are Naturali Protette
Ente gestore Riserve
The project allowed to build up a working group with a broad range of skills
Project
ULULONE
Ministero dell’Ambiente e della
Tutela del Territorio e del Mare
Dipartimento Tutela dell’Ambiente
Regione CalabriaSettore Parchi e Aree Naturali Protette
Memorandum of
Understanding for
the replication of
LIFE good practices
on a regional scale
LIFE ARUPA LIFE08 NAT/IT/000372
Adaptation and replicability of some actions successfully tested in the site Natura2000
’’Gravina di Matera’’ (IT9220135)
«URGENT PROTECTION ACTIONS FOR AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES IN THE MATERA GRAVINA»
REPLICATION AND TRANSFER
OF SOLUTIONS AND RESULTS
OF A LIFE-FUNDED PROJECT
Restoration of small wetlands
Protocols for captive and holding
conditions of Bombina pachypus
Project
ULULONE
SAC “Lago di Tarsia”
(IT9310055)
Riserva Naturale Regionale
Lago di Tarsia
Legenda
Captive breeding center
Restored water bodies
Newly created aquatic habitat
PERIMETER AND BUFFER ZONE
SAC “Lago di Tarsia” (IT9310055)
“Lago di Tarsia”
(IT9310055)
covers 426 ha
and represents an
area of high
naturalistic value.
La ZSC è ubicata lungo il corso medio inferiore del fiume Cra e coincide con il perimetro della Riserva naturale regionale Lago di Tarsia (is tuita dalla Regione Calabria con L.R. n. 52/1990 e ss. mm. e ii.). Il lago di Tarsia è un bacino lacustre ar ficiale creato, a scopo irriguo, dallo sbarramento costruito nei pressi del paese di Tarsia. Il livello di riempimento dell’invaso varia stagionalmente in funzione della richiesta d’acqua per l’agricoltura, e, naturalmente, della portata del fiume Cra . Normalmente la diga, viene chiusa in primavera, così da formare il lago e alimentare durante l’estate vari acquedo . In autunno viene aperta per evitare violente tracimazioni dovute alle piene del Cra , lasciando l’invaso quasi del tu o vuoto che si trasforma in una estesa palude.
Le colline che circondano il tra o iniziale e medio del bacino lacustre sono cos tuite da rocce sedimentarie del Pliocene (sabbie e argille siltose da grigie a grigioazzurre) e del Miocene (conglomera massicci, arenarie bruno chiare con occasionali so li intercalazioni argillose e calcari spesso arenacei). I fondivalle sono occupa da sedimen olocenici rappresenta da alluvioni mobili o fissate dalla vegetazione, mentre la zona delle “Stre e di Tarsia”, dove è posizionata la diga, è cara erizzata da affioramen più an chi quali grani bio comuscovi ci, scis e gneiss del Paleozoico e calcari selciferi del Cretaceo.
Dal punto di vista pedologico si rinviene un complesso di suoli: da profondi a molto profondi, con scheletro assente o comune, a tessitura da moderatamente grossolana a media a moderatamente fine, alcalini, molto calcarei, con riserva idrica elevata o molto elevata e drenaggio buono o mediocre.
Il bioclima dell’area è di po Mediterraneo e ricade nella fascia del termomediterraneo superiore, con ombro po subumido inferiore. Le temperature medie annue sono di 16°C. e le precipitazioni sono comprese tra 600 e 700 mm annui.
Lago di Tarsia (IT9310055)
SUPERFICIE (ha) 426
COMUNITarsia,
Santa Sofia d’Epiro
Quota min/max (m slm)
50 200
AREA PROTETTA Riserva naturale regionale del Lago di Tarsia
Descrizione
Rete
Natu
ra 2
000
199
Habitat Dir.92/43
DescrizioneSup. (ha)
3170* Stagni temporanei mediterranei 2
5330 Arbuste termomediterranei e predeser ci 42,6
7220*Sorgen pietrifican con formazione di tufi
(Cratoneurion) 0,03
91AA* Boschi orientali di quercia bianca 37,27
92A0 Foreste a galleria di Salix alba e Populus alba 14,65
92D0Gallerie e forte ripari meridionali
( NerioTamaricetea e Securinegion nctoriae ) 3,92
9340 Foreste di Quercus ilex e Quercus rotundifolia 1,09
Scorcio del lago di Tarsia (P. Rizzo)
Project area
ACTIONS OF THE PROJECT
❖Census and monitoring of historical sites
❖Demographic study and comparison/selection of populations for the collection of breeding pairs
❖Creation and management of a captive breeding center aimed
❖Identification, restoration, creation and conservation of suitable sites for translocation interventions
❖Reintroduction and reinforcement
❖Development of strategies and collaboration between site managers,
conservationists and farmers/other rural stakeholders in the area
❖Communication and dissemination of the project and its results
IMPROVING THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF THE TARGET SPECIES AND ITS HABITATS
Project ULULONE• Census and monitoring of historical sites in the northern part of Calabria, Catena Costiera and Pollino National Park
• Evaluation of consistency and status of populations
• Selection of source populations
• Health screening (Bd) and genetic analysis
• 10 breeders collected
Localization of surveyed historical sites for selection of breeding pairs
2017
2018
Captive breeding center 2018-
ongoing
To date the center hosts several adults, juveniles
and subadults…
waiting for the first eggs laid of this year!
Created with the specific purpose of
housing breeders, tadpoles and juveniles.
Designated according to species ecology
and life traits.
• A building was recently renovated for
conducting husbandry research.
• Capacity to maintain in captivity
populations of amphibians for future ex-
situ conservation efforts.
• Continue to promote an integrated
approach for the management.
Restoration of drinking troughs suitable for B. pachypus and other amphibians with the
creation of micro habitats
Ante operam Post operam
ex novo creation in historical site
of presence
Total individuals released in 2019 and 2020 in the three restored or created aquatic
habitats: 290
Tadpoles: 131
Metamorphosed/subadults: 159
The results obtained until
now showed the
establishment of viable
populations.
In the spring-summer
2021, monitoring of new
populations will continue
in order to compare
dynamics and optimize
management actions.
2019 -
ongoingCaptive breeding and relocation designNew breeding pairs to reduce the risk of inbreeding and to increase
genetic variation in the relocated population.
Research on post-relocation demographic processes and parameters, genetic effects, habitat selection (e.g. using tracking
devices) will help to elucidate the ecology of this little anuran and the dynamics of relocated populations.
These data are critical to improve relocation protocols and better predict relocation success.
Juvenile and adult toads can be individually recognized and surveyed using capture-recapture methods
First inferences of demographic rates will be obtained in 2021
Informative intervention and educational materials
XII National Congress Societas Herpetologica Italica
9th World Congress of Herpetology
• Meetings with schools and university students are a fundamental
part of the project.
• First results were shared at national and international
conferences.
• Media, educational materials and reports to inform a broader
target group, policy-makers and non-technical audience about
project achievements.
Communication and dissemination
THANK YOU!
Riserve naturali regionali Lago di
Tarsia – Foce del Crati
Mail: [email protected]
web site: www.riservetarsiacrati.it