Elisa Cardarelli

Effects of arboriculture stands on European hare Lepus europaeus spring habitat use in an agricultural area of northern Italy

Due to a mistake the affiliation of the authors is wrong. The correct affiliation should read as follow:E. Cardarelli (✉) · A. Meriggi · A. Vidus-RosinDepartment of Animal BiologyUniversity of PaviaVia Ferrata 127100 Pavia, Italye-mail: elisa.cardarelli@unipv.itA. BrangiWildlife ServiceProvincial Administration of PaviaVia Taramelli 227100 Pavia, Italy

Long-term changes in the food resources of a guild of breeding Ardeinae (Aves) in Italy

Abstract The breeding herons and egrets in northwestern Italy derive a large portion of their food resources from rice fields. In order to investigate the possible effects of changes in rice cultivation techniques on the trends of the breeding population of these birds, we studied their diet and the prey availability in rice fields, and we compared the results for 2013 with the situation in past decades, by taking advantage of similar investigations conducted by our research team since 1978. The diet of five species of herons and egrets changed sharply after 1995, with the bulk of the diet now made up of completely new prey species, in particular the allochthonous Louisiana crayfish and Oriental weatherfish, that only recently colonized our study area, and with a lower frequency of the amphibians that were a staple prey before 2000, but whose abundance in rice fields has declined. Since 2000, the decrease in the populations of some breeders, particularly the most abundant Grey Heron and Little Egret, has coincided with their sharp change in diet, with the reduced availability of amphibians and with the diminished availability of flooded rice fields. However, the proportion of food resources obtained from rice fields versus the natural habitats remained high, or was only slightly lower for some predator species. Several issues remain open about the value of rice fields in supporting the foraging herons and egrets, and about the effect of changing agricultural techniques on the bird population. We need to assess more accurately the proportion of food obtained from rice fields, and to check whether the foraging herons and egrets can satisfy their energy requirements while foraging in agroecosystems.

Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of rice field banks and restored habitats in an agricultural area of the Po Plain (Lombardy, Italy)

Abstract An entomological investigation was carried out in an agricultural area, mainly rice fields, of the Po river plain, located in the municipalities of Lacchiarella (MI) and Giussago (PV) (Lombardy, Italy). In 2009 and 2010, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were sampled along rice field banks and in restored habitats, by means of pitfall traps. The area appeared as species-rich, compared to other anthropogenic habitats in the Po river pain. Most of the collected Carabids were species with a wide distribution in the Paleartic region, eurytopic and common in European agroecosystems. The assemblages were dominated by small-medium, macropterous species, with summer larvae. No endemic species were found. Species with southern distribution, rarely found north of the Po river, were also sampled. Amara littorea is recorded for the first time in Italy.

Spatial organisation of European badger (Meles meles) in northern Italy as assessed by camera-trapping

Italy is amongst the European countries for which data on badger Meles meles numbers and variation in population size are still too few to assess its conservation status. With the aim of estimating badger density in northern Italy, between February 2013 and March 2014, we extensively surveyed an isolated hilly area for badger setts and assessed group size by monitoring a sample of setts by two sessions of camera-trapping. The size and shape of each home range were assessed from main sett coordinates using the Dirichlet tessellation method. Then, assuming that badger home ranges tend to be delimited by hard boundaries or geographical features, the polygon shapes were successively modified by hand to draw more realistic home ranges. The overall trapping effort was 754 camera trap-days. The number of badger individuals sharing the same sett/entrances was recorded, distinguishing individuals based on the time and hole of emergence and, possibly, tail patterns. Groups consisted of two to four adult individuals, averaging 2.75 badgers/group. Camera-trapping proved to be a cost-effective and time-saving method. Depending on the method used to draw home ranges, in the study area, sett density was 0.34–0.51 sett/km2, whilst badger density was 0.93–1.4 adult individuals/km2. Both sett and badger densities were rather high with respect to most available data for continental Europe. As badger mean group size seems to be rather constant throughout both hilly and plain areas of the River Po basin, sett density may be used as an accurate estimator of badger density throughout this wide area.

Assessment of Water Management Changes in the Italian Rice Paddies from 2000 to 2016 Using Satellite Data: A Contribution to Agro-Ecological Studies

The intensive rice cultivation area in northwestern Italy hosts the largest surface of rice paddies in Europe, and it is valued as a substantial habitat for aquatic biodiversity, with the paddies acting as a surrogate for the lost natural wetlands. The extent of submerged paddies strictly depends on crop management practices: in this framework, the recent diffusion of rice seeding in dry conditions has led to a reduction of flooded surfaces during spring and could have contributed to the observed decline of the populations of some waterbird species that exploit rice fields as foraging habitat. In order to test the existence and magnitude of a decreasing trend in the extent of submerged rice paddies during the rice-sowing period, MODIS remotely-sensed data were used to estimate the extent of the average flooded surface and the proportion of flooded rice fields in the years 2000–2016 during the nesting period of waterbirds. A general reduction of flooded rice fields during the rice-sowing season was observed, averaging − 0.86 ± 0.20 % per year (p-value < 0.01). Overall, the loss in submerged surface area during the sowing season reached 44 % of the original extent in 2016, with a peak of 78 % in the sub-districts to the east of the Ticino River. Results highlight the usefulness of remote sensing data and techniques to map and monitor water dynamics within rice cropping systems. These techniques could be of key importance to analyze the effects at the regional scale of the recent increase of dry-seeded rice cultivations on watershed recharge and water runoff and to interpret the decline of breeding waterbirds via a loss of foraging habitat.

Long-term Changes in food intake by Grey herons (Ardea cinerea), Black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) and Little egrets (Egretta garzetta) foraging in rice fields in Italy.

Abstract. In northwestern Italy, traditional rice cultivation using permanent flooding has been replaced by cultivation that uses a reduced water depth and a shortened submersion period. Prey availability for the numerous herons and egrets using this intensive rice cultivation region changed as well, with a diminution of amphibians and an increase of crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and oriental weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus). The prey intake in 2014 was compared with data available for 1987 for the three most common species of waterbirds that forage in the paddies. Total biomass intake by Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) feeding in the paddies decreased from 28 g dry mass/min in 1987 to 7 g in 2014, and by Black-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) from 8 g to 5 g, while the intake by Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta) remained similar (12 and 13 g in 1987 and 2014, respectively). The observed levels of prey intake allowed breeding Grey Herons to meet their energy needs by feeding exclusively in the rice paddies in 1987, but not in 2014. The other two study species could not meet their daily requirements for successful breeding by feeding in the paddies only, either in 1987 or 2014. Yet the three species bred successfully in the study area, and their reproductive output remained stable both in 1987 and 2014. Successful breeding was probable by the three species foraging in other habitats, such as rivers, small natural wetlands and irrigation canals, in the region.