Padoa schioppa fauna monitoring

Fauna monitoring in urban

forests of Lombardy

Emilio Padoa-SchioppaUniversity of Milano-Bicocca

Why monitoring?

«Conoscere per deliberare» (Luigi Einaudi) –

The knowledge is the starting point for any

decision

Biodiversity surveyWe used birds as indicators of biodiversity

because:

• Ecological chains

• Linkage to environment

• Easy to contact

• Quantitave data

• Good knowledge of autoecology of

species• Flag species for many people

Methodology

• Bird point count – 10 min. / unlimited

distance / 2 times during breeding season

BirdsNome italiano Nome scientifico Nome Inglese

Airone cenerino Ardea cinerea Grey Heron

Fagiano Phasianus colchicus Pheasant

Colombaccio Columba palumbus Woodpigeon

Rondone Apus apus Common Swift

Picchio verde Picus viridis Green Woodpecker

Picchio rosso maggiore Dendrocopus major Great Spotted Woodpecker

Rondine Hirundo rustica Swallow

Pettirosso Erithacus rubecula Robin

Usignolo Luscinia megarhynchos Nightingale

Merlo Turdus merula Blackbird

Capinera Sylvia atricapilla Blackcap

Pigliamosche Muscicapa striata Spotted Flycatcher

Codibugnolo Aegithalos caudatus Long-tailed Tit

Cinciarella Parus caeruleus Blue Tit

Cinciallegra Parus major Great Tit

Picchio muratore Sitta europaea Nuthatch

Gazza Pica pica Magpie

Taccola Corvus monedula Jackdaw

Cornacchia grigia* Corvus (corone) corone Carrion Crow

Storno Sturnus vulgaris Starling

Fringuello Fringilla coelebs Chaffinch

Cardellino Carduelis carduelis Goldfinch

Birds

0

2

4

6

8

10

N°

of

spe

cie

s

Point count

Species turn-over

S2

Common species

S1

Birds

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Grey Heron

Pheasant

Spotted Flycatcher

Nuthatch

Jackdaw

Common Swift

Swallow

Robin

Blue Tit

Magpie

Goldfinch

Green Woodpecker

Long-tailed Tit

Starling

Woodpigeon

Great Tit

Nightingale

Carrion Crow

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Chaffinch

Blackcap

Blackbird

Birds

Insects: butterflies

and carabidsData:

29/05/20

12

10/07/2

012

01/08/201

2 23/08/2012

14/09/201

2

Species 1 2 3 4 5

Argynnis paphia (Linné, 1758) x

Celastrina argiolus (Linné, 1758) x x

Colias crocea (Geoffroy, 1785) x x

Vanessa atalanta (Linné, 1758) x

Aricia agestis ([Denis & Schiffermüller],

1775) x x x

Cupido argiades (Pallas, 1771) x x x x

Iphiclides podalirius (Linné, 1758) x

Issoria lathonia (Linné, 1758) x

Melitaea athalia (Rottemburg, 1775) x x

Ochlodes venatus (Bremer & Grey, 1853) x

Papilio machaon Linné, 1758 x

Pararge aegeria (Linné, 1758) x x x x x

Pieris brassicae (Linné, 1758) x x

Pieris napi (Linné, 1758) x x x x

Pieris rapae (Linné, 1758) x

Polygonia c-album (Linné, 1758) x x x x

Polyommatus icarus (Rottemburg, 1775) x x x

Satyrium w-album (Knoch, 1782) x

Insects: butterflies and carabids

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

N° specie

N°

spe

cie

Carabidi

Foresta Carpaneta

Parco nord 1

Parco nord 2

Conclusions

• Sampling protocols allow to get a good knowledge of

biodiversity

• Birds (species and abundance) appear to be linked to forest

structure

• Butterflies are linked also to landscape contest (more species

in open areas)

Management & BiodiversityHow management decision may

influence biodiversity?

Biodiversity conservation

in urban parks

Landscape

EcosystemCommunityForest structure

Tree diversity

… … …

Area of park

Forest coverage

… … …

Landscape heterogeneity

Distance from center

… … …

Large parks of Milano suburbs

Parks of Bari

Parks of Milano city

Cluster analysis

MI 2

MI 9MI 4

MI 12MI 10MI 7MI 13MI 6MI 11

MI 5

BA 1BA 2BA 3

MI 1MI 3

MI 8

Dendrogram using Average Linkage (Between Groups)

Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine

0 5 10 15 20 25

Sanesi et al., AUF, 2009

y = 0,0027x + 6,3432

R2 = 0,57380

10

20

30

40

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

Distanza dal centro città (m)

n° d

i sp

ecie

y = 5,4094Ln(x) + 0,2575

R2 = 0,697

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Area (ha)

n° s

pecie

y = 0,3943x + 9,3607

R2 = 0,7802

0

10

20

30

40

50

0 20 40 60 80 100

Copertura arborea (ha)

n° d

i sp

ecie

Biodiversity and forests management


Forest structure

?

We selected 4 targets specie

– Turdus merula

– Fringilla coelebs

– Parus major

– Serinus serinus

From literature (Massa et al., 2004;

Fornasari 2006) linked to forest structure

but present also in urban envirnoment

Forest structure and bird abundance

DBH – min / 1° quartile / median / 3° quartile / maxAbundance of target species

Forest structure and

bird abundance Test Statistics(a)

D min Blue tit

Mann-Whitney U 335,000

Z -,459

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) ,646

a Grouping Variable: CLASSE 5

Test Statistics(a)

Diametro minimo Blue tit


Z -,286



Test Statistics(a)

1° quartile Blue tit


Z -1,771



Test Statistics(a)



Z -1,024


a Grouping Variable: CLASSE 20 Test Statistics(a)

mediane Blue tit


Z -1,598



Test Statistics(a)

mediane Blue tit


Z -1,020





Z -1,040



Test Statistics(a)



Z -1,148



Diametro max Blue tit


Z -1,301



Test Statistics(a)

Diametro max Blue tit


Z -1,937




Blue tit & forest structure

Blue tit

y = 5,8371e0,0261x

R2 = 0,9995

y = 3,6159e0,0236x

R2 = 0,99250

20

40

60

80

100

0 25 50 75 100Tree n°

DBH

Minimum

Optimal


Environment

Padoa schioppa fauna monitoring