Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy

Farmland biodiversity is declining worldwide, and especially in Western countries largely owing to the large-scale intensification of agricultural practices. The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is a steppe bird adapted to agro-pastoral ecosystems in Western Europe, and is one of those many farmland spe...

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Autores: Santangeli, Andrea, Cardillo, Alberto, Pes, Michele, Aresu, Mauro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/337866
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337866
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85153296631
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Agricultural intensification
Agro-ecosystem
Land-use change
Solar power plants
Steppe bird decline
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spelling Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, ItalySantangeli, AndreaCardillo, AlbertoPes, MicheleAresu, MauroAgricultural intensificationAgro-ecosystemLand-use changeSolar power plantsSteppe bird declineFarmland biodiversity is declining worldwide, and especially in Western countries largely owing to the large-scale intensification of agricultural practices. The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is a steppe bird adapted to agro-pastoral ecosystems in Western Europe, and is one of those many farmland species declining due to changes in agricultural production systems. In the EU, the majority of the extant population of this species is concentrated in the Iberian Peninsula. In Italy, the species has now disappeared from the mainland and is currently present only in Sardinia, where two populations, in the central-western areas, hold about two-thirds of the whole island's numbers, with the rest scattered across numerous smaller nuclei. While there are indications and anecdotal information suggesting a possible population decline during recent decades, robust monitoring across different time periods that would allow a comparison of numbers is lacking in Sardinia. Here we repeated a Little Bustard survey performed in 2008 in two areas of western Sardinia: Abbasanta, which is one of the two strongholds for the species in Sardinia, and Campeda, which holds a small population (about 10 territorial males). Using the same methodology as in the past survey, we assessed current population size and density, and quantified changes over time. We found alarming declines, at a rate of around 30% in 14 years in both areas, with an estimated current population of 87 males in Abbasanta and 8 males in Campeda. We highlight current and emerging threats, such as the downsizing of the Special Protection Area of Abbasanta, and the encroachment of solar power plants within the same area.The present research was carried out within the framework of the activities of the Spanish Government through the “Maria de Maeztu Centre of Excellence” accreditation to IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) (CEX2021-001198). A.S. acknowledges support from the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions individual fellowships (Grant no. 101027534) and from the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation through the Research Centre for Ecological ChangeWith funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2021-001198)Peer reviewedCambridge University PressAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)European CommissionJane and Aatos Erkko FoundationUniversity of HelsinkiSantangeli, Andrea [0000-0003-0273-1977]Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202320232023info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/337866https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85153296631reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/CEX2021-001198info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101027534https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270923000126Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3378662026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
title Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
spellingShingle Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
Santangeli, Andrea
Agricultural intensification
Agro-ecosystem
Land-use change
Solar power plants
Steppe bird decline
title_short Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
title_full Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
title_fullStr Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
title_full_unstemmed Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
title_sort Alarming decline of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in one of its two population strongholds in Sardinia, Italy
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Santangeli, Andrea
Cardillo, Alberto
Pes, Michele
Aresu, Mauro
author Santangeli, Andrea
author_facet Santangeli, Andrea
Cardillo, Alberto
Pes, Michele
Aresu, Mauro
author_role author
author2 Cardillo, Alberto
Pes, Michele
Aresu, Mauro
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
European Commission
Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation
University of Helsinki
Santangeli, Andrea [0000-0003-0273-1977]
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Agricultural intensification
Agro-ecosystem
Land-use change
Solar power plants
Steppe bird decline
topic Agricultural intensification
Agro-ecosystem
Land-use change
Solar power plants
Steppe bird decline
description Farmland biodiversity is declining worldwide, and especially in Western countries largely owing to the large-scale intensification of agricultural practices. The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is a steppe bird adapted to agro-pastoral ecosystems in Western Europe, and is one of those many farmland species declining due to changes in agricultural production systems. In the EU, the majority of the extant population of this species is concentrated in the Iberian Peninsula. In Italy, the species has now disappeared from the mainland and is currently present only in Sardinia, where two populations, in the central-western areas, hold about two-thirds of the whole island's numbers, with the rest scattered across numerous smaller nuclei. While there are indications and anecdotal information suggesting a possible population decline during recent decades, robust monitoring across different time periods that would allow a comparison of numbers is lacking in Sardinia. Here we repeated a Little Bustard survey performed in 2008 in two areas of western Sardinia: Abbasanta, which is one of the two strongholds for the species in Sardinia, and Campeda, which holds a small population (about 10 territorial males). Using the same methodology as in the past survey, we assessed current population size and density, and quantified changes over time. We found alarming declines, at a rate of around 30% in 14 years in both areas, with an estimated current population of 87 males in Abbasanta and 8 males in Campeda. We highlight current and emerging threats, such as the downsizing of the Special Protection Area of Abbasanta, and the encroachment of solar power plants within the same area.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023
2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337866
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85153296631
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337866
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85153296631
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/CEX2021-001198
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/101027534
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270923000126
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cambridge University Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cambridge University Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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