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Sixty years of habitat decline: impact of land-cover changes in northern Italy on the decreasing ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana

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Abstract

Habitat loss and degradation are main global threats to biodiversity, and land-use changes in agriculture-dominated landscapes are crucial for an important portion of biodiversity, especially in Europe. We evaluated the effects of land-use changes (1954–2012) on a threatened species, the ortolan bunting, in an agricultural area crucial for its conservation in Italy. We built a distribution model for ortolan bunting in current landscapes and then re-projected it to past scenarios (1954 and 1999–2000). We evaluated the most important land-use changes occurred and estimated their effects on habitat suitability. Bunting occurrence was mostly affected by the extent of grassland (positively; used as foraging/breeding ground), shrubland (quadratic effect; perches/shelter), forest and urbanized land (negatively), and by solar radiation (positively) and slope (quadratic), consistent with other studies carried out especially in southern Europe. The potential distribution of the species was much larger in the past: the estimated decline in suitable habitat is 44–72 % (since 1999–2000/1954), coherent with historical data suggesting strong decline and contraction. Changes in suitability (1954–2012) were mostly associated with changes in the cover of forest, vineyards and abandoned areas (negatively), and shrubland (positively). Land-use/land-cover changes are the main drivers of species occurrence and of habitat decline. The heterogeneous landscape of hilly/low-mountain sites in this area, characterized by a mix of habitats offering complementary resources to ortolan buntings and other species of conservation concern, is currently threatened by abandonment and intensification, but its maintenance may be promoted by a correct definition of Rural Development Programme measures.

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Acknowledgments

This study was part of a research project funded to LIPU-BirdLife Italia by the Italian Ministry for Environment (MATTM). We are very grateful to E. Vigo and T. Feltrin for cooperation and to two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Settore Biodiversità e Aree protette, Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente, Largo 10 luglio 1976 1, 20822, Seveso, MB, Italy

    Mattia Brambilla, Riccardo Falco & Valentina Bergero

  2. Lega Italiana Protezione Uccelli (LIPU/BirdLife Italia), Via Trento 49, 43100, Parma, Italy

    Mattia Brambilla, Marco Gustin, Severino Vitulano, Irene Negri & Claudio Celada

  3. Sezione di Zoologia dei Vertebrati, Museo delle Scienze, Via Calepina 14, 38122, Trento, Italy

    Mattia Brambilla

  4. Associazione FaunaViva, Viale Sarca 78, 20125, Milan, Italy

    Severino Vitulano

  5. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Adolfo Ferrata, 9, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Giuseppe Bogliani

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  1. Mattia Brambilla
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  2. Marco Gustin
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  3. Severino Vitulano
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  4. Riccardo Falco
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  5. Valentina Bergero
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  6. Irene Negri
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  7. Giuseppe Bogliani
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Correspondence to Mattia Brambilla.

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Brambilla, M., Gustin, M., Vitulano, S. et al. Sixty years of habitat decline: impact of land-cover changes in northern Italy on the decreasing ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana . Reg Environ Change 17, 323–333 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-016-1019-y

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