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Area-sensitivity of three reed bed bird species breeding in Mediterranean marshland fragments

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Abstract

Density and species-specific thresholds for three strictly reed bed (Phragmites australis)—related bird species (Ixobrychus minutus, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Acrocephalus arundinaceus), known as area-sensitive and breeding in an archipelago of 16 Mediterranean marshland fragments (Central Italy), were studied with mapping method techniques. No individuals of these species occurred in fragments smaller than 1 ha. Marshland fragments larger than 10 ha hosted all the three study species. We observed a significant increase in mean density between 0–1 and 1–10 ha for Acrocephalus scirpaceus and between 1–10 and >10 ha for Acrocephalus arundinaceus. Habitat heterogeneity of the marshland fragments was directly correlated to their size area. Therefore, area-sensitivity for the reed bed species can be interpreted also as a heterogeneity-sensitivity effect at fragment scale. In Mediterranean landscapes, a suitable marshland for the entire selected set of reed bed area-sensitive species should have a size greater than 10 ha with a patchy mosaic of reed beds, open waters, and other edge features.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been performed within the activities of the Environmental Service–Conservation Nature Office–Province of Rome. We would like to acknowledge Francesca Causarano for her support during the field surveys.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Via Ugo Bignami, 40, 00136, Rome, Italy

    Giulia Benassi

  2. Conservation Nature Office, Environmental Service, Provincia di Roma, via Tiburtina, 691, 00159, Rome, Italy

    Corrado Battisti

  3. Centre of Environmental Studies ‘Demetra s.r.l.’, via Olona 7, 00198, Rome, Italy

    Luca Luiselli

  4. Department of Human and Animal Biology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, viale dell’Università, 32, 00186, Rome, Italy

    Luigi Boitani

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  1. Giulia Benassi
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Correspondence to Corrado Battisti.

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Benassi, G., Battisti, C., Luiselli, L. et al. Area-sensitivity of three reed bed bird species breeding in Mediterranean marshland fragments. Wetlands Ecol Manage 17, 555–564 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-009-9135-9

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