1,721,045 research outputs found
Protected areas and landscape conservation in the Lombardy plain (northern Italy): an appraisal
No full textBetween the 1980s and 1990s, conservation policy in Lombardy (NW Italy) was enhanced with the establishment of the Protected Areas System, which encompassed a wide area of nature reserves and regional parks. The main aim of the Protected Areas System was to preserve cultural, natural and traditional human activity over large areas affected by very rapid development processes.
Currently, the Protected Areas System covers about 26% of Lombardy, and human activity within the protected areas is managed and controlled by a consistent body of rules and laws, operating in an eco-sustainable framework. The actual effect of these rules and regulations on landscape and biodiversity conservation is, however, poorly understood.
The aims of this study are: (1) to describe the development of the Protected Areas System and its features in southern Lombardy between 1980 and 1994; (2) to confirm that avian species richness is higher in the Protected Areas System than in the related buffer zones; (3) to describe the role of the regulations and laws in establishing the Protected Areas System
Resource partitioning between the bank vole clethrionomys glareolus and the wood mouse apodemus sylvaticus in woodland habitats
No full textSpatial and food resource use, and activity time were studied in syntopical populations of bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus and wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus in woodland habitats. In every habitat, the two species selected different microhabitats; the abundance of thin vegetation 2nd size and dispersion of overstorey trees were generally the variables that segregated the microhabitat, but no constant preferences were shown by the two species in every habitat. Time activity rhythms were significantly different, with the bank vole showing a multi-phase diel activity, while the wood mouse was strictly nocturnal. However, the diets of the two species overlapped almost completely; the wood mouse showed a higher preference for 2 seed-formed diet, while the bank vole showed both folivore and granivore feeding habits. The differences in microhabitat selection and activity time rhythms suggested a shifting in resource use due to competition between the two species; the absence of significant differences in diet was thought to be related with the role of primary consumers played by these rodents in the woodland habitats
INFLUENCE OF SNOW COVER ON PREY SELECTION BY LONG-EARED OWLS ASIO-OTUS
No full textDuring winter the composition of the diet of the Long-eared Owls present at a roost varied in relation to the ground snow cover; birds and riparial rodents increased when ground cover was complete. A comparison between diet and prey availability (assessed by trapping) showed that small mammal species were mostly preyed upon in relation to their abundance; the scarce presence of Insectivores in the diet is apparently due to their reduced seasonal availability. Long-eared Owls behaved as adaptable predators; their dietary specialization in Northern Europe may be due to the great abundance of Microtinae at high latitude
Is fish preying by Hooded Crows Corvus corone cornix favoured by interactions with gulls and terns
No full textDistribution and habitat preference of small mammals in a biotope of the north italian plain
No full textSmall mammal communities were studied in six habitats in the north Italian plain. Nine species were trapped: pygmy shrew. Sorex minutus; common shrew, Sorex araneus; lesser white toothed shrew, Crocidura suaveolens; white toothed shrew. Crocidurea leucodon; harvest mouse, Micromys minutus, wood mouse. Apodemus sylvaticus; bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus; Savi pine vole, Microtus savii; water vole, Arvicola terrestris. Community diversity and species richness appeared to be related to the structural complexity of the habitat; the species composition, however differed from that usually recorded in communities in northern and central Europe. Yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicollis was not trapped, thus confirming the absence, or scarcity, of this woodland species in the north Italian plain: common vole, Microtus arvalis and field vole, Microlus agrestis, although widely distributed and abundant in northern and central Europe were not trapped. Shrews and rodents were found to be spatially segregated. Syntopic species were clustered in eurytopic, woodland and stetopihygrophilous species; each of these groups showed a well-defined habitat preference
Foraging behaviour in a colony of common terns Sterna hirundo and the information centre hypothesis
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Conservation of gull and tern coloy sites in Northeastern Italy, an internationally important bird area
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