Long-term bird monitoring at the SCI-SPA Manzolino (Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy), biodiversity hotspot and site of high conservation relevance

The Site of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Protection Area (SPA) Manzolino, Po Plain, Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy, spans over approximately 300 hectares, and comprises canals, detention basins, small wetlands, reforested areas, hedge- and tree rows, and grasslands (Regione Emilia Romagna 2017). A constant monitoring of the avian community, started in 1983 (LIPU 1987; Chiossi & Leoni 1990; Leoni et al. 2012), brought to the record of over 270 species, half of which are waterbirds. Sixty-seven species are breeding and other 17 may have reproduced within the site. Eighty-two species are wintering or show wintering contingents along with resident populations, 67 species are observed during migrations only, and the remnant 64 have been observed only occasionally during the investigation period (cf. Brichetti & Fracasso 2015 for species phenologies). We report the presence of 70 species considered critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or near threatened at a national scale according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Rondinini et al. 2013; IUCN 2016); 21 of these resulted breeding in the area. In addition, 72 of the reported species (of which 10 breeding) are mentioned in the Annex I of the European Birds Directive (2009/147/CE; European Parliament and the Council 2009), hence requiring special conservation measures concerning their habitat. The first use in Emilia-Romagna of the conservation status (Gustin et al. 2016) in the evaluation of the avifauna of a SPA allowed to reveal the presence of 101 species (33 breeding) with populations characterized at a national scale by limited abundances and distribution, decreasing, and/or connected to scarcely widespread or declining habitats. These results stress the richness of the site in terms of biodiversity and its strategic importance for bird conservation within the European Community, encouraging the local continuation of the monitoring activities started almost 35 years ago. Furthermore, we trust that the data reported will constitute a solid cognitive basis for the implementation of actions functional to an effective conservation of the species and habitats that confer to this area the titles of SCI and SPA.