https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2024.744
Ecological requirements, distribution, and population density of the European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola in a high mountain area of the central Apennines, Italy
Submitted: 21 December 2023
Accepted: 8 August 2024
Published: 12 December 2024
Accepted: 8 August 2024
Abstract Views: 110
PDF: 67
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) is generally considered a lowland breeder with exceptional occurrences in the mountainous areas of Italy and Greece. The occasional observation of a small but significant population of stonechat at 1850 m a.s.l. in the central Apennines led us to investigate the ecological requirements of the species in this high mountain area. Using the territory mapping method, we identified all breeding territories and their ecological characteristics. We found a close association between the stonechat and the prostrate shrub juniper Juniper communis ssp. alpina and discussed the structural similarity of this shrub with the natural heath and moorland habitat of the stonechat in Germany and Great Britain. The surprisingly high population densities found in this study compared to those of neighbouring lowland agricultural habitats suggest that heathland with prostrate shrubs is the original natural habitat of the stonechat wherever the climate permits, from sea level in northern Europe to 2000 m above sea level in Mediterranean countries. Preliminary results from a small sample area show that the mountain breeding stonechat has a long breeding season, from its arrival in early March until its departure in late October. We argue the role of the juniper heaths for shelter and food supply during and after the frequent snow showers in early spring. The association of the stonechat (and other species) with prostrate shrub lands indicates the importance of conserving this habitat in Italy, where the stonechat has recently been classified as endangered (EN) on the national red list. To this end, we recommend in-depth studies on the stonechat-prostrate shrub association in other high mountain areas in Italy and abroad, where, on the one hand, increasing industrialisation of agriculture and, on the other hand, vegetation encroachment due to abandonment of agro-pastoral activity lead to rapid habitat loss and seriously threaten the lowland populations of the stonechat.
Avena G. & Blasi C., 1980 – Carta della vegetazione del Massiccio del Monte Velino (Appennino Abruzzese). Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, Roma (Italia).
Bibby C. J., Burgess N. D., Hill D. A. & Mustoe S. H., 2000 – Bird census techniques. Academic Press, London (UK).
Blasi C., Gigli M. P. & Stanisci A., 1990 – I cespuglieti altomontani del Gruppo del M. Velino (Italia Centrale). Annali di Botanica, 48 (7): 243-256.
Brichetti P. & Fracasso G., 2022 – The birds of Italy. Vol.3. Cisticolidae-Icteridae. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy).
Cahiers d’Habitat “Oiseaux” - MEEDDAT- MNHN <https://inpn.mnhn.fr/docs/cahab/fiches/Tarier-patre.pdf>
Callion J., 2015 – Some observations of breeding European Stonechats in Cumbria. British Birds, 108: 648-659.
Caula B., Beraudo P. L. & Pettavino M., 2009 – Gli uccelli delle Alpi. Come riconoscerli, dove e quando osservarli. Blu Edizioni, Torino (Italia).
Chamberlain D., Arlettaz R., Caprio E., Maggini R., Pedrini P., Rolando A. & Zbinden N., 2012 – The altitudinal frontier in avian climate impact research. Ibis, 154 (1): 205-209.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01196.x
Chamberlain D., Brambilla M., Caprio E., Pedrini P. & Rolando A., 2016 – Alpine bird distributions along elevation gradients: the consistency of climate and habitat effects across geographic regions. Oecologia, 181 (4): 1139-1150.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3637-y
Ciaschetti G., Pirone G., Frattaroli A. R. & Corbetta F., 2006 – La vegetazione del Piano di Pezza (Parco Naturale Regionale “Sirente-Velino” - Italia Centrale). Fitosociologia, 43 (1): 67-84.
Corbetta F., Pirone G., Frattaroli A. R., Ciaschetti G., Brucculeri R., Pace L., Petriccione B. & Valente F., 1999 – Flora e vegetazione. In: Studi preliminari al Piano del Parco. Regione Abruzzo, Parco Regionale Sirente-Velino.
Covas R. & Blondel J., 1998 – Biogeography and history of the Mediterranean bird fauna. Ibis, 140 (3): 395-407.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1998.tb04600.x
Cramp S. & Simmons K. E. L., 1988 – Handbook of the birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The birds of the western palearctic. Volume V: tyrant flycatchers to thrushes. Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK).
Cutini M., Marzialetti F., Giuliana B., Rianna G. & Theurillat J. P., 2021 – Bioclimatic pattern in a Mediterranean mountain area: assessment from a classification approach on a regional scale. International Journal of Biometeorology, 65 (7): 1085-1097.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-021-02089-x
De Toma A., Carboni M., Bazzichetto M., Marco Malavasi M. & Cutini M., 2022 – Dynamics of dwarf shrubs in Mediterranean high-mountain ecosystems. Journal of Vegetation Science, 33 (4): e13143.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13143
Fornasari L., Londi G., Buvoli L., Tellini Florenzano G., La Gioia G., Pedrini P., Brichetti P. & de Carli E., 2010 – Distribuzione geografica e ambientale degli uccelli comuni nidificanti in Italia. 2000-2004 (dati del progetto MITO2000). Avocetta, 34 (2): 5-224.
Garcia D., Zamora R., Hodar J. A. & Gomez J. M., 1999 – Age structure of Juniperus communis L. in the Iberian peninsula: conservation of remnant populations in Mediterranean mountains. Biological Conservation 87: 215-220.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00059-7
Glaves D., 2000 – A survey of breeding Stonechat in the Blackdown Hills, 1998. Devon Bird Report 71: 155-158.
Gregory R. D., Gibbons D. W. & Donald P. F., 2004 – Bird census and survey techniques. In: Bird ecology and conservation: a handbook of techniques, ecology and conservation. Sutherland W. J., Newton I. & Green R. E. (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198520863.003.0002
Gustin M., Nardelli R., Brichetti P., Battistoni A., Rondinini C. & Teofili C., 2021 – Lista rossa IUCN degli uccelli nidificanti in Italia 2021. Comitato Italiano IUCN e Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, Roma (Italia).
Haukioja E., 1971 – Flightlessness in some moulting passerines in Northern Europe. Ornis fennica 48: 101-116.
Hayne D. W., 1949 – Calculation of size of home range. Journal of Mammology, 30 (1): 1-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1375189
Hueting S., 2022 – Saltimpalo: 508-509. In: Atlante degli uccelli nidificanti in Italia. Lardelli R., Bogliani G., Brichetti P., Caprio E., Celada C., Conca G., Fraticelli F., Gustin M., Janni O., Pedrini P., Puglisi L., Rubolini D., Ruggieri L., Spina F., Tinarelli R., Calvi G. & Brambilla M. (eds.). Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italia).
Iankov P., 2007 – Atlas of the breeding birds in Bulgaria. Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, Sofia, (Bulgaria).
Jähnig S., Alba R., Vallino C., Rosselli D., Pittarello M., Rolando A. & Chamberlain D., 2018 – The contribution of broadscale and finescale habitat structure to the distribution and diversity of birds in an Alpine forest-shrub ecotone. Journal of Ornithology 159 (3): 747-759.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1549-9
Kaplan J. O., Krumhardt K. M. & Zimmermann N., 2009 – The prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation of Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28 (27-28): 3016-3034.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.09.028
Knaus P., Antoniazza S., Wechsler J., Guélat M., Kéry N., Strebel N. & Sattler T., 2018 – Schweizer brutvogelatlas 2013-2016: verbreitung und bestandesentwicklung der vögel in der schweiz und im fürstentum Liechtenstein. Vogelwarte, Sempach (Switzerland).
Körner C. & Hiltbrunner E., 2021 – Why is the alpine flora comparatively robust against climatic warming? Diversity, 13 (8): 383.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d13080383
Körner C., 2021 – Alpine plant life: functional plant ecology of high mountain ecosystems, 3rd ed. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg (Germany).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59538-8
L’Atlas de la faune vertébrée de la LPO Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et ses partenaires. <https://atlas.biodiversite-auvergne-rhone-alpes.fr/espece/199425>
Lovaty F., 2022 – Efficacité des relevés en site occupancy pour recenser le Trier patre sur les Hautes Chaumes du Forez (1300-1400 m). Le Grand-Duc 90: 22-26.
Martí R. & Del Moral J. C., 2003 – Atlas de las aves reproductoras de España. Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza-Sociedad Española de Ornitología, Madrid (Spain).
Meschini A., 2011 – Saltimpalo Saxicola torquatus. In: Nuovo atlante degli uccelli nidificanti nel Lazio. Brunelli M., Sarrocco S., Corbi F., Sorace A., Boano A., De Felici S., Guerrieri G., Meschini A. & Roma S. (eds.). Edizioni ARP (Agenzia Regionale Parchi), Roma (Italia).
Michalczyk I. M., Opgenoorth L., Luecke Y., Huck S. & Ziegenhagen B., 2010 – Genetic support for perglacial survival of Juniperus communis L. in Central Europe. Holocene, 20 (6): 887-894.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683610365943
Mildenberger H., 1950 – Beiträge zur Ökologie und Brutbiologie des Schwarzkehlchens (Saxicola torquata rubicola). Bonner zoologische Beiträge: Herausgeber: Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn (Germany).
Pearce-Higgins J. W. & Grant M. C., 2006 – Relationships between bird abundance and the composition and structure of moorland vegetation. Bird Study, 53: 112-125.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063650609461424
Pellizzari E., Pividori M. & Carrer M., 2014 – Winter precipitation effect in a mid-latitude temperature-limited environment: the case of common juniper at high elevation in the Alps. Environmental Research Letters, 9 (10): 104021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/104021
Pesaresi S., Galdenzi D., Biondi E. & Casavecchia S., 2014 – Bioclimate of Italy application of the worldwide bioclimatic classification system, Journal of Maps, 10 (4): 538-553.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2014.891472
Petriccione B., 1993 – Flora e vegetazione del Massiccio del Monte Velino (Appennino Centrale). Collana Verde, 92: 1-251.
Pfeifer G., 2000 – Vorkommen und Ausbreitung des Schwarzkehlchens, Saxicola torquata Linnaeus 1766, in Schleswig-Holstein unter Einbeziehung der Bestandsentwicklung in den Nachbarländern. Corax, 8 (2): 109-141.
Pirone G., 2016 – Il patrimonio botanico del Parco Nazionale Velino-Sirente. <https://www.appenninoecosistema.org/upload/Workshop-Lucoli-PPT-Pirone.pdf>
Pirone G., Frattaroli A. M., Conti F., Ciaschetti G. & Di martino L., 2007 – Aspetti fitogeografici del Parco Naturale regionale “Sirente-Velino” (Abruzzo). Biogeografia, XXVIII: 119-148.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21426/B6110156
Rivas-Martínez S., Saenz S. R. & Penas A., 2011 – Worldwide bioclimatic classification system. Global Geobot, 1: 1-634.
Stanisci A., 1997 – Gli arbusteti altomontani dell’Appennino centrale e meridionale. Fitosociologia 34: 3-46.
Stanisci A., Cutini M., Petriccione B. et al., 2021 –Ecosistemi d’alta quota. In: La rete italiana per la ricerca ecologica di lungo termine. Lo studio della biodiversità e dei cambiamenti Capotondi L., Ravaioli M., Acosta A., Chiarini F., Lami A., Stanisci A., Tarozzi L. & Mazzocchi M.G. (eds.).
Stanisci A., Frate L., Morra Di Cella U., Pelino G., Petey M., Siniscalco C. & Carranza M.L., 2014 – Short-term signals of climate change in Italian summit vegetation: observations at two GLORIA sites. Plant Biosystems, 150 (2): 227-235.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2014.968232
Thomas P. A., El-Barghathi M. & Polwart A., 2007 – Biological flora of the British Isles: Juniperus communis L. Journal of Ecology, 95 (6): 1404-1440.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2007.01308.x
Urquhart E. & Bowley A., 2002 – Stonechats. a guide to the genus Saxicola. Christopher Helm, London (UK).
Van Oosten H. H., 2016 – Comparative breeding biology of three insectivorous songbirds in Dutch dune grasslands. Ardea, 104 (3): 199-212.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i3.a2
Vega Rivera J. H., McShea W. J., Rappole J. H. & Haas C. A., 1998 – Pattern and chronology of prebasic molt for the wood thrush and its relation to reproduction and migration departure. Wilson Bulletin, 110 (3): 384-392.
Wink M., Sauer-Gurth H., Heidrich P., Witt H. H. & Gwinner E., 2022 – A molecular phylogeny of stonechats and related turdids. In: Stonechats. a guide to the genus Saxicola Urquhart E. & Bowley, A. (eds.). Christopher Helm, London (UK).
Zamora R. & Barea-Azcón J. M., 2015 – Long-term changes in mountain passerine bird communities in the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain): a 30-year case study. Ardeola, 62 (1): 3-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13157/arla.62.1.2015.3
How to Cite
Hueting, S., & Santucci, B. (2024). Ecological requirements, distribution, and population density of the European Stonechat <i>Saxicola rubicola</i> in a high mountain area of the central Apennines, Italy. Rivista Italiana Di Ornitologia, 94(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2024.744
Copyright (c) 2024 Steven Hueting, Bruno Santucci
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Mauro Mencarelli, Niki Morganti, Project of the avifauna near Senigallia: the Misa River. First year of survey , Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia: Vol. 82 No. 1-2 (2012)
- Michele Bux, Giuseppe Giglio, Marco Gustin, Use of nest-boxes by Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni , Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia: Vol. 82 No. 1-2 (2012)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.