Monitoring Effectiveness of an Operational Project on Two Threatened Landbirds: Applying a Before–After Threat Analysis and Threat Reduction Assessment

Corrado Battisti (), Marisa Perchinelli, Sharon Vanadia, Pietro Giovacchini and Letizia Marsili
Additional contact information
Corrado Battisti: ‘Torre Flavia’ LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Protected Areas—Regional Park Service, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Viale G. Ribotta, 41, 00144 Rome, Italy
Marisa Perchinelli: ‘Torre Flavia’ LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Protected Areas—Regional Park Service, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Viale G. Ribotta, 41, 00144 Rome, Italy
Sharon Vanadia: ‘Torre Flavia’ LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Protected Areas—Regional Park Service, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Viale G. Ribotta, 41, 00144 Rome, Italy
Pietro Giovacchini: Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via Mattioli, 4, 53100 Siena, Italy
Letizia Marsili: Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via Mattioli, 4, 53100 Siena, Italy

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Human activities are at the origin of anthropogenic threats altering ecosystems at any hierarchical level. To mitigate them, environmental managers develop projects to obtain effective outcomes on biological targets of conservation concern. Here, we carried out two new approaches (TAN = Threat Analysis and TRA = Threat Reduction Assessment) aimed at assessing the effectiveness of conservation actions on two threatened beach-nesting landbird species, the Kentish Plover ( Charadrius alexandrinus ) and the Little Ringed Plover ( C. dubius ), breeding along a coastal beach of central Italy. Using a score-based evaluation (TAN approach), a panel of experts assessed the extent, intensity, and magnitude of a set of species-specific threats, ranking them from more to less impacting. Domestic dogs, dune trampling, and synanthropic predators appeared as the threats with the most significant magnitudes. Using the TRA approach, experts obtained a rank of threats that were more urgent to solve: i.e., domestic dogs and dune trampling. To contrast with these threats, in 2021, we carried out a conservation project with specific measures that were aimed at reducing the threat magnitude on birds. They included: dune borders demarcation, anti-predatory cages on plover nests, the removal of beach-stranded fishing lines and hooks, field surveillance by volunteers, dog control, social- and mass-media communication, and alliances with stakeholders and institutions. After the project, mechanical beach grooming (>80%), dune trampling, and synanthropic predators (both >60%) showed the highest percentage of impact reduction. The project showed a medium–high level of effectiveness in reducing the total threat magnitude (TRA-I index = 63.08%). The Threat Analysis should be routinely used to arrange a causal chain that is useful for defining the relationships among human-induced threats and ecological targets, selecting the threats with the highest magnitudes. After the projects, the Threat Reduction Assessment may assess the level of threat reduction, suggesting measures for adaptive management.

Keywords: causal chains; TRA-I index; Charadrius alexandrinus; Charadrius dubius; magnitude; effectiveness; adaptive management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/464/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/464/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:464-:d:1066279

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().