The abandonment of pastures often leads to a remarkable deterioration of grasslands, caused by the spread of intrusive, herbaceous and woody species which reduces the general quality of pastures. Different treatments aimed at improving the grassland and enhancing the forage quality of herbaceous resources have been developed to face this problem. We report the results of a five-year experiment conducted in a protected area of central Italy (the "Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone" regional park) on an abandoned pasture inside a beech forest encroached by intrusive species (mainly bracken). We analyzed the effect on sward's specific composition and grazing value of two agronomic factors: (i) the establishment method (ploughing followed by sowing of a forage mixture versus no intervention), and (ii) the number of cuts performed on vegetation during the growing season (0, 1 or 2 cuts). Plots were arranged according to a split-split-plot experimental design with three replications, with the sampling dates as the main factor, the establishment technique as the subplot factor, and the number of cuts as the sub-subplot factor. In each plot, data were recorded once a month from June to September every year from 2006 to 2010, in order to assess the botanical composition and the quality of the sward. The main pastoral and botanical parameters of pastures were significantly affected by both cutting and sowing. Establishment by sowing significantly reduced the presence of bracken, even with no cuts, with strong effects on the qualitative value of the pasture. A single cut resulted in an efficient recovery of the pasture as compared to cutting twice, especially in sown plots. Our results confirmed that the regular and continued maintenance of the recovered areas is crucial to ensure the long-term preservation of the results achieved by the improvements.

In this study, activity patterns of the European hare ( Lepus europaeus ) were analyzed during winter using global positioning system (GPS) collars on 24 hares in two study areas located in central Italy. We programmed the collars to collect 12 location points per day, for a duration of three months. Results show two distinct phases of activities related to the day-night cycle. The daytime phase is characterized by inactivity at the form while the second phase is characterized by movements. Males were more active than females, showing a constant locomotor activity during the whole night. Females showed two peaks of activity during the night with a reduction in the middle of this time period. The comparison between females of the two study areas showed difference in interfix distance in particular around sunset and sunrise. In fact the minimum daily movement between the two areas shows that foraging sites of area B are more distant than those of area A. The recent possibility to apply GPS collars on small-medium mammals provides a powerful instrument to study the behavioral ecology of the European hare, and consequently promote an effective population management strategy for the species conservation.

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of different farming methods on bird communities. In particular, the study surveyed the frequency and number of bird species, the number of individuals and bird diversity (Shannon index) found in organic (o, non use of synthetic pesticides), integrated (i, reduced use of pesticides on the basis of the economic threshold) and conventional (c, conventional use of pesticides) orchards. A simplified version of the mapping method was applied, from May to June 1998, to 60 fruit farms (15o, 19 i, 26c), over a total of 483 ha. Twenty-six bird species were observed (19o, 17i, 18c). Granivorous species were the most abundant and unaffected by pesticide management. Insectivorous species were less abundant in general, but more frequent on o and i farms (chi-square test, p < 0.05). Bird diversity was greater in o and i farm management than in c (Tukey test, respectively, p = 0.001 and 0.004). There was a non-significant trend for bird density to be higher in o/i than c orchards (ANOVA, F (2.57) = 2.76, p = 0.07). The results confirm the positive effects of (o) and (i) agriculture on bird communities, including some species of special interest for nature conservation. These effects could be attributed mostly to the different pest management and secondarily to some aspects of environmental differentiation (type of orchard, type of farm, age and height of trees, and increased presence of hedgerows and woodlots). Surprisingly no correlation was observed between hedgerows and woodlots and bird diversity (Pearson test, R = 0.0019).

Butterflies were inventorised in nine sites of three different habitat types of the Emilia-Romagna rural landscape (Northern Italy). Sites were situated in three different landscape contexts, from high to low landscape complexity. A total of 39 butterflies species were collected, including some rare species for the region. Diversity indices and correspondence analysis showed that the butterfly fauna was influenced by the habitat type and not by the landscape complexity of the area around the site. The higher diversity was registered in an hedgerow with a grassy margin. Grassy margins of crops showed the higher mean frequency of catches, probably because of the high number of flowers available. Butterflies seem to be poorly influenced by the landscape characteristics around the sites because of the adults mobility. Field margins are suggested as suitable habitats for butterfly conservation.

After the Common Agricultural Policy reform of 1992 and the application of ago-environmental measures, most EU countries have introduced specific measures for wildlife habitat improvement. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of two habitat improvement actions on brown hare Lepus europaeus and roe deer Capreolus capreolus populations in two study areas in the hills of Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The study was carried out from October 1996 to October 1997. Data on brown hares were collected at night using spotlights. Density was estimated at 26 (area A) and 29 (area B) sampling sites. Data on roe deer were collected at 17 sampling sites (fields observed) during 2-hour periods, before sunset and after sunrise, respectively, using binoculars. We recorded 736 brown hares. Brown hare density was higher in study area A (0.27 individuals/ha) than in study area B (0.23 individuals/ha). We counted 153 roe deer during the diurnal surveys. The highest roe deer density was observed in February-March 1997 (0.306 individuals/ha). We used Bonferroni confidence intervals, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests to compare the densities in different habitats. Brown hares avoided uncultivated fields in both study areas, while they selected habitat improvements in area A and forage crops in area B. Roe deer selected habitat improvements and secondarily forage crops, but avoided uncultivated fields. Our study demonstrates that extensive cultivated fields (maintained or reintroduced according to EU agro-environmental regulations) can play an important role in territories with agriculture retirement and abandonment, acting primarily as a source of food (mostly green forage) for several herbivorous wildlife species.

The aim of this paper is to define and quantify environmental indicators for farmland habitat in Italy. Based on OECD works and recent developments by the Joint Working Party in the area of agrienvironmental indicators, we classify agricultural habitat in three main categories: intensive, semi-natural and uncultivated (natural or man-made) habitats located within, at the border and adjacent of agricultural areas. We discuss the importance of using an appropriate index to quantify the total agricultural land area and compare habitat indicators over different periods of time. For each habitat category, we propose additional or alternative indicators that may contribute to better represent Mediterranean regions and agriecosystems. We compare the definition of semi-natural habitat to alternatives criteria (high nature value farmland habitats, low input agricultural systems, extensive agricultural production systems, etc.) and indicate which might be the most appropriate criterion to quantify indicators for agri-environmental policies evaluation. The critical issue of the minimum dimension of uncultivated (natural or man-made) habitat within farmland ecosystems is also discussed. In line with the OECD approach, we quantified each indicator for the territory of Italy at different periods (from 1970 to 1995), underscoring problems related to data constraints caused by the insufficiency of available national statistics and the use of alternatives instruments of habitats quantification (aerial photos and satellite images).