Knowledge to be acquired
Within the institutional activities of protection and care of the naturalistic heritage, theAusoni Mountains and Fondi Lake Park Authority has planned for 2025 the launch of a study, research and scientific monitoring campaign to acquire in-depth knowledge of a significant part of the wild fauna present within its protected areas, with particular attention to species of community interest. On the basis of the observations and indications provided by the naturalistic technical staff and the Park Ranger Surveillance Service, experts from the individual taxonomic groups, supported by the internal staff of the Authority, will evaluate the state of health of some species, chosen among the most vulnerable or which represent bioindicators of the quality of the environments.
The animals that will be followed
Among the animals that will be followed by the experts is the wolf that, after having been at risk of extinction, has returned to colonize the hilly and mountainous areas of the Park, posing a double challenge: the first is the protection of a predator that is naturally able to regulate the populations of prey (especially wild boar) in the habitats in which it lives, preserving them in good health; the second is played on the front of education for coexistence, which passes through the mitigation of conflicts that arise when, for example, the presence of the wolf causes damage to livestock farms or when the wolf is perceived as a competitor of game, encountering phenomena such as poaching or poisoning. The data collected through the wildlife surveys planned both in the Monti Ausoni and Lago di Fondi Park, and in the Lago di Canterno Nature Reserve, will allow us to estimate the presence of packs, their number, and the most frequented areas. This will allow the Authority to prepare compensation, provide breeders with tools for livestock protection and damage prevention, and organize awareness meetings with the population of the most frequented areas.
Wetlands and hilly reliefs
The studies that will be conducted in the Canterno Lake Reserve will allow us to reconstruct a detailed checklist of the species present especially in the wetlands and on the hills surrounding the lake, acquiring presence data but also video-photographic documentation, which will allow us to carry out environmental education and promotion interventions in the protected area. The studies on odonates and amphibians will focus in particular on the karst area of Camposoriano and Santo Stefano, located between the municipalities of Sonnino and Terracina, characterized by the presence of various fountains and numerous "aquariums" and wells, where amphibians and odonates find their ideal habitat. Being linked to water at least in the reproductive phase, they are good indicators of environmental quality and sentinels sensitive to climate and environmental changes, whether natural or due to human activities.
The avifauna question
English: As regards avifauna – in addition to the continuation of the ordinary control and survey action in sites of particular interest for the abundant presence of sedentary and/or migratory birds such as Lake Fondi, Lake degli Alfieri and Lake Canterno – the second annual ornithological study of the ZSC (Special Conservation Area: a type of protected area established by the European Union) “Sugherete di San Vito e Valle Marina” has been entrusted. All the planned actions will allow us to acquire and update the data and knowledge regarding the various fauna species in order to verify the effectiveness of the protection interventions and possibly better calibrate them in relation to the needs of the individual species and the habitats associated with them. “The studies and research planned – declared the director of the Park Authority, Dr. Lucio De Filippis – will provide us with valuable information for an updated and reliable photograph and consequent evaluation of the relationship between certain species of wild fauna and their habitats in the most sensitive sites of the protected natural areas entrusted to our Park Authority. Nature conservation and land management need this data. Renovating a fountain or planning a recreational activity on the shores of a lake, need to take into account the needs of small amphibians such as salamanders and newts or migratory birds such as ducks, the purple heron or the marsh harrier.
The study of phenology
Constant monitoring, in particular, will help us to study the so-called phenology of the various animal species taken into consideration, that is, the correlation between climatic factors and environmental variations and the changes that occur in their biological cycle. The studies will obviously be accompanied by detailed technical-scientific reports including descriptive sheets, with the reporting of any threatening factors in the areas of investigation and management suggestions for risk mitigation. "There are at least two reasons - notes the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Authority, Dr. Giuseppe Incocciati - that push us to monitor and study with ever greater attention the wild fauna present in the protected areas managed by the Park Authority. The first is the growing impact of the alterations caused by climate change (rising temperatures, seasonal variability, decreased rainfall, etc.), which significantly affect the biological cycles and habits of animals. The second is the progressive intensification of the interaction between man and a type of fauna that, over time, has seen the spaces necessary for its subsistence eroded and that, precisely for this reason, today requires particular control: this is both to counteract the negative effects of this interaction on the dynamics of growth and reproduction of some wild species, and to avoid the occurrence of conflict situations with human activities. From the preliminary research and monitoring phase we will then move on to the phase of concrete interventions in the field”.
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