What Is the Convenience of Treating a Wetland as an Agricultural Area?

Abstract

The Gelsari and Lentini marshes, in east-central Sicily, are wetland under heavy anthropogenic pressure. This area is regularly subjected to water withdrawals and agriculture is practiced. Periodic bird census activities had been conducted in this area between 2016 and 2022 with collected data being supplemented with the data from a previous survey conducted between 2010 and 2016. During the censuses, numerous photographs were collected, which were later used for counts. In total, 121 surveys were carried out, with visits occurring approximately 20 times per year, covering all seasons. The data collected, both from bibliography and unpublished observations, were organised in table. 120 species and subspecies have been reported, 41 of which are in Annex I of the Birds Directive. Between 2021 and 2022, a water column measurement was taken in a central area of the Lentini marsh and compared with rainfall data in the area. It was found that water removal, occurring in both marshes in different modes, produced different effects on habitat conservation. Of the two marshes, Lentini is the one in which the existing favorable conditions in its most depressed areas, located below sea level, have allowed for the adequate conservation of the wetland. This environmental improvement having occurred with respect to the previous period has restored to the marsh its historically recognized possibility of not drying up completely during the summer period, allowing permanence of numerous birds. The obtained results suggest total elimination of agriculture and discontinuation of water withdrawals in the Lentini marsh as well as regulation of withdrawals in the Gelsari marsh.