Land management by bird community analysis: comparison among mapping methods for the zonation of a mediterranean habitat

Abstract

Management algorithms of protected areas are widely used to identify potential networks of natural reserves that meet pre-established ecological requirements, such as a specific habitat percentage or a specific number of populations, while minimizing the related costs. Here we present a comparison of priority conservation maps of a protected area in central Italy, generated using different methods (i.e., Marxan, Marxan with Zones, Zonation, and directly overlapping the bird data with the vegetation type in the study area), based on an eight-year data set describing bird communities in the Circeo National Park. The generated maps can be used as a starting point when working with stakeholders involved in the management of this area. Our cartographic comparison illustrated that in the majority of the cases priority areas overlapped (the proportion of overlap was greater than 80% of the area size), affirming that the methods are equivalent. However, there were also divergent cases (the proportion of overlap was 0% of the area size), suggesting differential sensitivities of the four compared methods.