Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2021

Total budget:

€111,471.00

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

€78,000.00

Of the 20 subspecies described throughout the species’ distribution area, three of them are present in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, two subspecies as breeders: the Iberoriental –witherbyi– and the Iberoccidental –Lusitanica–; as well as the northern subspecies –Schoeniclus–, which visits the peninsular and Balearic wetlands only during the migration and wintering periods, between October and April. The conservation status of both breeding subspecies is considered “Endangered”. However, currently the negative trend of both subspecies, their small distribution area, their presence in a very small number of wetlands, and the lack of habitat quality make it advisable to classify them as “Critically Endangered”. According to the last state census, carried out in 2015, both subspecies do not exceed 170 pairs, with the Iberwestern subspecies having the worst luck with less than 20 breeding pairs, only present in Galicia. The Iberian-eastern subspecies finds in the Tablas de Daimiel, the Ebro Delta and S’Albufera de Mallorca three of the wetlands that maintain their most important breeding nuclei, as well as several small populations fragmented in other small wetlands in La Mancha and the Ebro basin. Likewise, the information obtained from these censuses will be of great value to launch a retrospective study on the availability and dynamics of its habitats through the analysis of satellite images in the wetlands in which it has been present during the last two decades. It is a species with very specific ecological requirements, which it uses to nest marsh environments with emergent and heterogeneous vegetation, in open patches where reeds do not dominate. Since they build their nests hidden among the vegetation close to the ground, droughts and the decrease in flood levels in their territories favor the entry of predators, the main cause of their reproductive failure. For this reason, itis a species that depends on wetlands maintaining flood levels during the usual periods in the Mediterranean area and with active vegetation management that prevents the reed from occupying the open patches with bulrushes, reeds or masiegas. Their diet is based, for much of the year, on invertebrates, such as the larvae of nocturnal butterflies that breed in the reeds, and insects from the perilagoon vegetation that they find carefully prospecting branches, stems, buds or pods of reeds. The species does not have a Conservation Strategy, and only Galicia and the Valencian Community have a recovery plan for the species.

The final objective of the project is to develop the Strategy for the Conservation of the Marsh Bunting in Spain, as well as the scientific-technical bases for drafting the conservation plans of the species in the autonomous communities where it is present. As part of it, in addition to updating the knowledge of population size and distribution, actions are being developed related to the analysis of genetic diversity and gene flow, studies of the connectivity and fragmentation of the landscape, the population viability of subspecies, ecological requirements or analysis of changes in habitat availability. Likewise, work is being done on the creation and dynamization of a working group with experts in the species and its habitats. All this will make it possible to have all the available knowledge about the species to improve its management capacities at the state and regional level, as well as to adapt and incorporate new management criteria for the Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) of the Natura 2000 Network in the large wetlands in which it is present. In addition, if necessary, it will also direct efforts to improve the protection of new wetlands and ensure the viability of their populations in those refuges where small populations are maintained.

• Updating of the knowledge of the population size and distribution of the two nesting subspecies of marsh bunting in Spain.
• Assessment of genetic diversity and gene flow of subspecies management units.
• Development of a sensitive analysis of connectivity and landscape fragmentation for the connection between populations.
• Development of a population viability analysis and review of the cataloguing of subspecies.
• Definition of ecological and water requirements integrating the Water, Habitats and Birds Framework Directives and assessment of changes in habitat availability.
• Creation and dynamization of a working group with experts in the species and its habitats coordinated with administrations.
• Drafting of the scientific-technical bases for the Strategy for the Conservation of the Marsh Bunting in Spain.
• Drafting of the Strategy for the Conservation of the Marsh Bunting in Spain.
• Drafting of criteria for the drafting or revision of the regional recovery plans for the marsh notary.
• Drafting of criteria for the management and conservation of the species and its habitats at regional and local level.

• The project has carried out the III National Census of Marsh Bunting in Spain, updating the status of its populations with respect to the last census in 2015 and being able to establish a trend since the first complete census in 2005.
• The critical situation of the species has been confirmed, so reference documents have been developed that aim to contribute to the recovery of the marsh bunting by offering specific information and guidelines for the identification of measures, habitats and other actions to be incorporated into the different planning instruments for the management of species and spaces.
• The scientific-technical and administrative bases for the management, conservation and recovery of the marsh bunting in Spain have been developed, on which it has been possible to define a proposal for a Strategy for the Conservation of the species and to develop the criteria for the drafting or revision of the regional recovery plans that include the necessary management guidelines to improve its conservation status and that of the wetlands they inhabit.
• Additional studies have been conducted on the genetics of the species, its habitat requirements, and how to improve connectivity between spaces that still retain suitable habitats for the marsh bunting.
• Finally, with the aim of ensuring the sharing of all the information generated, the coordination of the administrations and the continuity in the study and management of the species, a working group has been constituted.

Spanish Ornithological Society