Fauna of the protected area "University City" in Banja Luka and opportunities for biocontrol of pest species

Abstract

The Protected Area for Management of Resources, "University City" in Banja Luka possesses certain ecological, cultural, historical and aesthetic value, making the entire complex of buildings and park areas placed under legal protection in 2012. In addition to valuable dendroflora presented in extensive parks, tree-lines, individual valuable trees and botanical garden, during valuation and legal protection of this complex, specific faunal values have been identified. With regard to the tasks of the Plan for Management of the Protected Area, there is a need to reconcile the requirements for an arrangement, use and development of the area with the tasks related to the protection of nature, among other things, to preserve the faunal values of the complex. This imposes an increasing commitment to reduce the use of chemical agents for protection and to develop integrated management of theArea and a sustainable use of all the resources that it possesses. This paper presents the results of field research of vertebrate fauna of the Protected Area as well as some perceived ecologic characteristics of recorded species in terms of nutrition. Based on the data collected there has been 61 bird species registered along with 16 mammal species, 4 species of amphibians and 8 species of reptiles. Considering the possibilities of the biocontrol of invertebrate pests and rodents in the Protected Area, the most important potential role in biological control have 43% insectivore bird species and 16% of species of diurnal and nocturnal raptors. The mammals have been 44% insectivore species that feed on pests, and 6% of them were carnivores. As the following steps, some practical possibilities to protect the fauna, particularly useful species, and recording of invertebrate fauna should be considered.

Keywords

• biological control of pests
• useful species
• protected area
• dendroflora