Environmental analysis of breeding sites of Lanner, Falco biarmicus, in Lazio

Abstract

We examined 7 breeding sites of Lanner, Falco biarmicus, situated between 150 and 1200 m a.s.l. in Lazio, we analyzed the land cover use (types of Corine land cover) for each site in a buffer of 2 km of radius (1,250 ha) from the nest and we calculated the area of the single classes of land cover use present in each buffer. We found that the “Broad-leaved forest” covers 48% (33-76%), “Non-irrigated arable land” 22% (3-47%), “Moors and heathland” 6% (1-15%), the “Sparsely vegetated areas” 5% (1-20%), the remaining area covered is represented by classes with less than 5% of the area. Locally other classes such as “Natural grassland” (13% in one site) can become relevant. The classes related to “Artificial surfaces” are scarce (max 2% on one site).