Abstract
Three forest fragments located along a gradient from the central area of the city (an urban historical park) to increasingly peripheral areas (a suburban nature reserve, an extraurban nature reserve) were identified in the western sectors of the Metropolitan City of Capital Rome administrative district and its surroundings (Central Italy). With the aims to describe the structural parameters of Chilopod assemblages in these forest fragments for determine their status of conservation and to evaluate the effects of some environmental variables (coverage of the canopy layer, shrub layer, herb layer, litter layer) on selected species, sampling took place by pitfall traps from June 2015 to June 2016. The relevance of these kind of studies is in precisely identifying the areas of greatest conservation value; the purpose is to provide guidelines for the planning of the ecological network of the city of Rome towards the protection of the areas inhabited by more sensitive fauna and flora elements rather than protecting as many areas as possible. Chilopods are strictly forest arthropods, therefore they are considered useful biondicators of these ecosystems. The centipede assemblage of suburban forest fragment is characterized by a greater complexity and stability compared to the centipede assemblages of central and extraurban forest fragments, both apparently in a typical state of successional stages. The distribution pattern of the centipede diversity of the study area seems to deviate from the usual patterns found in other European cities for other arthropod assemblages as well as for the centipedes, as the greater biodiversity has been recorded in the suburban forest fragment, not in the extraurban one. The suburban forest fragment is moreover characterized by a higher degree of stratification and structural complexity than the other two forest fragments, with a largest number of forest species, some of these absent both in the urban and the extraurban fragments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adis J (1979) Problems of interpreting arthropod sampling with pitfall traps. Zool Anz 202:177–184
Alaruikka D, Kotze DJ, Matveinen K, Niemelä J (2002) Carabid beetle and spider assemblages along a forested urban–rural gradient in southern Finland. J Insect Conserv 6:195–206. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024432830064
Antvogel H, Bonn A (2001) Environmental parameters and microspatial distribution of insects: a case study of carabids in an alluvial forest. Ecography 24:470–482. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2001.tb00482.x
Ardito F, Moraschini C (2001) Il Parco di Monte Mario. Coop. La Montagna e Palombi Editori, Roma, pp 64
Baker SC, Barmuta LA (2006) Evaluating spatial autocorrelation and depletion in pitfall-trap studies of environmental gradients. J Insect Conserv 10:269–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-006-0016-8
Baini F, Pitzalis M, Taiti S, Vigna Taglianti A, Zapparoli M, Bologna MA (2012) Effects of reforestation with Quercus species on selected arthropod assemblages (Isopoda Oniscidea, Chilopoda, Coleoptera Carabidae) in a Mediterranean area. For Ecol Manage 286:183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.08.042
Baini F, Bologna MA, Pitzalis M, Taiti S, Vigna Taglianti A, Zapparoli M (2014) Assessing patterns of co-occurrence and nestedness of arthropod assemblages in an artificial–natural Mediterranean forest mosaic (Isopoda Oniscidea, Coleoptera Carabidae). Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-014-0302-4
Baars MA (1979) Patterns of movement of radioactive carabid beetles. Oecologia 44:125–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346411
Battisti C (1986) Censimento degli uccelli nidificanti in un parco urbano (Villa Doria Pamphili, Roma). Avocetta 10:37–40. https://www.avocetta.org/read/?bcj/
Blasi C (1994) Fitoclimatologia del Lazio. Fitosociologia 37:153–168
Bogyó D, Magura T, Simon E, Tóthmérész B (2015) Millipede (Diplopoda) assemblages alter drastically by urbanisation. Landsc Urban Plan 133:118–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.09.014
Bonato L, Chagas Junior A, Edgecombe GD, Lewis JGE, Minelli A, Pereira LA, Shelley RM, Stoev P, Zapparoli M (2016) ChiloBase 2.0—a world catalogue of centipedes (chilopoda). Available at https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it. Accessed 25 Oct 2020
Carpaneto GM, Mazziotta A, Piattella E (2005) Changes in food resources and conservation of scarab beetles: from sheep to dog dung in a green urban area of Rome (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea). Biol Cons 123:547–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.12.007
Carpaneto GM, Mazziotta A, Coletti G, Luiselli L, Audisio P (2010) Conflict between insect conservation and public safety: the case study of a saproxylic beetle (Osmoderma eremita) in urban parks. J Insect Conserv 14:555–565. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-010-9283-5
Cignini B, D’Angelo F, Vespasiani P, Di Majo F (2009) Guide ai servizi delle aree naturali protette del Lazio. Ente Regionale Roma Natura, Comune di Roma, Edigraf, Roma
Cignini B, Ielardi G (2009) Guide ai servizi delle aree naturali protette del Lazio. Riserva Naturale Statale del Litorale Romano, Comune di Roma, Edigraf, Roma
Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.199.4335.1302
Desender K (1996) Diversity and dynamics of coastal dune carabides. Ann Zool Fenn 33:65–76. http://www.annzool.net/PDF/anzf33/anzf33-065p.pdf
Digweed SC, Currie CR, Cárcamo HA, Spence JR (1995) Digging out the ‘digging-in effect’ of pitfall traps: influences of depletion and disturbance on catches of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Pedobiologia 39:561–576
Fattorini S (2011a) Insect extinction by urbanization: a long term study in Rome. Biol Cons 144:370–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.09.014
Fattorini S (2011b) Insect rarity, extinction and conservation in urban Rome (Italy): a 120 year long study of tenebrionid beetles. Insect Conserv Divers 4:307–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4598.2010.00129.x
Fattorini S (2013) I coleotteri tenebrionidi di Roma (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). Fragmenta Entomologica 45:87–142. https://doi.org/10.4081/fe.2013.21
Feroci M, Funiciello R, Marra F, Salvi S (1990) Evoluzione tettonica e paleogeografica plio–pleistocenica dell'area di Roma. Il Quaternario 3(2):141–158. http://www.aiqua.it/index.php/volume-3-2/881-evoluzione-tettonica-e-paleogeografica-plio-pleistocenica-dell-area-di-roma/file
Funiciello R, Marra F, Rosa C (1995) I caratteri geologici-stratigrafici. In: Cignini B, Massari G, Pignatti S (eds) L’ecosistema Roma. Ambiente e territorio. Fratelli Palombi Editori, Roma, pp 29–39
Gray JS (1989) Effects of environmental stress on species rich assemblages. Biol J Lin Soc 37:19–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1989.tb02003.x
Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontolo Electron 4(4):9 (178kb). http://palaeo-electronica.org/2001_1/past/issue1_01.htm
Humphrey JW, Hawesb C, Peaceb AJ, Ferris-Kaanb R, Jukesb MR (1999) Relationships between insect diversity and habitat characteristics in plantation forests. For Ecol Manage 113:11–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(98)00413-7
Koivula M, Hyyryläinen V, Soininen E (2004) Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) at forest-farmland edges in southern Finland. J Insect Conserv 8:297–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-004-0296-9
Jongman RHG, Ter Braak CJF, Van Tongeren OFR (1995) Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511525575
Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical ecology, 2nd edn. Developments in environmental modelling. Elsevier, Amsterdam. https: //www.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/developments-in-environmental-modelling/vol/20/suppl/C
Leśniewska M, Leśniewski P, Szybiak K (2008) Effect of urbanization on centipede (Chilopoda) diversity in the Wielkopolska-Kujawy lowlands of western Poland. Biologia 63:711–719. https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-008-0121-0
Lövei G, Sunderland KD (1996) Ecology and behavior of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annu Rev Entomol 41:231–256. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.41.010196.001311
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurements. Princeton University, Princeton, p 179
Magurran AE (2004) Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, p 264
Magura T, Tóthmérész B, Molnár T (2001) Forest edge and diversity: carabids along forest-grassland transects. Biodivers Conserv 10:287–300. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008967230493
Magura T, Elek Z, Tothmeresz B (2002) Impacts of non-native spruce reforestation on ground beetles. Eur J Soil Biol 38:291–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1164-5563(02)01162-7
Magura T, Tóthmérész B, Molnár T (2004) Changes in carabid beetle assemblages along an urbanisation gradient in the city of Debrecen, Hungary. Landscape Ecol 19:747–759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-005-1128-4
Magura T, Tóthmérész B, Hornung E, Horváth R (2008) Urbanization and ground–dwelling invertebrates. In: Wagner LN (ed) Urbanization: 21st century issues and challenges. Nova Science Publishers, New York, pp 213–225. https: //www.researchgate.net/publication/275650551_URBANISATION_AND_GROUND-DWELLING_INVERTEBRATES
Magura T, Horváth R, Tóthmérész B (2010) Effects of urbanization on ground–dwelling spiders in forest patches, in Hungary. Landscape Ecol 25:621–629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-009-9445-6
Minelli A (1981) Distribution, taxonomy and ecology of some centipedes from the provinces of Trento and Bolzano, Northern Italy (Chilopoda). Studi Trentini Di Scienze Naturali Acta Biologica 57:83–93
Minelli A (2011) The Myriapoda, vol 1. Treatise on zoology—anatomy, taxonomy, biology. Brill, Leiden. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004188266_001
Minelli A, Golovatch SI (2013) Myriapods. In: Levin SA (ed) Encyclopedia of biodiversity, vol 5, 2nd edn. Academic Press, Waltham, pp 421–432
Niemelä J, Kotze DJ (2009) Carabid beetle assemblages along urban to rural gradients: a review. Landsc Urban Plan 92:65–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2009.05.016
Pitzalis M, Fattorini S, Trucchi E, Bologna MA (2005) Comparative analysis of species diversity of Isopoda Oniscidea and Collembola communities in burnt and unburnt habitats in central Italy. Ital J Zool 72:127–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/11250000509356663
Poore MED (1955) The use of phytosociological methods in ecological investigations: I. The Braun-Blanquet system. J Ecol 43:226–244
Rastandeh A, Brown DK, Pedersen Zari M (2017) Biodiversity conservation in urban environments: a review on the importance of spatial patterning of landscapes. Ecocity World Summit, 12–14 July. Melbourne, Australia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318744800_Biodiversity_conservation_in_urban_environments_a_review_on_the_importance_of_spatial_patterning_of_landscapes
Semlitsch RD, Bodie JR (2003) Biological criteria for buffer zones around wetlands and riparian habitats for amphibians and reptiles. Conserv Biol 17:1219–1228. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02177.x
Shochat E, Stefanov WL, Whitehouse MEA, Faeth SH (2004) Urbanization and spider diversity: influences of human modification of habitat structure and productivity. Ecol Appl 14:268–280. https://doi.org/10.1890/02-5341
Spence JR, Niemelä J (1994) Sampling carabid assemblages with pitfall traps: the madness and the method. Can Entomol 126:881–894. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent126881-3
Stoev P (2004) Myriapoda (Chilopoda, Diplopoda) in urban environments in the city of Sofia. Ecology of the city of Sofia: species and communities in an urban environment. Pensoft, Sofia Moscow:299–306. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pavel_Stoev/publication/233807374_Myriapoda_Chilopoda_Diplopoda_in_Urban_Environments_in_the_City_of_Sofia/links/541561140cf2bb7347db3bbd/Myriapoda-Chilopoda-Diplopoda-in-Urban-Environments-in-the-City-of-Sofia.pdf
Tòthmérész B, Máthé I, Balázs E, Magura T (2011) Responses of carabid beetles to urbanization in Transylvania (Romania). Landsc Urban Plan 101:330–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.02.038
Trucchi E, Pitzalis M, Zapparoli M, Bologna MA (2009) Short-term effects of canopy and surface fire on centipede (Chilopoda) communities in a semi natural Mediterranean forest. Entomol Fenn 20:129–138. https://doi.org/10.33338/ef.84471
Varet M, Pétillon J, Burel F (2011) Comparative responses of spider and carabid beetle assemblages along an urban–rural boundary gradient. J Arachnol 39:236–243. https://doi.org/10.1636/CP10-82.1
Ventriglia U (1971) La geologia della città di Roma. Amministrazione Provinciale, Roma
Vigna Taglianti A, De Felici S, Di Giulio A, Todini A (1999) Coleotteri Carabidi. In: Studi propedeutici ai piani delle aree naturali protette gestite da RomaNatura, studi su fauna e zoocenosi, resp. sci. Prof. M.A. Bologna. Ente Regionale per la Gestione delle Aree Naturali Protette del Comune di Roma, pp 28–30
Vignoli L, Mocaer I, Luiselli L, Bologna MA (2009) Can a large metropolis sustain complex herpetofauna communities? An analysis of the suitability of green space fragments in Rome. Anim Conserv 12(5):456–466. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00273.x
Vilisics F, Elek Z, Lövei GL, Hornung E (2007) Composition of terrestrial isopod assemblages along an urbanisation gradient in Denmark. Pedobiologia 51:45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2006.12.004
Zapparoli M (2002) Insetti ed altri artropodi negli ecosistemi urbani europei: significato e riflessioni su alcuni aspetti faunistici ed ecologici. Atti dei Convegni Lincei 182, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Atti Convegno “Ecosistemi Urbani”, 22–24 ottobre 2001, Roma, pp. 201–220
Zapparoli M (2006) A catalogue of the centipedes (Chilopoda) of Central Apennines (Italy). Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Botanica Zoologia 30:165–273. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marzio_Zapparoli/publication/293108424_A_catalogue_of_the_centipedes_Chilopoda_of_Central_Apennines_Italy/links/56f02d9908ae0dcdafd6a43e/A-catalogue-of-the-centipedes-Chilopoda-of-Central-Apennines-Italy.pdf
Acknowledgements
We thank the RomaNatura Authority (Dr. Giulio Fancello) and the World Wildlife Found Italia (Dr. Riccardo Di Giuseppe) for granting the authorization to carry out sampling in the areas under their management.
Funding
No funds, grants, or other support was received.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baini, F., Zapparoli, M. Centipedes (Chilopoda) in urban forest habitats: the case of the metropolitan city of Rome area (Central Italy). Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 33, 591–601 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-022-01075-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-022-01075-8