NON-INVASIVE BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES COLLECTION OF MARSICAN BROWN BEAR
The Institute of Applied Ecology is the contractor of the Service for the collection of non-invasive biological samples of Marsican brown bears for biomolecular analysis and population size estimation (Notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) no. OJ S-62/2024 of 27 March 2024)
The Service started in June 2024 and will end in November 2025 and falls within the scope of the implementation of PNRRMission M2 ‘Ecological Transition and Green Revolution’, Component 4 ‘Protection of Land and Water Resources’, Line of Intervention 3 ‘Safeguarding Air Quality and Territorial Biodiversity through the Protection of Green Areas, Soil and Marine Areas’, Investment 3.2 ‘Digitisation of National Parks and Marine Protected Areas.
The activities to be carried out by the IEA are
:
- identification of the sampling sites
- preparation of the collection of data on the field sampling;
- storage and delivery of the collected genetic samples to ISPRA laboratory.
Genetic traps for hair collection will be of three types: 1) olfactory traps with scent bait; 2) traps placed on trees used by bears as scratching posts; 3) traps placed around aggregations of Atadanus alpinus plants, used by bears as a food source in late summer.
The study area will be divided into four sampling districts
The first area includes the central distribution area of the species, i.e. the area in which the presence of the Marsican brown bear is documented as stable, with a high density and a potential for expansion and colonisation of new geographical areas. The other three areas (Majella-Molise, Simbruini-Ernici and Sirente-Velino-Cicolano-Duchessa) are those in which, during the last decade, observations, reports of reproductions and opportunistic genetic sampling of bears have intensified, and therefore represent the potential expansion basin of the species.
The service provided by the IEA is necessary to produce a dataset to estimate the size and distribution (occupancy) of the Marsican brown bear population in its entire area.
The sampling protocol will be the same as that carried out in 2014 for the estimation of the population size within the LIFE ARCTOS Project (Ciucci et al 2 014).
In this first phase of the Service, the IEA working group has provided for the identification marking and georeferencing of all sites where genetic sampling will be started in 2025. For the implementation of the Service, the IEA will have to coordinate with the MASE, ISPRA the Abruzzo Lazio e Molise National Park, the Maiella National Park and the contact persons of the Marsi Brown Bear Monitoring Networks.
For information
https://www.nnb.isprambiente.it/it/digitap/news/secondo-incontro-intervento-12-del-progetto-digitap