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Giuseppe Rannisi

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (3): 741-756 - MONOGRAPH

    Giuseppe Rannisi, Alfredo Petralia, Salvatore Alecci, Giambattista Condorelli, Filippo Gravagno, Adolfo Longhitano, Filippa Marchese, Giusi Milazzo, Stefano Pannucci, Edoardo Tortorici & Rosario Ennio Turrisi
    Proposal for the “Monte Po-Vallone Acquicella Sub Urban Territorial Park” (Catania, Italy): an experience of participatory environmental democracy
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.3.741.756

    ABSTRACT
    The authors present the proposal for the establishment of the Monte Po-Vallone Acquicella Sub Urban Territorial Park covering a total area of about 220 ha from the Monte Po hill (north-west of Catania, Italy) to the mouth of the Acquicella river along its course. The objective of establishing the Park is the protection of the landscape, naturalistic and cultural values being part of its territory. At the same time, the park would consolidate the function of reconnecting the urban complex of the historic part of the city with the peripheral neighborhoods that arose over time to the west of the Acquicella river, contributing to resolve its marginality. Furthermore, the Park would represent a significant green lung available for sustainable fruition for the benefit of the Catania community and not only, given its contiguity and proximity to other important urban centres. The different aspects of the proposal are then illustrated.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 277-300 - MONOGRAPH

    Giuseppe Rannisi, Paolo Galasso, Andrea Cusmano, Rosa Termine, Manuel Andrea Zafarana, Renzo Ientile & Salvatore Surdo
    Colonies of herons and other allied waterbirds breeding in Sicily, 2007-2022
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.277.300

    ABSTRACT
    We describe the results of the first regional census of herons and other colonial waterbirds, including Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo, Little Bitterns Ixobrychus minutus, Black-crowned Night Herons Nycticorax nycticorax, Squacco Herons Ardeola ralloides, Western Cattle Herons Bubulcus ibis, Grey Herons Ardea cinerea, Purple Herons Ardea purpurea and Little Egrets Egretta garzetta, carried out throughout Sicily from 2007 to 2022. We also collected data about Great Egrets Casmerodius alba and other waterbird species in Ardeidae colonies without any breeding evidence, as Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia and Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus. Collected data highlighted a regional widespread increase of the numbers in known colonies and nests of each species, especially of Bubulcus ibis that showed a sharp increase in number from 30 nests recorded for the whole region in 2007 up to 530 nests in 2022, mainly concentrated in eastern Sicily, in the province of Catania. Also A. ralloides, N. nycticorax and E. garzetta showed a positive trend with an increase in the number of colonized locations and nests recorded, with A. ralloides occupying the most of the Sicilian colonies with at least few pairs. On the other hand, A. cinerea showed a slight negative trend, with 45 nests recorded in 2007 and only 31 in 2022, at the end of the study; A. purpurea is an irregular breeder with an oscillating and unpredictable trend related to only 1–4 ascertained pairs maximum for the whole region. Despite the P. carbo is a regular breeding species in Sicily, it has not showed any sign of expansion in the last decade, remaining confined to a few historical locations near the Simeto River and Lentini Lake. All data here presented are related to the minimum and ascertained numbers of colonies and counted nests. Small colonies may not have been counted in some unmonitored locations, often inaccessible. It is highly recommended, in the near future, the creation of a coordinated survey network that would improve and make the census more in-depth and better standardized.