Ten years of census of Northern chamois Rupicapra r. rupicapra in
Piedmont: a proposal to improve the monitoring.
Tizzani P. . 1, Giordano O. . 2, Ficetto G. . 2, Dematteis A. . 3, Meneguz P.G. . 1-3
1 Dipartimento
di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Torino, Grugliasco (TO), 10095, Italy. 2 Comprensorio Alpino di Caccia CN2 2 Valle Varaita,
Melle (CN), Italy,3 Centro ricerche sulla gestione della fauna Selvatica, Sampeyre (CN), Italy.
Background
From the analysis of the chamois census in the Piedmont Region (Tizzani et al, this conference)
emerges that the monitoring protocol used for the species allows obtaining reliable data from a
quantitative point of view, but it lacks with regard to assessments on population structure.
A further "logistics" problem is represented by the fact that the monitoring is conducted by volunteer
hunters whose number, due to the progressive aging of their "population", is progressively reducing.
Actions to improve the monitoring are: 1) reduce the current effort of observation without losing
quality, 2) improve the monitoring quality with a proper attribution of sex and age classes of the
animals observed. The assumptions on which we have worked are the following: the monitoring of a
population of chamois is more precise and accurate if we reduce the sampling effort, focusing on
representative areas. If the sample areas are chosen appropriately, population changes observed
here are highly correlated with those that occur on the entire territory under management.
Materials and methods
To give an answer to this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment in
the hunting area CACN2 "Varaita Valley" (Cozie Alpes) (see the study
area presented in the poster Tizzani et al., 2013 – this conference for
details about its geographic localization). In this area wildlife managers
have been organizing monitoring in 81 standardized "historical" census
areas (19,312 ha) since 2004 (figure 1).
To perform the analysis with high precision and accuracy we georeferenced these areas, mapped them as vector polygons and finally
merged them in 14 macro areas to be used in a GIS environment
(figure 2). A correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate the areas
that better represent the population dynamics of the whole study area.
Figure 1. Historical census areas.
Results and discussion
The analysis of the time series shows that 31 out of the 81 areas (6 out
of the 14 merged areas - 8,732 ha - 45.2% of the study area) are
statistically representative of the whole monitored area (figure 3). In
these areas the population trend shows a correlation coefficient value
of 0.96 with the entire “historical” areas. This consideration, applied
during the census operations in 2012 and 2013, allowed: i) a reduction
of over 60% the number of operators and ii) to work with a "selected
group ", using only operators highly experienced and equipped with
appropriate optical instruments
Figure 2. Merged census areas.
Chamois during the spring monitoring (photo Ficetto G.)
Perspectives and future research priorities
These considerations have led us to undertake a case study to
determine whether it is possible to reduce the problems observed
here. In particular, we want to assess whether it is possible to
reduce the monitoring effort and increase its reliability.
Figure 3. Representative census areas.
References: Tizzani P., Giordano O. , Ficetto G. , Meneguz P.G. 2013. Ten years of census of Northern chamois Rupicapra r. rupicapra in Piedmont: critical evaluation of the
methodology. (this conference).