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Background <p>Groundwater-dependent wetlands are becoming increasingly rare, as are the taxa they selectively sustain. The latter include <i>Somatochlora flavomaculata</i>, a Corduliid dragonfly that is declining in Southern Europe.</p> Study area and methods <p>During years 2023, 2024 and early 2025 counts of <i>S. flavomaculata</i> imagos and, to a lesser extent, exuviae were conducted on topographically related groundwater-dependent wetlands with widely differing hydrogeology, vegetation, and human activities. The study area was divided into twenty-one transects containing combinations of relevant habitats, from which species-habitat associations were inferred.</p> Results <p>Conditions suitable for <i>S. flavomaculata</i> were consistent with established and emerging knowledge of the habitat preferences of this and other specialist dragonflies. Habitats included temporary fishless water and periodically flooded sunny sedgebeds within patchy forested areas. The most attractive sites also harbored abundant aquatic true moss, including <i>Drepanocladus aduncus</i>. However, while favorable for <i>S. flavomaculata</i> and partially for its congener <i>S. metallica</i>, these specialized habitat features were absent from a locally significant breeding site.</p> Discussion <p>This study suggested that surface groundwater per se may be critical at the margins of <i>S. flavomaculata</i> distribution, favored by simple water management structures, such as ditches and culverts that accumulate organic material and maintain optimal connections to groundwater. Continued human maintenance was critical; in particular the persistently wet bottom of drainage ditches, which experience temporary water loss in summer, was an essential by-product of traditional agriculture organized as small fields enclosed by bushy treelines and ditches (bocage).</p> Implications for insect conservation <p>This study provides new insights into the lowland habitats of <i>S. flavomaculata</i> at the edge of its range, revealing their dependence on specific human activities, with direct implications for conservation.</p>

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An increasingly threatened dragonfly associates with traditional agriculture at the edge of its range

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月12日

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  • Maurizio Dalla Via,
  • Rinaldo Checuz,
  • Filippo Prosser,
  • Lorena Sartor,
  • Francesco Fava,
  • Raffaello Pellizzon,
  • Michele Cassol,
  • Hansruedi Wildermuth,
  • Enrico Vettorazzo,
  • Katia Zanatta,
  • Paweł Buczyński,
  • Chris Ottolenghi

摘要

Background

Groundwater-dependent wetlands are becoming increasingly rare, as are the taxa they selectively sustain. The latter include Somatochlora flavomaculata, a Corduliid dragonfly that is declining in Southern Europe.

Study area and methods

During years 2023, 2024 and early 2025 counts of S. flavomaculata imagos and, to a lesser extent, exuviae were conducted on topographically related groundwater-dependent wetlands with widely differing hydrogeology, vegetation, and human activities. The study area was divided into twenty-one transects containing combinations of relevant habitats, from which species-habitat associations were inferred.

Results

Conditions suitable for S. flavomaculata were consistent with established and emerging knowledge of the habitat preferences of this and other specialist dragonflies. Habitats included temporary fishless water and periodically flooded sunny sedgebeds within patchy forested areas. The most attractive sites also harbored abundant aquatic true moss, including Drepanocladus aduncus. However, while favorable for S. flavomaculata and partially for its congener S. metallica, these specialized habitat features were absent from a locally significant breeding site.

Discussion

This study suggested that surface groundwater per se may be critical at the margins of S. flavomaculata distribution, favored by simple water management structures, such as ditches and culverts that accumulate organic material and maintain optimal connections to groundwater. Continued human maintenance was critical; in particular the persistently wet bottom of drainage ditches, which experience temporary water loss in summer, was an essential by-product of traditional agriculture organized as small fields enclosed by bushy treelines and ditches (bocage).

Implications for insect conservation

This study provides new insights into the lowland habitats of S. flavomaculata at the edge of its range, revealing their dependence on specific human activities, with direct implications for conservation.