Management of grazing Italian river buffalo to preserve habitats defined by Directive 92/43/EEC in a protected wetland area on the Mediterranean coast: Palude Frattarolo, Apulia, Italy

Modern investigation through botanic, vegetation and soil analyses allowed us to establish, for the first time, the maximum herd size of grazing Italian river buffalo that would allow the preservation of habitats defined by Directive 92/43/EEC in a coastal area of the Mediterranean basin. The study was funded by project LIFE09 NAT/ITI000150 ("Humid coastal habitat conservations actions inside SIC - Zone umide della Capitanata"), and focused on an Italian wetland area called Palude Frattarolo in the Apulia region included in a SAC IT9110005 (Zone umide della Capitanata). Ten habitats defined in Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC were identified in the study area-six more than reported in the LIFE technical report, and only one (1150*) of the four habitats (1150*, 1510*, 2250*, 2270*) reported in the LIFE technical report was confirmed to exist in the study area. The most important buffalo grazing habitats were found to be 1410, 3170*, and 3290, none of which had been reported in this area previously.