Contribution to the knowledge of the arthropods community inhabiting the winter-flooded meadows (marcite) of northern Italy

Flooded semi-natural grasslands are endangered ecosystems throughout Europe. In Italy, among flooded meadows, one special type called “marcita” is strongly threatened. It is a stable flooded grassland used to produce green forage even during winter months due to the thermal properties of water coming from springs and fountains that prevent the soil from freezing. To date, some research has been carried out to investigate the role of the marcita for ornithological and herpetological communities. However, no comprehensive data on invertebrates inhabiting this particular biotope is available. The aim of this study was to characterize the entomological community of these typical winter-flooded meadows in northern Italy. We quantified species richness and diversity of Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Araneae, Lepidoptera, and Ortoptera of 6 marcita fields located in the Ticino Valley Regional Park and identified those species highly linked to this habitat. We found 41 ground beetle species, 29 spider species, 34 rove beetle species, 16 butterfly species, 22 overwintering beetle species (17 ground beetle, 4 rove beetle and 1 Lucanidae), and 24 grasshopper and cricket species. Marcite fields hosted specialized species and species typical of hygrophilous habitats, among which include the butterfly Lycaena dispar, the ground beetle Dolichus halensis, and the grasshopper Chrysochraon dispar. This study represents the first contribution to the knowledge of arthropod communities associated with this particular type of winter-irrigated meadow in Europe and confirms the importance of this biotope for invertebrate conservation in agricultural landscapes.A contribution to the knowledge of arthropods communities associated with flooded meadows