Attivita’ in situ per la conservazione di Cottus gobio linnaeus, 1758 nell’Appennino pratese

Cottus gobio has European distribution and it is present in central and northern Italy. It is "Vulnerable" according to the red list of Italian fresh waters fishes and to the Regional Tuscany List of species with risk (L.R. 30/2015). It is also in the Habitats Directive 92/43/CEE, Annex II. gobio is one of the target species of LIFE Project "Water SCIs" LIFE+ 07 NAT/IT/433, coordinated by the Province of Prato, in partnership with Lakes Suviana and Brasimone Natural Park. The LIFE ultimate goal was (and remains) the improvement of the conservation status of Species of Community Interest related to the aquatic environment. The winning strategy chosen to achieve the conservation objectives has been to act simultaneously with different strategies. For C. gobio conservation and management, several activities were undertaken: morfo-functional interventions on natural riverbed, laying of artificial substrates, prohibition of fish stocking, construction of fish bypass, sowing of selected material. All activities carried out during the LIFE project "Water SCIs" contributed to the objective of Life, i.e. to improve target species conservation status. The main results achieved are the following: hollow bricks have proved to be the favored C. gobio artificial substrate; artificial substrates were frequented also during reproduction season; there wasn’t correlation between the fish number found in the substrate and biomass and density estimated by electrofishing. All activities generated an overall success for population biomass and density.