THE FRESHWATER CRAYFISH AUSTROPOTAMOBIUS PALLIPES (LEREBOULLET, 1858) IN LIGURIA, NW ITALY: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT AT THE REGIONAL LEVE

Since 1990, field surveys have been undertaken in Liguria to assess the distribution and status of Austropotamobius pallipes populations. In this region, crayfish stocks were found in three bioclimatic regions: Alpine, Mediterranean and Continental. Although epidemic diseases and invasive alien crayfish have been recorded, modifications of freshwater habitats have to be considered as the most significant threats to native crayfish stocks. Regarding management, the Regional Administration of Liguria proposed 18 Sites of Community Importance (SCI) containing crayfish populations, in the framework of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). Since public managers need to take informed decisions in land-use management and conservation a numeric biodiversity map, composed by a georeferred database connected to a geographic information system (GIS), has been implemented. This regional system is composed by 22 different layers containing all the available information about the location of species and habitats of conservation interest. This system is now routinely used by regional administrators in environmental impact assessment. Finally, emphasis is placed on the need of promoting research programmes on the long-term monitoring of crayfish populations.