Can a cow save a newt? The role of cattle drinking troughs in amphibian conservation

Amphibians are the vertebrate group experiencing the steepest global population decline and species loss. Habitat alteration and loss caused by the intensification of agriculture is among the main causes; however, in the past, amphibians have been favoured by traditional agriculture and husbandry as more terrestrial and aquatic habitats became available through land-use diversification and the construction of artificial facilities for cattle watering. Troughs for cattle watering may represent the only permanent water points for amphibian reproduction in human-modified landscapes. The present study focused on Lissotriton vulgaris meridionalis, a semi-aquatic salamander, subendemic and widespread in Italy, capable of colonizing artificial aquatic habitats. The main goal was to determine the importance of drinking troughs for the ecology and conservation of the species in a hilly area (Latium region, Central Italy) subjected to traditional livestock farming (i.e. Maremmana cattle). Specifically, generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to analyse the effects of drinking trough characteristics (i.e. size, substrate, aquatic vegetation), landscape features (distance to the forest, forest cover, percentage of cultivated lands and infrastructural development, terrestrial connectivity) and intensity of management practices on the occurrence and abundance of the target species. In the light of the present results, it is suggested that drinking troughs represent suitable surrogates for pristine habitats for L. vulgaris meridionalis. Hence, even man-made aquatic habitats, associated with traditional husbandry, may help to sustain amphibian populations in landscapes where natural wetlands are scarce. The present findings are timely because of the lack of empirical data on the role of drinking troughs in amphibian conservation within rural socio-economic scenarios, which may have been neglected in research and policy in favour of lakes, rivers and streams.