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The site was identified as important in 2011 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Common Crane Grus grus	LC	passage	2009	max 48,000 individuals	A4i, B1i, C2
Common Crane Grus grus	LC	winter	2009	max 25,000 individuals	A4i, B1i, C2
Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax	NT	resident	2006	40-115 individuals	A1, C1, C6
Great Bustard Otis tarda	EN	non-breeding	2011	max 158 individuals	A1, C1
Great Bustard Otis tarda	EN	resident	2011	21-55 individuals	A1, C1
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta	LC	non-breeding	2009	min 100 individuals	C6
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta	LC	breeding	2009	25-30 breeding pairs	C6
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus	LC	non-breeding	2009	min 350 individuals	C6
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus	LC	breeding	2009	25-50 breeding pairs	C6
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida	LC	resident	2007	present	C6
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida	LC	passage	2009	max 35 individuals	C6
Common Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica	LC	resident	2009	min 20 breeding pairs	C6
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus	LC	breeding	2006	min 14 breeding pairs	C6
Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti	VU	resident	2007	min 31 males	A1, C1
A4iv Species group - soaring birds/cranes	n/a	passage	2009	max 48,000 individuals	A4iv, B1iv, C5

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2011) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2011. The most recent assessment (2016) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina	150	2	individuals	2	very unfavourable
Common Pochard Aythya ferina	150	0	breeding pairs	0	very unfavourable
Gadwall Mareca strepera	20	0	breeding pairs	0	very unfavourable
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra	1,200	0	individuals	0	very unfavourable
Common Crane Grus grus	50,000	50,000	individuals	100	favourable
Himantopus himantopus	2,800	20	breeding pairs	1	very unfavourable
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida	100	0	breeding pairs	0	very unfavourable
Sterna nilotica	25	0	breeding pairs	0	very unfavourable
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus	10	2	breeding pairs	20	very unfavourable

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Artificial/Terrestrial	-	moderate (70-90%)	very unfavourable
Grassland	-	good (> 90%)	favourable
Wetlands (inland)	-	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Pollution	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	high
Climate change and severe weather	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	slow but significant deterioration	high
Biological resource use	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Natural system modifications	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Most of site (50-90%) covered (including the most critical parts for important bird species)	No management plan exists but the management planning process has begun	Very little or no conservation action taking place	low

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
1985	Laguna de Gallocanta	National Game Reserve	23
1989	Cuenca de Gallocanta	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	54
1994	Laguna de Gallocanta	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	23
1998	Laguna de Gallocanta	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	10
2000	Sierras de Pardos y Santa Cruz	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	3
2000	Montes de La Cuenca de Gallocanta	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	1
2000	Los Romerales - Cerropozuelo	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	1
2000	Hoces de Torralba - Río Piedra	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	1
2000	Balsa Grande y Balsa Pequeña	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
2001	Parameras de Blancas	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	2
2006	Laguna de Gallocanta	Reserva Natural Dirigida	7

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Ruderal land	70
Grassland	Humid grasslands, Mesophile grasslands	15
Wetlands (inland)	Standing brackish and salt water, Water fringe vegetation	15

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
agriculture	26
hunting	-
tourism/recreation	-

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Gallocanta lake (Spain). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/gallocanta-lake-iba-spain on 23/11/2024.