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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
European Storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus	LC	non-breeding	1999-2007	3,471-6,932 individuals	B1ii, C2
Cory's Shearwater Calonectris borealis	LC	non-breeding	1999-2007	2,235-4,948 individuals	B1ii, C2, C6
Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea	LC	breeding	2004	present	B1ii, C2, C6
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus	CR	non-breeding	1999-2007	7,121-13,889 individuals	A1, A4ii, B1ii, C1, C2
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus	CR	winter	2003-2007	9,757-29,181 individuals	A1, A4ii, B1ii, C1, C2
European Shag Gulosus aristotelis	LC	resident	2006	present	C6
Slender-billed Gull Larus genei	LC	resident	2004	present	B2, C2, C6
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus	LC	winter	2007	18,617-30,384 individuals	A4i, B1i, C2
Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii	VU	non-breeding	1999-2007	6,904-13,562 individuals	A1, A4i, B1i, B2, C1, C2, C6
Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii	VU	winter	2003-2007	278-645 individuals	A1, A4i, B1i, C1, C2, C6
Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii	VU	breeding	2007	present	A1, A4i, B1i, B2, C1, C2, C6
Little Tern Sternula albifrons	LC	breeding	2005	present	B1i, B2, C2, C6
Common Tern Sterna hirundo	LC	non-breeding	1999-2007	2,791-15,045 individuals	A4i, B1i, C2, C6
Common Tern Sterna hirundo	LC	breeding	2004	present	B1i, C2, C6
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	non-breeding	1999-2007	685-6,528 individuals	A4i, B1i, B2, C2, C6
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	LC	breeding	2004	present	A4i, B1i, B2, C2, C6

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
European Storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus	6,932	2,737	individuals	40	unfavourable
Calonectris diomedea	4,948	2,112	individuals	43	unfavourable
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus	13,889	14,402	individuals	100	favourable
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus	30,384	18,750	individuals	62	unfavourable
Larus michahellis	15,380	8,528	individuals	56	unfavourable
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis	6,528	156	individuals	3	very unfavourable

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	-	poor (40-69%)	very unfavourable
Marine Oceanic	-	moderate (70-90%)	very unfavourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happening now	whole area/population (>90%)	moderate to rapid deterioration	very high
Climate change and severe weather	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Natural system modifications	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Pollution	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Transportation and service corridors	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Energy production and mining	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Year	Protected Area	Designation	% overlap with IBA
-	Tamarit-Punta de la Móra-Costes del Tarragonès	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	<1
1986	Delta de l`Ebre	Parque Natural	<1
1986	Punta de la Banya	Reserva Natural Parcial	<1
1988	Delta de l'Ebre	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	4
1990	Espacio marino del entorno de Illes Columbretes	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	1
1990	Reserva Marina de las Islas Columbretes	Reservas Marinas	1
1990	Àrees emergides de les Illes Columbretes	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	<1
1992	Delta de l`Ebre	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	4
1992	Cap de Santes Creus-Litoral meridional tarragoní	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	<1
1992	Punta del Fangar	Reserva Natural de Fauna Salvaje	<1
1992	Desembocadura del Riu Gaià	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	<1
1993	Delta del Ebro	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	<1
1995	Les Illes Columbretes	Reserva Natural	<1
1995	Desembocadura del Riu Gaià	Reserva Natural de Fauna Salvaje	<1
1996	Torrent del Pi	Reserva Natural de Fauna Salvaje	<1
1997	Delta de l'Ebre	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	4
1997	Espacio marino del entorno de Illes Columbretes	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	1
1997	Espacio marino de Orpesa y Benicàssim	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
1997	Costes del Tarragonès	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
1997	Àrees emergides de les Illes Columbretes	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
1997	Sèquia Major	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
1998	Serra d'Irta	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
1998	Litoral de Benicàssim	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
2001	Illes Columbretes	Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (Barcelona Convention)	1
2002	Irta	Reserva Natural	<1
2006	Litoral meridional tarragoní	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
2008	Serra d'Irta (ZEPA)	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	<1
2009	Espacio marino de Orpesa y Benicàssim	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	<1
2009	Prat de Cabanes i Torreblanca (ZEPA)	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	<1
2011	Desembocadura del Riu de les Coves	Zonas Húmedas	<1
2014	Espacio marino del Delta de l'Ebre-Illes Columbretes	Special Protection Area (Birds Directive)	93
2014	Espacio marino de Illes Columbretes	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
2014	Prat de Cabanes i Torreblanca	Site of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)	<1
2014	Prats de la Pineda	Plan Especial de Protección (PEIN)	<1

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		90
Marine Oceanic		90

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Plataforma Marina del Delta del Ebro - Columbretes (Spain). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/plataforma-marina-del-delta-del-ebro--columbretes-iba-spain on 23/11/2024.