Abstract
The Scàndula Nature Reserve (SNR), both terrestrial (919 ha) and marine (664 ha), was established in 1975. The marine part of the SNR includes a No-Take Zone (82 ha) where any form of fishing is prohibited, and a partial reserve, where artisanal fishing is authorized, under a number of constraints, while recreational fishing is banned. The SNR has been frequented by man since the Neolithic period, but never accomodated permanent human dwellings; it is now uninhabitated. Terrestrial ecosystems include forests and high maquis, low maquis, Cistus shrublands, low shrublands, more or less nitrophilic lawns, coastal rocks with halophilic vegetation, vegetation of inland rocks and cliffs, and other very localized plant communities. Fifty species of birds (46 % of the whole of the Corsican avifauna, including the iconic osprey Pandion haliaetus), 8 species of bats, 12 species of amphibians (including Discoglossus sardus), 33 species of ants, 64 species of parasitic Hymenoptera, 56 species of Lepidoptera, 138 species of spiders, 710 species of vascular plants (a third of the floristic richness of Corsica) and 57 species of bryophytes occur in the SNR. Non-flying mammalians are all introduced species, while all native species were extirpated by humans shortly after they colonized Corsica, ~10 000 years ago. The small islands and islets are characterized by high degree of originality in the structure and functioning of the terrestrial communities and in their biodiversity