1,721,105 research outputs found
A golden cage for the European red squirrel in Italy? Proposal for a targeted control of the grey squirrel
No full textUrban biological invasions: when vertebrates come to town.
No full textUrban biodiversity is an increasingly popular topic among researchers. Worldwide, thousands of research projects are unravelling how urbanisation impacts the biodiversity of cities and towns, as well as its benefits for people and the environment through ecosystem services. Exciting scientific discoveries are made on a daily basis. However, researchers often lack time and opportunity to communicate these findings to the community and those in charge of managing, planning and designing for urban biodiversity. On the other hand, urban practitioners frequently ask researchers for more comprehensible information and actionable tools to guide their actions.
This book is designed to fill this cultural and communicative gap by discussing a selection of topics related to urban biodiversity, as well as its benefits for people and the urban environment. It provides an interdisciplinary overview of scientifically grounded knowledge vital for current and future practitioners in charge of urban biodiversity management, its conservation and integration into urban planning. Topics covered include pests and invasive species, rewilding habitats, the contribution of a diverse urban agriculture to food production, implications for human well-being, and how to engage the public with urban conservation strategies.
For the first time, world-leading researchers from five continents convene to offer a global interdisciplinary perspective on urban biodiversity narrated with a simple but rigorous language. This book synthesizes research at a level suitable for both students and professionals working in nature conservation and urban planning and management
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Behavioural and population responses of ground-dwelling rodents to forest edges
Full text linkForest edges can affect the behaviour, physiology and demography of small mammals. We tested whether there was a response in abundance, distribution, personality selection or foraging behaviour of ground-dwelling rodents to a forest–meadow edge in two study areas in Northern Italy over a 1-year period. We used capture-mark-recapture to evaluate species distribution, abundance, survival and personality, while Giving-up Density was used to test their foraging behaviour and the cost associated to it. All tests were carried out on the forest edge and at 50 and 100 m from the edge along three parallel transects 90 m long. We detected two species in both areas: Apodemus sylvaticus and Myodes glareolus. We found a neutral effect of the edge on species number, survival and on individual’s personality (activity/exploration tendency). Bank voles occurred more along the edge and both taxa took more seeds from trays along the edge. The hypothesis of edge avoidance was not confirmed in any of the variables examined. Our study supports evidence that edge effects can be species-specific and that populations should be studied with a multiple test approach to investigate different eco-ethological responses to the edge when trying to reveal the functioning of ecotonal systems
Effects of spatial variation in food availability on spacing behaviour and demography of Eurasian red squirrel
No full textIn heterogeneous habitats with limited resources, spacing behaviour will affect individual variation in breeding success and density of populations, and is thus of general interest to ecologists. We investigated how red squirrels Sciurus vulgaris adapt their social organisation to fine-grained heterogeneity in habitat quality, studying spacing behaviour, habitat use and population dynamics in a forest in north Italy, characterised by a mosaic of high-quality (chestnut-pine) and poor-quality patches. We compared the data with those from more homogeneous broadleaf and mixed woodlands with similar overall tree seed abundance ("stable" habitats). Squirrels lived at lower densities (pre-breeding density 0.39-0.58 ha-1) than in "stable" habitats, although breeding rate was not reduced. Female breeding success was related to being primiparous as yearlings, and increased with body mass and proportion high-quality habitat in the home range. Persistency rate of females was as in stable habitats. It was higher than male persistency, but immigration and recruitment rates were male biased, resulting in even sex-ratio. All residents occupied high-quality patches, and no subadults established a permanent home range in poor-quality habitat. Home range and core-area size was typically larger in males than in females and a male's core-area overlapped those of other males and of females. Female core-areas were overlapped by males but not, or very little, by other females (intrasexual territoriality). Home ranges, or core-areas, were not smaller than in "stable" habitats, nor did we find a higher degree of core-area overlap. We conclude that in patchy habitats dominant, resident red squirrels exclude dispersing animals from preferred, high-quality habitat, producing a spacing pattern referred to as ideal despotic distribution, and that poor patches were only used temporarily by transient individuals, resulting in a reduction of density in comparison to populations in "stable" habitats
Interspecific competition mediated by climate change: Which interaction between brown and mountain hare in the Alps?
No full textCO2 levels and consequently temperatures are expected to increase in the next years. Such quick and
drastic changes in climate are likely to affect species distribution. According to future climate scenarios
some species will have the possibility to colonise new areas, mainly due to expansion of suitable habitat
conditions, whereas other species could be negatively affected due to habitat reduction. In this study,
we analysed, in the perspective stated above, the distribution of two hare species: the mountain hare
(Lepus timidus) and the brown hare (Lepus europaeus), across Central Italian Alps. Mountain hare on the
Alps is a relict species, while brown hare is widespread all over Italy and also across the Alps at lower
elevations. We applied future climate scenarios to both hare species to understand how climate change
could affect their distribution in the next 70 years. Mountain hare distribution surface area is predicted
to decrease in the next few years at its southern edge, but the species should expand its range in northern
areas. Interestingly, brown hare distribution seems to be unaffected by climate changes, since no evident
“area of substitution” appeared in our simulations. Hence, contrary to one’s expectations based on the
two species different niches, while we were able to predict a reduction in mountain hare distribution,
our simulations did not show a substitution of the mountain hare by the more generalist brown hare at
the southern margins of its distribution
Selective predators or choosy fishermen? Relation between fish harvest, prey availability and great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) diet
No full textThe increase in numbers and range of the continental subspecies of great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis in Europe has led to a growing number of conflicts with commercial fisheries and recreational angling. We investigated the dietary preferences (fish species and size classes) of wintering cormorants in two freshwater basins in Northern Italy, using pellet analysis and data on fish community composition. First, we compared cormorant diet (biomass of fish species consumed) with the annual harvest by professional fishing (biomass/year). Second, we compared diet with a measure of prey availability: direct fish sampling with nets of different mesh size. Cormorants preyed mainly on cyprinid fish. A comparison of pellet analysis and commercial fishing data showed that some fish species consumed by cormorants did not occur in the commercial harvest. Using only species that occurred in the diet and in the commercial harvest, there was no relationship between the amount of fish of different species taken. A positive correlation between pellet analysis data (consumed) and data from scientific fish sampling (available) showed that cormorants exploited fish resources on the basis of prey availability. Comparing the size of fish collected from nets and fish consumed by cormorants also showed that birds were selective with respect to prey size, picking mostly small individuals (< 110 g). We conclude that potential effects of cormorants on commercially important fish will mainly depend on habitat type (fish ponds, natural deep lakes, others), and that in the natural lakes in Lombardy cormorants mainly concentrate on species which are of limited value for commercial fishing
Does interspecific competition with introduced grey squirrels affect foraging and food choice of Eurasian red squirrels?
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