A5029778519- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Colorectal Cancer Screening and Detection
- Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
- Agriculture and Biological Studies
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Bat Biology and Ecology Studies
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
2019-2025
Marconi University
2015
Estimating demographic parameters for wide-ranging and elusive species living at low density is challenging, especially the scale of an entire country. To produce wolf distribution abundance estimates whole south-central portion Italian population, we developed integrated spatial model, based on data collected during a 7-month sampling campaign in 2020-2021. Data collection comprised extensive survey presence signs, intensive 13 areas, aimed collecting non-invasive genetic samples (NGS). The...
Abstract The survival of indigenous European wildcat ( Felis silvestris ) populations can be locally threatened by introgressive hybridization with free-ranging domestic cats. Identifying pure wildcats and investigating the ancestry admixed individuals becomes thus a conservation priority. We analyzed 63k cat Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) multivariate, Bayesian gene-search tools to better evaluate admixture levels between wild cats collected in Europe, timing proportions their...
Abstract Anthropogenic hybridization is recognized as a major threat to the long-term survival of natural populations. While identifying F1 hybrids might be simple, detection older admixed individuals far from trivial and it still debated whether they should targets management. Examples anthropogenic have been described between wolves domestic dogs, with numerous cases detected in Italian wolf population. After selecting appropriate wild reference populations, we used empirical simulated...
Abstract After centuries of decline and protracted bottlenecks, the peninsular Italian wolf population has naturally recovered. However, an exhaustive comprehension effects such a conservation success is still limited by reduced availability historical data. Therefore, in this study, we morphologically genetically analyzed contemporary samples, also exploiting optimization innovative bone DNA extraction method, to describe morphological variability subspecies its genetic diversity during...
Deciphering the origins of phenotypic variations in natural animal populations is a challenging topic for evolutionary and conservation biologists. Atypical morphologies mammals are usually attributed to interspecific hybridisation or de-novo mutations. Here we report case four golden jackals (Canis aureus), that were observed during camera-trapping wildlife survey Northern Israel, displaying anomalous morphological traits, such as white patches, an upturned tail, long thick fur which...
Abstract The European wildcat is a threatened carnivore, whose ecology still scarcely studied, especially in Mediterranean areas. In this study, we estimated activity rhythm patterns of felid, by means camera-trapping at three spatial scales: (i) whole country (Italy); (ii) biogeographical areas; (iii) latitudinal zones. rhythms were also calculated according to temporal (1) warm semester; (2) cold semester and (3) seasonal scales. Lastly, tested whether the effect moon phases affected...
Disentangling phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns is fundamental to reconstruct the evolutionary histories of taxa assess their actual conservation status. Therefore, in this study, for first time, most exhaustive biogeographic history European wildcat (Felis silvestris) populations was reconstructed by typing 430 wildcats, 213 domestic cats, 72 putative admixed individuals, collected across entire species’ distribution range, at a highly diagnostic portion mitochondrial ND5 gene....
Abstract Generalist species, which exploit a wide range of food resources, are expected to be able combine available resources as attain their specific macronutrient ratio (percentage caloric intake protein, lipids and carbohydrates). Among mammalian predators, the red fox Vulpes vulpes is widespread, opportunistic forager: its diet has been largely studied, outlining variation according geographic climatic factors. We aimed check if, throughout species’ European range, diets vary widely in...
Abstract Generalist species, which exploit a wide range of food resources, are expected to be able combine available resources as attain their specific macronutrient balance (intake target). Among mammalian predators, the red fox Vulpes vulpes is widespread, opportunistic forager: its diet has been largely studied, outlining variation according geographic and climatic factors. We aimed check if, throughout species’ European range, diets vary widely in composition or foxes can complementary...
Despite a natural rewilding process that caused wolf populations in Europe to increase and expand the last years, human–wolf conflicts still persist, threatening long-term presence both anthropic areas. Conservation management strategies should be carefully designed on updated population data planned wide scale. Unfortunately, reliable ecological are difficult expensive obtain often hardly comparable through time or among different areas, especially because of sampling designs. In order...
Non-invasive genetic sampling is a practical tool to monitor pivotal ecological parameters and population dynamic patterns of endangered species. It can be particularly suitable when applied elusive carnivores such as the Apennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus) European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), which live in overlapping contexts sometimes share their habitats with domestic free-ranging relatives, increasing risk anthropogenic hybridisation. In this case study, we exploited all...