Does the crested porcupine select coppice forest? Habitat preference and activity patterns of a large rodent in the Lago di Vico Natural Reserve

Mammalia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Luzi ◽  
Emiliano Mori ◽  
Giuseppe Puddu ◽  
Marzio Zapparoli
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Design ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Moon Phases ◽  
Natural Reserve ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Crested Porcupine ◽  
Coppice Forest ◽  
Landscape Patches ◽  
Agro Forestry

Abstract The crested porcupine Hystrix cristata L. is a large rodent, which mainly occurs in agro-forestry ecosystems in Italy. In this study, we modelled the occupancy of this species in forest ecosystems, to identify environmental characteristics affecting its presence. The study was conducted at Lago di Vico Natural Reserve (Latium, Central Italy) in 2018–2019. The sampling design included a 1 km2 grid, where 263 detections were recorded at 39 out of 57 camera-trap points. Dendroauxometric data were collected at each site as covariates in the statistical models. According to our best occupancy model, the crested porcupine mostly occurs in habitats not totally covered by forests, but composed by mixed landscape patches both for the land use (crops, woods) and for the coverage (forested areas, open areas, bushes). We also analysed activity rhythms of the crested porcupine across seasons and in relation to the moon phases. The analysis of 543 videos showed that crested porcupine is strictly nocturnal throughout the year and avoided bright nights, despite the local absence of potential predators.

scholarly journals Carried away by a moonlight shadow: activity of wild boar in relation to nocturnal light intensity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Gordigiani ◽  
Andrea Viviano ◽  
Francesca Brivio ◽  
Stefano Grignolio ◽  
Lorenzo Lazzeri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wild Boar ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Lunar Cycle ◽  
Grey Wolf ◽  
Nocturnal Activity ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Moon Phases ◽  
Resting Sites ◽  
The Poor

Abstract An increase of nocturnal activity of ungulate species may represent a compensatory opportunity for energy intake, when activity in daylight is hindered by some disturbance events (e.g. hunting or predation). Therefore, mostly-diurnal and crepuscular species may be active in bright moonlight nights whereas others may shift their diurnal activity towards darkest nights to limit their exposure to predators. In natural and undisturbed conditions, the wild boar may be active both during the day and the night, with alternating periods of activity and resting. In this work, we tested whether activity patterns of wild boar, a species with poor visive abilities, were dependent on moon phases and environmental lightening. We aimed to assess if nocturnal activity could be better explained by variations of the lunar cycle or by the variations of environmental lightening conditions, evaluated by means of different measures of night brightness. Data were collected through camera-trapping in Central Italy in 2019–2020. Despite the poor visive abilities of the wild boar, we observed that this ungulate significantly reduced their activity by avoiding the brightest nights. In our study area, the wild boar has to cope with both human pressure (i.e. mostly hunters and poachers) and predation by the grey wolf. Furthermore, the nocturnal activity of wild boar peaked in mid-Autumn, i.e. when hunting pressure is the highest and when leaf fall may bring wild boar to range for long distances to find suitable resting sites for diurnal hours.

scholarly journals CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE PLANNING OF PROTECTED AREAS ARISING FROM A STUDY OF THE TUSCANIA NATURAL RESERVE (CENTRAL ITALY)

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Leone ◽  
Luca Ceccarelli ◽  
M. Nicolina Ripa ◽  
Fabio Recanatesi
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Natural Reserve

Resource use by unexploited sympatric bobcats and coyotes in Oregon

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 2333-2338 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Witmer ◽  
D. S. deCalesta
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Felis Rufus ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Mountain Beaver ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Aplodontia Rufa ◽  
Daily Activity Patterns

Unexploited populations of bobcats (Felis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) were studied in the Elliott State Forest, Douglas and Coos counties, Oregon, from September 1981 to July 1982. A total of 633 radio locations of six bobcats and five coyotes were used to determine home ranges, activity, and habitat-use patterns. Twenty-five prey items were identified in bobcat and coyote scats. Diets of the two species were similar (overlap values were greater than 0.92 for all seasons). Mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) remains occurred in over 70% of the scats from both species. Home ranges for radio-collared animals averaged 14 km2 for male coyotes, 12 km2 for female coyotes, 11 km2 for one male bobcat, and 2 km2 for female bobcats. Bobcat and coyote home ranges overlapped in time as well as space. Radio-collared bobcats were detected on occasion within the same clear-cut sites concurrently with radio-collared coyotes, and daily activity patterns were nearly identical between the two predators. Bobcats and coyotes used open areas during nightly hunting activities and retired to forested areas during the day. Coyotes used grassy, more open clearings whereas bobcats favored brushy sites.

Contrasted influences of moon phases on the reproduction and movement patterns of four amphibian species inhabiting different habitats in central Italy

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Vignoli ◽  
Manuela D’Amen ◽  
Francesca Della Rocca ◽  
Marco A. Bologna ◽  
Luca Luiselli
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Moon Phase ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Moon Phases ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Open Habitat

Many studies have provided evidence that prey adjust their behaviour to adaptively balance the fitness effects of reproduction and predation risk. Nocturnal terrestrial animals should deal with a range of environmental conditions during the reproductive season at the breeding sites, including a variable amount of natural ambient light. High degrees of illumination are expected to minimize those behaviours that might increase the animal detection by predators. Therefore, under habitat variable brightness conditions and in different ecosystems, the above mentioned behaviours are expected to depend on the variation in predation risk. Although moon effects on amphibian biology have been recognized, the direction of this influence is rather controversial with evidences of both increased and depressed activity under full moon. We tested in four nocturnal amphibian species (Hyla intermedia, Rana dalmatina, Rana italica, Salamandrina perspicillata) the effects of different (i) light conditions and (ii) habitats (open land vs. dense forest) on the reproductive phenology. Our results showed that the effects of the lunar cycle on the study species are associated with the change in luminosity, and there is no evidence of an endogenous rhythm controlled by biological clocks. The habitat type conditioned the amphibian reproductive strategy in relation to moon phases. Open habitat breeders (e.g., ponds with no canopy cover) strongly avoided conditions with high brightness, whereas forest habitat breeders were apparently unaffected by the different moon phases. Indeed, for all the studied species no effects of the moon phase itself on the considered metrics were found. Rather, the considered amphibian species seem to be conditioned mainly by moonlight irrespective of the moon phase. The two anurans spawning in open habitat apparently adjust their oviposition timing by balancing the fitness effects of the risk to be detected by predators and the reproduction.

Screenometer: a device for sampling vegetative screening in forested areas

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 996-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor A. Rudis
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Design ◽  
Sample Design ◽  
Sampling Intensity ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Sampling Variation

A device for estimating the degree to which vegetation and other obstructions screen forested areas has been adapted to an extensive sampling design for forest surveys. Procedures are recommended to assure that uniform measurements can be made. Examination of sources of sampling variation (observers, points within sampled locations, series of observations within points, and sectors within series) and sampling intensity suggests a sample design which involves a combination of points and sectors.

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