Biology subjects

Mortelliti, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Mortelliti, A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Testing the ecological and behavioural responses of mammals to the Landscape of Fear.

The fear of being predated can influence many decisions taken by preys and this may have important consequences for the ecosystems. Preys can respond to the risk of being predated in three ways: habitat selection, diel activity modifications and adoption of behaviors to detect predators before they constitute a danger. However, rarely these strategies have been analyzed simultaneously within an entire community. Through a camera trapping study conducted in the Julian Prealps Natural Park and surrounding territories (North-East of Italy), we analyze these three antipredator responses to understand which strategy is adopted by target species. Results show how, for the majority of species, the main antipredator response is the selection of time intervals when corresponding predators are inactive. On the opposite, habitat selection seems to be more influenced by environmental characteristics of the area. Similar, behavioral traits do not result related to presence probability of predators. Therefore, in the area analyzed, we demonstrated the existence of a landscape of fear that influences species choices regarding mainly diel activities. The study underlines also the importance of simultaneous consideration of antipredator responses for a more accurate understanding of how fear structures communities and ecosystems.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2019

Effects of trap confinement on personality measurements in two terrestrial rodents

In recent years individual differences in the behavior of animals, or personalities, have been shown to influence the response of individuals to changing environments and have important ecological implications. As researchers strive to understand and predict the responses of individuals and populations to anthropogenic changes, personality studies in wild populations will likely continue to increase. Studies of personality in wild populations often require that animals are live-trapped before behavioral observation can occur; however, it is unknown what impact live trapping may have on the behavior of trapped individuals. Specifically, if the duration of trap confinement directly influences behavior, then by obtaining wild animals through live-trapping are we confounding the very measurements we are most interested in? To investigate this question, we performed a study using two small mammal species. We positioned high-definition trail cameras on Longworth small mammal traps in the field to observe capture events and record the time of capture. We then measured personality in captured deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and southern red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi) using three standardized tests. With a repeatability analysis, we confirmed which behaviors could be considered personality traits, and through linear and generalized linear models, we found that the time an animal had spent confined to a trap before testing did not affect the majority of behaviors exhibited. Our results showed two weak behavioral effects of confinement duration on boldness and docility depending on whether an individual had been trapped previously. Our results suggest that personality measurements of wild, trapped small mammals are not determined by trapping procedures, but that researchers should control for whether an animal is naive to trapping during analysis.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Genetic structure in the wood mouse and the bank vole: contrasting patterns in a human-modified and highly fragmented landscape

Habitat fragmentation related to human activities modifies the distribution and the demographic trajectory of a species, often leading to genetic erosion and increased extinction risks. Understanding the impact of fragmentation on different species that co-exist in the same area becomes extremely important. Here we estimated the impact produced by different natural and anthropic landscape features on gene flow patterns in two sympatric species sampled in the same locations. Our main goal was to identify shared and private factors in the comparison among species. 199 bank voles and 194 wood mice were collected in 15 woodlands in a fragmented landscape, and genotyped at 8 and 7 microsatellites, respectively. Genetic variation and structure were analysed with standard approaches. Effective migration surfaces, isolation by resistance analysis, and regression with randomization were used to study isolation by distance and to estimate the relative importance of land cover elements on gene flow. Genetic structure was similarly affected by isolation by distance in these species, but the isolation-by-resistance analysis suggests that i) the wood mouse has constrained patterns of dispersal across woodland patches and facilitated connectivity in cultivated areas; ii) the bank vole connectivity is hindered by urban areas, while permeability is facilitated by the presence of woodlands, and cultivated terrains. Habitat loss and fragmentation can therefore influence genetic structure of small sympatric mammal species in different ways, and predicting the genetic consequences of these events using only one species may be misleading.

genetics↗