A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps
Simple Summary The Alps are undergoing important environmental alterations. These can modify the characteristics of the habitats where several wildlife species persist, leading to a reshuffle of local assemblages (i.e., the ensemble of species in a given habitat). We investigated these aspects in al...
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Language: | English |
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2023
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2945753 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081407 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1407 |
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ftunivparmairis:oai:air.unipr.it:11381/2945753 2024-06-23T07:52:12+00:00 A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico 2023 https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2945753 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081407 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1407 eng eng MDPI info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000979446800001 volume:13 issue:1407 firstpage:1 lastpage:12 numberofpages:12 journal:ANIMALS https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2945753 doi:10.3390/ani13081407 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85153675755 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1407 Central-Eastern Italian Alp assemblage composition bank vole range limit small rodent snow vole info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2023 ftunivparmairis https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081407 2024-06-03T23:44:41Z Simple Summary The Alps are undergoing important environmental alterations. These can modify the characteristics of the habitats where several wildlife species persist, leading to a reshuffle of local assemblages (i.e., the ensemble of species in a given habitat). We investigated these aspects in alpine small rodents, monitoring their assemblage after a 20 year interval (between 1997 and 2016) in three close-by different habitats (rocky scree, grassland, and heath) at 2100 m a.s.l. elevation. We found that the bank vole, commonly considered a forest-dwelling species, was well-established in these high-alpine habitats already in 1997 and further expanded twenty years later. On the contrary, the snow vole, which is typically resident at these elevations and even above, has restricted its range across decades, being found in 2016 only in the optimal habitat for this species (rocky scree). Given the numerous factors affecting population dynamics in small rodents, it is hard to derive robust inferences from this 'punctual' comparison. The modification of local assemblages might be related to an ongoing modification of the local climate while also being caused by demographic processes typical of small mammal population dynamics. Long-term studies are necessary to better investigate these critical issues. Human-induced environmental alterations in the Alps may importantly affect small mammal species, but evidence in this sense is limited. We live-trapped small rodents in the Central-Eastern Italian Alps in three close-by habitat types (rocky scree, alpine grassland, and heath) at 2100 m a.s.l. during summer-fall, in 1997 and 2016. We compared small rodent assemblages through a Redundancy Detrended Analysis (RDA). In both surveys, we detected two specialist species, i.e., the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the snow vole (Chionomys nivalis), and, unexpectedly, the forest generalist bank vole (Myodes glareolus). In 1997, grassland was mainly occupied by the common vole, while the bank vole and the snow vole were ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Common vole Microtus arvalis Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) Animals 13 8 1407 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivparmairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Central-Eastern Italian Alp assemblage composition bank vole range limit small rodent snow vole |
spellingShingle |
Central-Eastern Italian Alp assemblage composition bank vole range limit small rodent snow vole Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
topic_facet |
Central-Eastern Italian Alp assemblage composition bank vole range limit small rodent snow vole |
description |
Simple Summary The Alps are undergoing important environmental alterations. These can modify the characteristics of the habitats where several wildlife species persist, leading to a reshuffle of local assemblages (i.e., the ensemble of species in a given habitat). We investigated these aspects in alpine small rodents, monitoring their assemblage after a 20 year interval (between 1997 and 2016) in three close-by different habitats (rocky scree, grassland, and heath) at 2100 m a.s.l. elevation. We found that the bank vole, commonly considered a forest-dwelling species, was well-established in these high-alpine habitats already in 1997 and further expanded twenty years later. On the contrary, the snow vole, which is typically resident at these elevations and even above, has restricted its range across decades, being found in 2016 only in the optimal habitat for this species (rocky scree). Given the numerous factors affecting population dynamics in small rodents, it is hard to derive robust inferences from this 'punctual' comparison. The modification of local assemblages might be related to an ongoing modification of the local climate while also being caused by demographic processes typical of small mammal population dynamics. Long-term studies are necessary to better investigate these critical issues. Human-induced environmental alterations in the Alps may importantly affect small mammal species, but evidence in this sense is limited. We live-trapped small rodents in the Central-Eastern Italian Alps in three close-by habitat types (rocky scree, alpine grassland, and heath) at 2100 m a.s.l. during summer-fall, in 1997 and 2016. We compared small rodent assemblages through a Redundancy Detrended Analysis (RDA). In both surveys, we detected two specialist species, i.e., the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the snow vole (Chionomys nivalis), and, unexpectedly, the forest generalist bank vole (Myodes glareolus). In 1997, grassland was mainly occupied by the common vole, while the bank vole and the snow vole were ... |
author2 |
Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico |
author_facet |
Ferrari, Giulia Scaravelli, Dino Mustoni, Andrea Armanini, Marco Zibordi, Filippo Devineau, Olivier Cagnacci, Francesca Grasso, Donato A Ossi, Federico |
author_sort |
Ferrari, Giulia |
title |
A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
title_short |
A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
title_full |
A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
title_fullStr |
A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Comparison of Small Rodent Assemblages after a 20 Year Interval in the Alps |
title_sort |
comparison of small rodent assemblages after a 20 year interval in the alps |
publisher |
MDPI |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2945753 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081407 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1407 |
genre |
Common vole Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Common vole Microtus arvalis |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000979446800001 volume:13 issue:1407 firstpage:1 lastpage:12 numberofpages:12 journal:ANIMALS https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2945753 doi:10.3390/ani13081407 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85153675755 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/8/1407 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081407 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1407 |
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1802643451261485056 |