1. Factors affecting spatial and temporal distribution of wild ungulates species in a mountainous area: the Apuan Alps, Italy

• Main Author: NATUCCI, LUCA
• Other Authors: Massolo, Alessandro
• Format: Text
• Language: Italian
• Published: Pisa University 2023
• Subjects: BIOLOGIA; Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://etd.adm.unipi.it/theses/available/etd-11132023-155826/

In almost all terrestrial animal communities, ungulates are the dominant group of large herbivores, occupying key ecological roles in the structure and function of ecosystems. Wild ungulates are subject to control by both top-down forces exerted by predators, bottom-up forces exerted by plants and resources, and disturbance and impact resulting from humans and their activities. In addition, these processes have a strong influence in determining the nature of interspecific interactions that may occur between different ungulate species. By means of data collected through a camera-trapping project, we evaluate the relative abundance, spatial distribution and temporal activity of several wild ungulate species in the Apuan Alps Regional Park (Tuscany, Italy), where these species constitute a true ungulate assemblage. Specifically, the species present within the study area are wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and two introduced species, fallow deer (Dama dama) and mouflon (Ovis aries musimon). Our aim is to understand the use of time and space by these species, with the hope of understanding what effects the only predator present, the wolf (Canis lupus), and humans have on the spatial and temporal relationships between these ungulate species considered.