Population modelling to assess supplementation strategies for the European pond terrapin Emys orbicularis in Liguria

We present the results of modelling the supplementation program for Emys orbicularis in Liguria. We evaluated three ossible alternative strategies for the reintroduction, releasing 3-, 4- or 5-year-old turtles. In particular, we wanted to assess the expected population sizes that could be achieved by these release strategies, given environmental and demographic stochasticity, and the possibility that captive-bred individuals, when released, suffer greater mortality than those born in the wild. We built a stage-structured model for a reintroduced population and parameterised it using published and unpublished information. We compared the outcomes of population viability analyses for releases of 3-, 4- or 5-yr old turtles, explicitly accounting for uncertainty in the estimated parameters and investigating the effect of an increased mortality in the year after release. Assuming post-release effects would affect all life stages equally, releasing 5-yr old turtles was always the most effective option, with the highest predicted number of mature individuals in the wild population after 20 and 50 years. However, releasing 3- and 4-yr-old turtles was also predicted to provide positive results, and may prove a cheaper strategy since it requires a smaller captive population. In the event that post-release survival has a greater impact on older individuals, their release may become less advantageous and even sub-optimal. Therefore, future monitoring and analysis should concentrate on resolving the uncertainty for this parameter, since it is the most likely to affect management decisions and outcomes

Lagged influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on population dynamics of a Mediterranean terrestrial salamander

he North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a large-scale climatic pattern that strongly influences the atmospheric circulation in the northern Hemisphere and by consequence the long-term variability of marine and terrestrial ecosystem over great part of northern Europe and western Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, the effects of the NAO on vertebrates has been studied mainly on bird populations but was rarely analysed in ectothermic animals, and in particular in amphibians. In this study, we investigated the relationships between winter, spring and summer NAO indexes and the long-term population dynamics of the plethodontid salamander Speleomantes strinatii. This terrestrial salamander was monitored inside an artificial cave in NW Italy for 24 consecutive years. The relationships between seasonal NAO indexes and the salamander dynamics were assessed by cross-correlation function (CCF) analysis, after prewhitening the time series by autoregressive moving average statistical modelling. Results of CCF analyses indicated that the salamander abundance varied in relation to the one-year ahead winter NAO (P = 0.018), while no relationships were found with spring and summer indexes. These results strengthen some previous findings that suggested a high sensitivity of temperate terrestrial amphibians to wintertime climatic conditions

PRIMA SEGNALAZIONE DI PRESENZA DELLA CHEPPIA, ALOSA FALLAX (LACÉ PÈDE, 1803), NEL BACINO DEL FIUME ENTELLA (LIGURIA, ITALIA NORD-OCCIDENTALE). FIRST RECORD OF THE TWAITE SHAD, ALOSA FALLAX (LACÉPÈDE, 1803), IN ENTELLA RIVER BASIN (LIGURIA, NW ITALY). (PISCES, OSTEICHTHYES, CLUPEIDAE)

This short note describes the first advisory about the return upstream of a specimen of Alosa fallax (Lacépède, 1803) along the River Entella and the Lavagna Stream up to Ponte Vecchio locality (Municipality of Carasco, Liguria Region, North-Western Italy). The observation of twaite shad in the Entella River basin is a very important ichthyological event: it shows the great environmental potentiality of this Ligurian river basin

Comportamento difensivo e aggressivit\ue0 nel geotritone di Strinati Speleomantes strinatii (Aellen, 1958)

Comportamenti territoriali e aggressività verso conspecifici e individui di altre specie sono stati ampiamente descritti nei Pletodontidi nordamericani fin dagli anni ’70. Tali comportamenti sono essenzialmente legati alla spar- tizione degli habitat e delle risorse trofiche, ma sono state evidenziate anche cause riconducibili alla protezione del nido. Per quanto riguarda i pletodon- tidi europei, aspetti riguardanti la territorialità di Speleomantes strinatii sono stati presi in considerazione da salvidio et al. (2002), zanetti & salvidio (2006), senza tuttavia rilevare specifici comportamenti in questa specie. nel 2010 e 2014 oneto et al. hanno verificato l’esistenza di comportamenti difensivi e ipotetici atteggiamenti aggressivi da parte di femmine durante la cova e la sorveglianza dei neonati all’interno della stazione Biospelologica di Besolagno (genova, Italia nord occidentale). Tali comportamenti sono stati ricondotti a forme di cure parentali portate dalle femmine di S. stri- natii nei confronti della prole per proteggerli da intrusi. In questo studio, approntato come prosecuzione delle ricerche precedenti, è stato allestito all’interno della stazione Biospeleologica un terrario sorvegliato da una vi- deocamera FullHD Praktica iX - 8, massima risoluzione 1920x1080, dotata di Infrared night Vision con incorporato illuminatore Ir ad alta potenza. Il fine è stato quello di registrare con maggiore precisione i comportamenti di una femmina di S. strinatii in presenza si individui conspecifici, in questo caso maschi, nel sito di deposizione. l’ottimo funzionamento della vide- ocamera, ha permesso di registrare per 7 giorni le interazioni fra intrusi e femmina con i neonati, evidenziando chiaramente comportamenti difensivi da parte di quest’ultima, culminati con aggressioni verso gli intrusi, morsi intensi e sostenuti, tuttavia anche in assenza di un reale pericolo verso i neonati. I futuri sviluppi della ricerca, saranno volti a definire se l’aumento dell’aggressività in questa specie sia determinata da meccanismi legati alla tutela dell’investimento energetico prodotto dalla femmina per portare alla schiusa le uova e alla sopravvivenza dei neonati

Posthatching Parental Care in Salamanders Revealed by Infrared Video Surveillance

Post-hatching parental care is known in amphibians for frogs and caecilians but, so far, has never been reported for salamanders. Here, we describe the parental behavior of a female North-west Italian Cave Salamander \u201cSpeleomantes strinatii\u201d from egg deposition to nest site abandonment. The female was kept in semi-natural conditions and filmed in complete darkness by an infrared video camera. In November 2007, the female laid nine eggs in a small depression of the terrarium floor, displaced the clutch with hind limbs, and showed antipredator behaviors towards a conspecific female and an intruding roof rat (Rattus rattus). During egg brooding, the female remained in contact with the clutch for about 98% of the time. In September 2008, two young hatched and shared the nesting site for six weeks with the female, which attended the nesting site for 87% of the time. Hatchlings repeatedly climbed over the female\u2019s body, lying on her for hours. The female walked out of the nesting site with a young on its back twice. These prolonged skin contacts between parent and offspring should be considered as the first certain case of young attendance in salamanders. This behavior may be related to increased survival of hatchlings during their first weeks of life, when young are particularly vulnerable to predation, skin infection, and dehydration

Land abandonment may reduce disturbance and affect the breeding sites of an Endangered amphibian in northern Italy

Although human-related disturbance is usually detrimental for biodiversity, in some instances it can simulate natural processes and benefit certain species. Changes in the disturbance regime, both natural and human-driven, can affect species that rely on it. The Apennine yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata pachypus, an amphibian endemic to peninsular Italy, has declined throughout its range in the last 3 decades. We sought to identify the drivers of the decline in the region of Liguria, at the north-western limit of its distribution. In 2009 and 2010 we surveyed sites where the species occurred until 2005 and related the persistence of breeding activity to the characteristics of sites. Populations had disappeared from 50% of the sites between 2005 and 2009. Current breeding sites have less aquatic and bank vegetation, fewer predators and better insolation. Frequent disturbance events (desiccation and floods) were related to reduced vegetation, which in turn may decrease predator densities and increase insolation. In this region disturbance is provided by natural factors or, in the case of artificial water bodies, by regular maintenance carried out by landowners. The widespread land abandonment in Liguria can disrupt disturbance regimes, interrupting the removal of vegetation, and thus rapidly reduce the suitability of artificial sites. This was confirmed in our study, with most abandoned breeding sites occurring in formerly cultivated areas. Possible short-term conservation actions include creating new ponds, maintaining artificial water bodies and clearing vegetation. However, long-term conservation may be more problematic as the land abandonment process is unlikely to be reversed