Does the crested porcupine select coppice forest? Habitat preference and activity patterns of a large rodent in the Lago di Vico Natural Reserve
-
Giulia Luzi
,
Emiliano Mori
,
Giuseppe Puddu
and
Marzio Zapparoli
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.
Funding source: Lago di Vico Natural Reserve
Award Identifier / Grant number: 153/2019
Acknowledgments
An anonymous reviewer kindly took the time to improve our MS with useful comments.
Author contributions: G.L. and G.P. planned and supervised this study, and placed the camera-traps in the field. They also carried out and reported on the statistical analyses of habitat selection. E.M. took care of the analyses in R for activity rhythms and moon phases. M.Z. supervised G.L. degree thesis, from which this work comes, and participated in writing all draft. All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: G.L. was partially funded by the Lago di Vico Natural Reserve (Decision no. 153/2019). We are grateful to Manlio Marcelli and Romina Fusillo (LUTRIA sas, Wildlife Research and Consulting) for their advices during the preliminary phases of the field study as well as in the phase of elaboration of the statistical models of occupancy.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
Research ethics: All procedures performed in the studies did not involve animal handling and were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Conservation
- Observations of a coastal population of huemul, Hippocamelus bisulcus (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) in Riesco Island, Magallanes Region, Chile: a conservation opportunity
- Physiology
- Long-term stress level in a small mammal species undergoing range expansion
- Ecology
- Comparison between terrestrial mammals in evergreen forests and in seasonal dry forests in Western Ecuador: should efforts be focused on dry forests?
- Spring diet differs among age-sex classes in Atlas Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia lervia) in a fenced nature reserve, Morocco
- Seasonal patterns in habitat use by the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and other small mammals
- Effect of anthropogenic activity on mammal activity patterns in two ecosystems
- Effect of seasonality and microclimate on the variation in bat-fly load (Diptera: Streblidae) in a cave bat assemblage in a dry forest
- Does the crested porcupine select coppice forest? Habitat preference and activity patterns of a large rodent in the Lago di Vico Natural Reserve
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- A taxonomic revision of fat dormice, genus Glis (Rodentia)
- A reappraisal of the species richness of Euneomys Coues 1874 (Rodentia, Cricetidae), with emendations of the type localities of Reithrodon fossor Thomas 1899 and Euneomys mordax Thomas 1912
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Conservation
- Observations of a coastal population of huemul, Hippocamelus bisulcus (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) in Riesco Island, Magallanes Region, Chile: a conservation opportunity
- Physiology
- Long-term stress level in a small mammal species undergoing range expansion
- Ecology
- Comparison between terrestrial mammals in evergreen forests and in seasonal dry forests in Western Ecuador: should efforts be focused on dry forests?
- Spring diet differs among age-sex classes in Atlas Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia lervia) in a fenced nature reserve, Morocco
- Seasonal patterns in habitat use by the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and other small mammals
- Effect of anthropogenic activity on mammal activity patterns in two ecosystems
- Effect of seasonality and microclimate on the variation in bat-fly load (Diptera: Streblidae) in a cave bat assemblage in a dry forest
- Does the crested porcupine select coppice forest? Habitat preference and activity patterns of a large rodent in the Lago di Vico Natural Reserve
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- A taxonomic revision of fat dormice, genus Glis (Rodentia)
- A reappraisal of the species richness of Euneomys Coues 1874 (Rodentia, Cricetidae), with emendations of the type localities of Reithrodon fossor Thomas 1899 and Euneomys mordax Thomas 1912
