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Relationship between distances of consecutive foraging locations according to microhabitat type and invertebrate availability as for the model presented in Table 3. (a) The frequency distribution of distances between successive foraging locations revealed a highly repetitive foraging behaviour among breeding pairs of snowfinches. These pairs tended to forage in extremely close proximity to previously visited locations, indicating a strong foraging site fidelity during the breeding period. (b) A negative relationship was observed between foraging distances and invertebrate abundance, indicating that snowfinches had a tendency to revisit locations with higher invertebrate densities. This suggests a flexible foraging strategy, where snowfinches actively seek out areas with abundant invertebrate prey. (c) Analysis of consecutive distances between foraging locations according to microhabitat type reveals that snowfinches exhibit variations in foraging location distribution. Specifically, foraging locations on bare and grass microhabitats tend to be more widely dispersed compared to locations associated with snow-associated microhabitats suggesting that the latter may offer more patchy and concentrated resources, leading to a closer clustering of foraging sites for snowfinches. Plots represent mean (dot) and ± 95% confidence intervals (whiskers, shaded area)
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Microhabitat utilisation holds a pivotal role in shaping a species’ ecological dynamics and stands as a crucial concern for effective conservation strategies. Despite its critical importance, microhabitat use has frequently been addressed as static, centering on microhabitat preference. Yet, a dynamic microhabitat use that allows individuals to adj...
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... Indeed, individuals were found to forage more on skipistes (55.6% of the total foraging events) than outside (44.4% of the total foraging events). However, the habitat selection model showed that snowfinches prefer to forage on snow patches with short grass and medium slope (confirming the pattern observed in previous studies; Resano-Mayor et al. 2019;Scridel et al. 2024), while the presence of ski-pistes itself did not have any significant effect on their foraging preferences. In fact, the persistence of compacted snow on ski tracks for longer period during late spring (when actually most of the hatching occurs; Schano et al. 2021), and the consequent delay of the vegetation phenology compared to the natural surrounding area (Rixen et al. 2004(Rixen et al. , 2008, might favour the presence and especially the detectability of invertebrates (Scridel et al. 2024), thus creating suitable foraging conditions for snowfinches. ...
... However, the habitat selection model showed that snowfinches prefer to forage on snow patches with short grass and medium slope (confirming the pattern observed in previous studies; Resano-Mayor et al. 2019;Scridel et al. 2024), while the presence of ski-pistes itself did not have any significant effect on their foraging preferences. In fact, the persistence of compacted snow on ski tracks for longer period during late spring (when actually most of the hatching occurs; Schano et al. 2021), and the consequent delay of the vegetation phenology compared to the natural surrounding area (Rixen et al. 2004(Rixen et al. , 2008, might favour the presence and especially the detectability of invertebrates (Scridel et al. 2024), thus creating suitable foraging conditions for snowfinches. Future studies estimating the availability of suitable habitat patches on and off skipistes, also considering different types of pistes, to quantify the potential effect of piste management and characteristics on the supply of foraging habitats are now needed. ...
... Similar patterns have been reported for other alpine specialists like the Alpine marmot Marmota marmota (Ferrari et al. 2022) and the Alpine ibex Capra ibex (Aublet et al. 2009;Semenzato et al. 2021), raising further concern on the future of alpine species in relation to global warming. Arthropod abundance and richness are positively correlated with temperature also in high elevation environments (Scridel et al. 2024), so that the preference for cooler foraging sites as the season progresses might be linked more to specific physiological/thermoregulatory requirements than to prey availability. Such behavioural buffering towards high temperature could come at a cost in terms of foraging efficiency and fitness (Oswald et al. 2019). ...
In many mountain regions, tourism represents one of the main sources of income. Winter sports are often prevalent and, in the last decades, infrastructures linked to the ski industry have expanded worldwide in mountain ranges. Mountains are dramatically suffering the effects of climate change, many species are contracting or declining and ski‐pistes are predicted to shrink towards higher elevations. For high‐elevation ecosystems and species, the construction of ski‐pistes is a major issue, impacting on species such as alpine birds already threatened by climate change. Here, by assessing the ultimate drivers of habitat selection during the breeding season, we investigated the impacts of ski‐pistes in the Dolomites on the foraging behaviour of the white‐winged snowfinch Montifringilla nivalis, an iconic alpine bird highly threatened by climate change. Our results show that snowfinches, during the critical period of nestling rearing, prefer to forage on snow patches and short grass on medium slope, characteristics frequently found on the studied ski‐pistes. We also observed a marked effect of the temperature‐solar radiation interaction: snowfinches forage in sunlit areas when ambient temperature is low, while under higher temperatures they prefer shady zones, probably due to specific physiological/thermoregulatory requirements. Foraging snowfinches and ski‐pistes are associated with some shared environmental characteristics. This implies that the impact of ski‐pistes could be mitigated by adequate management targeted at maintaining short‐sward alpine grassland (e.g., through avoidance/reduction of machine grading and controlled grazing) and residual snow patches (preventing the complete levelling of the slope and maintaining shallow depressions in areas with lower solar radiation). Such strategies could contribute to reducing the ecological footprint of current and future ski resorts on alpine ecosystems.
