Alessandro Forti

• MSc
• wildlife ecologist at Museo delle Scienze, Trento, Italy

Introduction Vaia windstorm occurred in the North-Eastern Italian Alps in 2018 causing 42 million trees falling over 41.000 hectares in few hours, hence producing new open fragmented patches. Changes in habitat are known to alter the composition and diversity of local animal communities with repercussions for pathogens transmission and risk of infe...

Animal spatial behaviour is shaped by complex interactions between resource needs and ecological factors. Identifying drivers of spatial behaviour is crucial to understand variations in home range size, a central issue in vertebrate ecology. The Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is widespread in the mountainous regions of continental Europe, and its...

The European Observatory of Wildlife EOW, as part of the ENETWILD project, represents a collaborative network that has been operating since 2021 to develop and implement standardized protocols to obtain harmonized data on distribution and density of target mammal species. In so doing, the EOW aims at contributing to improving the quality of data th...

With the recent recovery of large carnivores in Europe, preventive measures to protect livestock are on the rise. Fences that exclude carnivores from grazing areas have been proven as effective, but they can be costly as well as posing a barrier for wildlife. We studied the effect of exclosures of > 10 km² to protect sheep Ovis aries on the distrib...

Alpine marmots are a hiberna ng social rodent, with a key role within Alpine ecosystems, since owing to their semi fossorial behavior, they contribute in modifying the floris c structure and composi on of alpine meadows and promote plant growth. They o/en coexist with domes c grazing animals, during summer and li1le is known about the overall facto...

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...

Cent'anni di solitudine. Lo strano caso del marasso in Trentino tra il 1912 e il 2020 RIASSUNTO Il marasso viene ritenuto una specie tipica di ambienti montani, in Italia. Nel presente lavoro sono stati confrontati dati storici distributivi fino al 1912 dell'area trentina con quelli recenti (2000-2020). Risulta evidente una distribuzione passata an...

High-elevation species have to survive in harsh climatic conditions and have evolved adaptations to cope with extreme environments. Climate change combined with the loss of open habitats threatens the survival of a specialized alpine bird, the White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis). There is an urgent need to provide appropriate answers to...

The Movement Ecology Special Interest Group’s Annual Meeting. 28 – 29 August 2023, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK. Strong relationships exist between species and ecosystem. Human activity and environmental changes are known to affect rodent behaviour. The ecology of Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) has been well investigated i...

In this study, we investigate the cascade of ecological events due to red deer (Cervus elaphus) browsing on bilberry (Vaccinium byrtillus) plants and bilberry-leaf-chewing larvae (Lepidoptera), inside a boreal forest ecosystem located in the southern Alps (Italy)

In contrast to old-growth forests, early-successional stands remain understudied despite potentially harbouring species of conservation interest. With this work, focused on hazel grouse Tetrastes bonasia , a cryptic and indicator species known to select for close-to-natural forests, we evaluated winter densities, home range, microhabitat selection...

Obtaining reliable estimates of population abundance is of utmost importance for wildlife research andmanagement. To this aim, camera-traps are increasingly used, as this method has the advantage of being non-invasive and allows for continuous monitoring. Camera traps can be used to estimate abundance in combinationwith traditional capture-recaptur...

Riassunto: Dal 2019 l’Ente Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino ha avviato un progetto di ricerca a medio termine relativo la marmotta alpina (Marmota marmota). Gli obiettivi principali riguardano l’impiego ed il confronto di differenti metodi di stima della consistenza di popolazione e lo studio dei principali fattori che possono influenz...

Study and monitoring of Alpine Marmot, Marmota marmota, in the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Natural Park: preliminary results (Rodentia: Sciuridae). Since 2019 the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Natural Park has started a medium-term Research Project related to Alpine Marmot, Marmota marmota. The main objectives concern the use and comparison o...

Report tecnico della attività condotta nel triennio 2019-2021 relativa l'indagne sulla marmotta del Progetto: "Studio dei fattori che influenzano la demografia delle popolazioni di marmotta alpina (Marmota marmota) nel Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino".

The interaction between wild and domestic ungulates may have positive or negative effects. Cattle grazing, for example can preserve open space and improve forage quality but also decrease forage availability and favor disease transmission. Consequently, multiple patterns of space use can be expected between wild ungulates and livestock. Here, we in...

In many European areas, the hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia) is suffering from habitat lost and fragmentation. The conservation of this species is unconditionally bound to its habitat preservation. With this work we aim to get to understand the relationship between the species and its winter habitat in the context of the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino...

Capsule: Fine-scale use of climate-sensitive habitats by White-winged Snowfinches Montifringilla nivalis is affected by landscape composition, which thus modulates the potential impact of climate change. Aims: To explore the fine-scale habitat use for foraging by breeding White-winged Snowfinches, with the aim of identifying the potential impacts o...

Salamandra atra atra is the most widespread subspecies of the Alpine Salamander, both in Italy and in the other parts of the species distribution range. However, in particular for Italian populations, its ecology and demographic parameters are poorly known. We studied biometry (length, mass, body condition index) and demography (population density,...

Sull’arco alpino gli effetti dei cambiamenti climatici hanno già causato importanti alterazioni ad habitat e specie. In Italia specie legate ad ambienti freddi hanno subito contrazioni di areale più forti rispetto a specie legate ad ambienti caldi. Il fringuello alpino Montifringilla nivalis è nidificante su Alpi e Appennini in habitat alpini, sub-...

Lo studio affrontato nel presente lavoro di Tesi di Laurea Triennale, si inserisce nel contesto del secondo anno di studio sulla Pernice Bianca (Lagopus mutus) condotto dal Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta (Trentino, Italia) volto a capire quale delle tre metodologie di monitoraggio più utilizzate sulle Alpi sia la più efficace.Più in particolare son...