Enrico Lunghi

Università degli Studi dell'Aquila | Università dell'Aquila · Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences

Multiple evidence of positive relationships between nice breadth and range size (NB–RS) suggested that this can be a general ecological pattern. However, correlations between niche breadth and range size can emerge as a by‐product of strong spatial structure of environmental variables. This can be problematic because niche breadth is often assessed...

Individual diet specialization (IS) has important community‐ and population‐level implications and its ecological drivers are actively investigated. Here, to test the hypothesis that local environmental conditions may influence IS in wild populations, we analyzed the stomach contents of 395 individuals from eight populations of five allopatric spec...

Evaluating age and growth rate in wild salamanders has been always a challenging task. Because salamanders usually do not show specific visible signs of aging, the age of wild individuals is usually estimated from their size (Staub 2016). Knowing the growth rate, the age of sexual maturity, and the overall lifespan of the species is of key importan...

Simple Summary: Here, we provide the information derived from the first monitoring activities performed on the endangered Sette Fratelli cave salamander, Speleomantes sarrabusensis. Adopting two different monitoring schemes, we estimated the abundance of four populations of S. sarrabusensis, providing important data for future status assessments of...

The determination of a species trophic niche can clarify its functional role within a food web and how prey resources are used in relation with the spatial and temporal variability of environmental conditions. This information may result particularly useful for the implementation of conservation plans of endangered species having a cryptic behaviou...

Although distribution databases are a dynamic tool, continuously updated, it is important to take "snap-shots" of the species distribution over time to promptly identify potential conservation issues. With this work, we provide an update of the distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Sardinia and satellite islands. Data derive from both direct f...

The trophic niche of a species is one of the fundamental traits of species biology. The ideal trophic niche of a species is realized in the absence of interspecific competition, targeting the most profitable and easy-to-handle food resources. However, when a competitor is present, species adopt different strategies to reduce competition and promote...

Telomeres are specialized and highly repetitive noncoding DNA structures at the end of linear chromosomes that are essential for maintaining genomic integrity. Each time a cell divides, telomeres are not fully replicated and the resulting cells have shorter telomeres than the progenitor cells. This incomplete replication of telomeres (i.e., shorten...

The specialised subterranean fauna is often described as an iconic example of convergent evolution driven by environmental constraints, representing therefore an ideal model system for eco-evolutionary studies. During the colonization of subterranean environments, behavioural plasticity likely plays a fundamental role, as the quick behavioural resp...

Species traits are an essential currency in ecology, evolution, biogeography, and conservation biology. However, trait databases are unavailable for most organisms, especially those living in difficult-to- access habitats such as caves and other subterranean ecosystems. We compiled an expert-curated trait database for subterranean spiders in Europe...

We report the first observations of the golden jackal on the Tuscan Apennines (Italy). We observed two individuals 15 times in the district of Prato, between 21 November 2021 and 5 January 2022. Their presence has been assessed through camera traps at the edge of an urbanized area. The southernmost presence data for Italy reported in the literature...

An extraordinary longevity has been observed in some cave species, and this raised the hypothesis that a longer lifespan may be considered one of the characteristic traits of these animals. However, only a few cave species have been studied thus far, and a firm conclusion remains to be drawn. Here we review the available knowledge on the longevity...

Subterranean environments host a substantial amount of biodiversity, however assessing the distribution of species living underground is still extremely challenging. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a powerful tool to estimate biodiversity in poorly known environments and has excellent performance for soil organisms. Here, we tested 1) whe...

This data set collects capture–mark–recapture data, biometric data and stomach contents of seven populations of the Italian cave salamander (Speleomantes italicus), one of the strictly protected European plethodontid species endemic to mainland Italy. We monitored six subterranean populations inside caves, and one fully epigean population living in...

Animal colouration is a phenotypic trait that can provide important information on species ecology and adaptation. Describing animal colours can be very challenging, and digital images may help in this difficult task. Obtaining an image with colours similar to those observed in nature is not trivial, as many factors can alter the final result. Some...

Assessing the effects of pollution in groundwaters is recently considered among the most relevant aims for subterranean biology; with this perspective, we aim to provide examples of the most relevant effects that pollution may cause on stygofauna community and underline patterns deserving further investigations. We retrieved different cases in whic...

Speleomantes are the only plethodontid salamanders present in Europe. Multiple studies have been performed to investigate the trophic niche of the eight Speleomantes species, but none of these studies included hybrid populations. For the first time, we studied the trophic niche of five Speleomantes hybrid populations. Each population was surveyed t...

• Caves and other subterranean habitats fulfill the requirements of experimental model systems to address general questions in ecology and evolution. Yet, the harsh working conditions of these environments and the uniqueness of the subterranean organisms have challenged most attempts to pursuit standardized research. • Two main obstacles have syner...

European plethodontid salamanders (genus Speleomantes; formerly Hydromantes) are a group of eight strictly protected amphibian species which are sensitive to human-induced environmental changes. Long-term monitoring is highly recommended to evaluate their status and to assess potential threats. Here we used two low-impact methodologies to build up...

The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundr...

A fundamental goal in spatial ecology is to understand how the distribution of species varies along latitudinal and elevational gradients. This stems from the understanding that latitude and elevation are primary drivers affecting temperature variations on Earth's surface, and, in turn, that temperature plays a critical ecological role. These spati...

(1) Caves and other subterranean habitats fulfill the requirements of experimental model systems to address general questions in ecology and evolution. Yet, the harsh working conditions of these environments and the uniqueness of the subterranean organisms have challenged most attempts to pursuit standardized research (2) Two main obstacles have sy...

Subterranean habitats house a wide range of species which show a number of adaptations to prevailing ecological conditions. Spiders are among the most abundant predators in caves; however, most studies on cave spiders focus on species adapted to these habitats. This is the first study related to the occurrence of the Black lace-weaver spider, Amaur...

The effective detection of both prey and predators is pivotal for the survival of mesopredators. However, the condition of being a mesopredator is strongly context dependent. Here we focus on two aquatic caudate species that have colonised caves: the Pyrenean newt (Calotriton asper) and the olm (Proteus anguinus). The former maintains both surface...

The worldwide biodiversity crisis with the resulting need to increase species protection has led researchers to pursue and select survey methods that guarantee the best quality of data and produce the least negative effects on wild animals. Plethodontids are the most diverse family of salamanders; all species are very sensitive to human handling an...

Usually, biospeleological studies focus on cave-specialist taxa showing strong adaptation to the subterranean environment, as their unusual morphological and ecological features represent intriguing case studies. On the other hand, species occurring in subterranean environments but without marked adaptations have been generally overlooked, probably...

Cavefishes represent one of the most bizarre and intriguing life forms inhabiting groundwater environments. One‐third of the known cavefishes worldwide is endemic to China, and almost half of those belongs to a single genus, Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Analyzing the morphometrics of three Sinocyclocheilus species, we aimed to asse...

Individual diet specialization occurs when individuals consume only a subset of prey composing the whole population trophic niche. In our study, we assessed tro-phic specialization in five species of European cave salamanders (genus Hydroman-tes) from Sardinia (Italy), hypothesizing two potential (but not exclusive) causes. Our results showed that...

Measurement(s) morphometric parameter • color • length • biological sex • age • color pattern • body size trait Technology Type(s) photography Factor Type(s) salamander species • site of data collection • geographic location • salamander populations Sample Characteristic - Organism Hydromantes strinatii • Hydromantes ambrosii • Hydromantes italicus...

The discipline of subterranean biology has provided us incredible information on the diversity, ecology and evolution of species living in different typologies of subterranean habitats. However, a general lack of information on the relationships between cave species still exists, leaving uncertainty regarding the dynamics that hold together cave co...

Several species of surface salamanders exploit underground environments; in Europe, one of the most common is the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). In this study, we investigated if fire salamander larvae occurring in groundwater habitats can affect the abundance of some cave-adapted species. We analyzed the data of abundance of three target...

Grass snakes are widely distributed across the Western Palearctic. Recent phylogeo-graphic studies provided evidence that three distinct parapatric species exist. Two of these occur in Italy, Natrix helvetica and N. natrix, and a contact zone between both taxa has been suggested for northeastern Italy. Moreover, previous investigations revealed for...

European cave salamanders of the genus Hydromantes are a group of eight species endemic to Italy and southeastern France. Knowledge on the trophic niche of European Hydromantes is poor, and the few available studies only partially investigate their feeding habits. We performed an in-depth study on the trophic niche of the Ambrosi's cave salamander...

Systematic data collection on species and their exploited environments is of key importance for conservation studies. Within the less-known environments, the subterranean ones are neither easy to be studied, nor to be explored. Subterranean environments house a wide number of specialised organisms, many of which show high sensitivity to habitat alt...

The Sardinian grass snake (Natrix natrix cetti) is a Critically Endangered snake endemic to Sardinia (Italy), for which information is still scarce. In the present work, we report information obtained from 36 observations of N. n. cetti performed in different areas of the Island. Three different colorations were mainly observed and darker snakes we...

Chinese cavefishes are a bizarre and interesting vertebrate taxa, but one with relatively little research. China holds the highest global cavefish diversity, accounting for about one-third of known species. Sinocyclocheilus is the largest genus of cavefishes in the world and is endemic to the south of China. The distribution of Sinocyclocheilus spe...

Photographic identification is an emerging method for recognising wild animals. This harmless methodology allows researchers to identify “naturally marked” individuals and therefore study their specific ecology and behaviour. However, before incurring potential data loss, it is recommended to test the methodology on the target species and evaluate...

Aim Hybrid populations can have intermediate, conserved or transgressive niches, compared to the parental species. Fine‐scale analyses can improve our understanding of niche evolution, but information on microhabitat differences between parental species and hybrids is extremely scarce for animal populations. We assessed the pattern and role of nich...

The orb-weaver spider Meta bourneti Simon 1922 (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) is one of the most common cave predators occurring in the Mediterranean basin. Although the congeneric M. menardi represented the model species in several studies, our knowledge of M. bourneti is only founded on observations performed on a handful of populations. In this study...

Raw data: Information on spiders’ distribution inside the studied caves In this dataset is shown: the surveyed cave (Site), Date and Season of survey, Sector identity, Branch and depth (S_Depth) of the cave sector, spiders’ Age class (0 = Juvenile, 1 = adult) and both Depth and Height of each individual.

Raw data: full dataset for GLMM and GLM analyses In this dataset are shown: surveyed cave (Site), Sector identity, Branch and depth (S_depth) of cave sectors, Date and Season of each survey, Latitude, Longitude and Elevation of surveyed sites, sector morphological features (Height, Width and Wall Irregularity), sector microclimatic features (Temper...

The best five AICc models of weighted GLM analyses including sectors’ depth Besides the inclusion of sector’s depth as a further independent variable, these analyses resemble those included in the manuscript in both used variables and methodology.

Parameters related to the presence of Meta bourneti spiders in weighted GLM analyses including sectors’ depth For each group (A–C) are shown the significance of variables included in the relative best AICc model of the respective analysis.

Negli ultimi anni lo studio dei geotritoni è stato interessato da un notevole aumento delle attività di ricerca che ha prodotto numerosi lavori scientifici pubblicati su importanti riviste nazionali e internazionali. In questo articolo ci è sembrato opportuno sintetizzare lo stato delle conoscenze raggiunto negli ultimi anni utilizzando un linguagg...

The trophic niche is a life trait that identifies the consumer's position in a local food web. Several factors, such as ontogeny, competitive ability and resource availability contribute in shaping species trophic niches. To date, information on the diet of European Hydromantes salamanders are only available for a limited number of species, no diet...

Box whisker plot showing heterogeneity of multivariate dispersion among studied species. (TIF)

The Monte Albo (Sardinia, Italy) is a biodiversity hotspot that hosts several species of amphibians and reptiles, some of which are endemic. In the present work, we provide an updated list of the herpetofauna of this important area thanks to surveys carried out 2012 – 2016. We observed 18 species, 17 had already been reported in literature but one...

European cave salamanders [genus Hydromantes (Speleomantes)] are a group of eight species endemic (or sub-endemic) to Italy. Information on these amphibians are far to be complete, they usually exploit environments hardly suitable for human exploration. One of the poorly known life traits is their trophic niche. Diet of European Hydromantes has bee...

Despite being a fundamental source of biodiversity, several highly diverse taxa of aquatic invertebrates, including Platyhelminthes, remain still poorly known and poorly considered in protection programs. This is the case especially of several invertebrate species that inhabit groundwater. In this environment, invertebrates play significant roles t...

Despite being a fundamental component of biodiversity, several highly diverse taxa of aquatic invertebrates are still poorly known and poorly considered in protection programs. This is the case especially of several invertebrate species that inhabit groundwater. In this environment, invertebrates play significant roles in ecosystem services closely...

The extent to which closely related species share similar niches remains highly debated. Ecological niches are increasingly analysed by combining distribution records with broad-scale climatic variables, but interactions between species and their environment often occur at fine scales. The idea that macroscale analyses correctly represent fine-scal...

Accurate measures of species abundance are essential to identify conservation strategies. N-mixture models are increasingly used to estimate abundance on the basis of species counts. In this study we tested whether abundance estimates obtained using N-mixture models provide consistent results with more traditional approaches requiring capture (capt...

The availability of data on the feeding habits of species of conservation value may be of great importance to develop analyses for both scientific and management purposes. Stomach flushing is a harmless technique that allowed us to collect extensive data on the feeding habits of six Hydromantes species. Here, we present two datasets originating fro...

Species can show strong variation of local abundance across their ranges. Recent analyses suggested that variation in abundance can be related to environmental suitability, as the highest abundances are often observed in populations living in the most suitable areas. However, there is limited information on the mechanisms through which variation in...

Leeches can parasitize many vertebrate taxa. In amphibians, leech parasitism often has potential detrimental effects including population decline. Most of studies on the host-parasite interactions involving leeches and amphibians focus on freshwater environments, while they are very scarce for terrestrial amphibians. In this work, we studied the re...