Francesco Ferretti

Università degli Studi di Siena | UNISI · Department of Life Sciences

The mitigation of ecological/economic impacts of wild boar Sus scrofa is one of the most challenging issues in wildlife management worldwide. Monitoring population density and impact of wild boar is crucial to plan appropriate management actions to reduce its density, environmental impact and epidemiological risk, as well as to evaluate control eff...

• Animals should adapt their foraging habits, changing their dietary breadth in response to variation in the richness and availability of food resources. Understanding how species modify their dietary breadth according to variation in resource richness would support predictions of their responses to environmental changes that alter prey communities...

There is a growing interest on the potential interplay between weather, habitat and interspecific competition on population dynamics of wild herbivores. Favorable environmental conditions may buffer the negative effects of competition; conversely, competition may be expected to be stronger under harsh environmental conditions. We investigated relat...

The mechanisms of interactions among carnivore species range from facilitation (mainly through increased availability of prey carcasses) to competition. We assessed the potential for facilitative/competitive interactions between the two most widespread carnivores in the world, the wolf and the red fox, in a prey-rich area recently recolonized by th...

Spatial and temporal occurrence can mediate behavioural interactions between apex predators, mesocarnivores and herbivores. Predators should adapt their activity to that of prey, whereas predator avoidance would be expected to influence activity patterns and space use of prey and smaller competitors. We evaluated interspecific spatiotemporal relati...

Background There is need of information on ecological interactions that keystone species such as apex predators establish in ecosystems recently recolonised. Interactions among carnivore species have the potential to influence community-level processes, with consequences for ecosystem dynamics. Although avoidance of apex predators by smaller carniv...

The potential for climate change to affect animal behaviour is widely recognized, yet its possible consequences on aggressiveness are still unclear. If warming and drought limit the availability of food resources, climate change may elicit an increase of intraspecific conflicts stemming from resource competition. By measuring aggressivity indices i...

The use of species detection rates gathered from motion‐sensitive cameras as relative abundance indices (RAIs) could be a cost‐effective tool to monitor wildlife populations; however, validations based on comparisons with reference methods are necessary. We considered 3 ungulates, wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and fallow d...

The gut microbiome can play a fundamental role in several processes associated with an organism’s ecology, and research on the microbiota of wild animals has flourished in the last decades. Microbiome composition can vary across and within species according to taxonomy and environmental variability, including the availability of food resources. Spe...

Polygamous species vary in alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) in relation to individual or environmental factors. Individuals may adopt fixed ARTs consistently across years, or may show flexible behaviour, changing tactic in different years. Different cost-benefit trade-offs should occur in relation to the adoption of each ART, possibly also i...

Prey adjust their antipredator behavioral tactics to minimize the risk of an encounter with predators. Spatio-temporal responses of prey to predators have been reported, but antipredator response is not ubiquitous, and it is the object of increasing interest, especially considering the recent recovery of large carnivores in Europe, and the potentia...

Like most small felids, the European wildcat Felis silvestris is a rather elusive species, poorly detectable in the wild, due to several aspects of its biology. Camera trapping can represent a suitable tool to understand temporal activity patterns and habitat preferences of such elusive species. We used intensive camera trapping over two full years...

The European wildcat is a threatened carnivore, whose ecology is still scarcely studied, especially in Mediterranean areas. In this study, we estimated activity rhythm patterns of this felid, by means of camera-trapping at three spatial scales: (i) whole country (Italy); (ii) biogeographical areas; (iii) latitudinal zones. The activity rhythms patt...

In camera trap studies, attractants may be used to increase detection probabilities of wildlife, which may help to improve estimates of abundance and occupancy. Using a semi-experimental approach, we investigated if a commercial, strawberry scented lure increased detection probability and visiting time duration in red fox Vulpes vulpes, and the pot...

Identifying the factors influencing seabird breeding output is critical for their conservation because breeding performance in turn influences population dynamics. This is particularly important in sensitive environments, where ecological disturbances can lead to changes in population trends of extremely specialized species in a relatively short ti...

The chamois Rupicapra spp. is the most abundant mountain ungulate of Europe and the Near East, where it occurs as two species , the northern chamois R. rupicapra and the southern chamois R. pyrenaica. Here, we provide a state-of-the-art overview of research trends and the most challenging issues in chamois research and conservation, focusing on tax...

In wild ungulates, habitat choice usually is influenced by foraging constraints and predator avoidance, potentially leading to spatial variation of population density (e.g., greater densities in food rich or safer habitats). Assessing habitat-correlates of abundance and foraging activity in turn is important in understanding determinants of distrib...

Body size and body mass are key indicators of individual phenotypic quality and predictors of important life-history traits such as survival and reproductive success. In wild herbivores, individual responses to changing environmental conditions influence morphometric traits over temporal scales and between populations. However, little research has...

Heterogeneity in resource availability and quality can trigger spatial patterns in the expression of sexually selected traits such as body mass and weaponry. While relationships between habitat features and phenotypic quality are well established at broad geographical scales, information is poor on spatial patterns at finer, intrapopulation scales....

Investigating the impact of ecological factors on sex-and age-specific vital rates is essential to understand animal population dynamics and detect the potential for interactions between sympatric species. We used block count data and autoregressive linear models to investigate variation in birth rate, kid survival, female survival, and male surviv...

Nest predation is reported as a cause of reproductive failure of ground-nesting bird species whose populations in Europe are declining. Conversely, European populations of the wild boar Sus scrofa have been expanding, leading to increasing threats to habitats and ecological communities. The impacts of wild boar on ground-nesting bird species are po...

Genetic structure may be highly variable across seabird species, and particularly among those that are distributed over large geographical areas. The Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a numerically dominant Antarctic seabird that is considered to be a key species in coastal ecosystems. Since the Last Glacial Maximum, penguin colonization of th...

The original version of this article unfortunately contained two mistakes.

[Published in: Handbook of the Mammals of Europe – Terrestrial Cetartiodactyla (Eds. Zachos, F. and L. Corlatti). Springer Nature.] The chamois is the most abundant mountain ungulate of Europe. Although the taxonomy of the genus has been subject to continuous revisions since the beginning of the twentieth century, currently two species are recogni...

Mountains are strongly seasonal habitats, which require special adaptations in wildlife species living on them. Population dynamics of mountain ungulates are largely determined by the availability of rich food resources to sustain lactation and weaning during summer. Increases of temperature affect plant phenology and nutritional quality. Cold-adap...

Wildlife is frequently infected by intestinal protozoa, which may threaten their fitness and health. A diverse community of Eimeria species is known to occur in the digestive tract of mountain-dwelling ungulates, including chamois (genus Rupicapra). However, available data on Eimeria diversity in these taxa is at times inconsistent and mostly dated...

Mountains are strongly seasonal habitats, which require special adaptations in wildlife species living on them. Population dynamics of mountain ungulates are largely determined by the availability of rich food resources to sustain lactation and weaning during summer. Increases of temperature affect plant phenology and nutritional quality. Cold-adap...

Mitigation of conflicts between humans and large carnivores is a major challenge in wildlife conservation. Habitat loss and depletion of wild prey, as well as easy availability of livestock, are expected to increase livestock depredation and, in turn, emphasise conflicts.

Assessing impacts of wild boar on ecosystems is a research priority worldwide, with applied implications for environmental management. We evaluated whether rooting intensity by wild boar affected a rodent community in Central Italy. Rooting intensity was measured within trap transects and all around them, following standard procedures. We live-trap...

Movements, habitat use, and activity of herbivorous species are mainly influenced by trade-offs between food availability and daily/seasonal variation in predation risk. Nevertheless, studies conducted across several seasons and evaluating both spatial and temporal responses of meso-small herbivores are still scanty. Additionally, information on sp...

The growing interest in emerging environmental crisis has increased the level of public attention and the willingness to take part in participatory science projects, commonly defined with the term “Citizen Science”. This phenomenon can be recorded globally in many national contexts, with a prevalence in anglophone and more industrialized countries....

In recent decades, many natural history museums in Europe have integrated their traditional functions with new ways of interacting with visitors and local communities. In particular, the need to adapt their mission according to the changes in modern society has led them to develop initiatives aiming at an active involvement of the public in scienti...

This paper reports the results of the BioBlitz organized by the Maremma Natural History Museum in May 2015 within the “Torrente Trasubbie” Site of Regional Importance. This activity is part of the public involvement events for the collection of scientific data that the Museum organizes on a regular basis. During BioBlitz 2015, data collected attest...

Among mammals, interspecific interference is common in carnivores, primates and rodents, but it seems to be a rare occurrence in ungulate communities. We sum-marised the knowledge on interspecific displacements through behavioural interactions between ungulate species in temperate areas to evaluate the conditions under which ungulate behavioural co...

Large carnivores are increasing throughout the western Holarctic, re-colonising large parts of their former ranges. Ecological (e.g., predator-prey relationships) and socio-economic (e.g., livestock depredation) consequences of this process need to be monitored to identify suitable management/conservation actions. We studied food habits and selecti...

In temperate ecosystems, seasonality influences animal behaviour. Food availability, weather, photoperiod and endogenous factors relevant to the biological cycle of individuals have been shown as major drivers of temporal changes in activity rhythms and group size/structure of herbivorous species. We evaluated how diurnal female foraging activity a...

Group‐living requires a compromise between safety and direct/indirect costs for individuals. The larger is the group, the greater is the collective vigilance, leading to a greater net food intake per forager because of the time saved individually from scanning behaviour. In turn, individual alertness usually decreases with increasing group size (“g...

Hunting lactating or non-lactating female ungulates is a debated issue because of offspring orphaning. Approaches based on individual-based modelling have been recently applied to investigate potential consequences of random hunting on lactating and non-lactating female chamois, and suggested that this management regime would have no effect on cham...

Weather variations have the potential to influence species interactions, although effects on competitive interactions between species are poorly known. Both weather and competition can influence foraging behavior and survival of herbivores during nursing/weaning, a critical period in the herbivore life cycle. We evaluated the joint effects of weath...

Intrinsic and environmental stressors, such as age and seasonality, may influence social behavior and endocrine levels in gregarious foragers, but little is known about how season and age affect both behavioral and physiological responses. We evaluated seasonal/age variation of aggression and vigilance, and seasonal/age variation of endocrine level...

Antipredator strategies and social factors may influence vigilance behaviour in herbivores. Vigilance can differ between sex/age classes, but information is contradictory in the existing literature. We investigated sex/age differences of vigilance in fallow deer Dama dama, in a Mediterranean area. Females (> 1 year old) showed a lower proportion of...

Evolutionary theory suggests two alternative ways in which competitive interactions could vary in response to different levels of food abundance. Competition theory suggests that aggression should be greater when resource availability is lower, as an evolutionary stable strategy to access food. Alternatively, energy allocated to aggressive interact...

Large carnivore-human coexistence is a challenging issue in wildlife conservation worldwide. An adequate and diverse prey spectrum favours carnivore persistence. Prey depletion and habitat loss elicit conflict with humans and require sound conservation measures. We evaluated the conflict between common leopards and humans in a densely populated Him...

Hares are a major prey for many carnivorous vertebrates worldwide. Their occurrence in the diet of predators is mostly assessed through the analysis of indigested remains (especially hair) in faeces or pellets. In Italy, four hare species are present, locally occurring in sympatry, and several studies confirmed they are preyed upon by 15 carnivorou...

Maternal cares and, in particular, suckling behaviour, are fundamental for early growth and survival of offspring ungulates. In turn, factors influencing maternal cares can have important effects at individual and population levels, with consequences at both short and long temporal scales. We assessed monthly variation of behavioural indices of suc...

Background: Wild boar and feral pig numbers are growing worldwide and have substantial economic and environmental impacts. Bait-delivered pharmaceuticals such as disease vaccines, toxicants and contraceptives are advocated to mitigate these impacts. Effective campaigns based on these pharmaceuticals rely on optimising the target species' bait upta...

Wildlife management systems face growing challenges to cope with increasingly complex interactions between wildlife populations, the environment and human activities. In this position statement, we address the most important issues characterising current ungulate conservation and management in Europe. We present some key points arising from ecologi...

Generalist predators are expected to shape their diets according to the local availability of prey species. In turn, the extent of consumption of a prey would be influenced by the number of alternative prey species. We have tested this prediction by considering the wild boar and the grey wolf: two widespread species whose distribution ranges overla...

The European roe deer Capreolus capreolus and the European brown hare Lepus europaeus are two important and widespread herbivores in Europe. In recent decades, roe deer have generally increased throughout Europe, while brown hares have decreased, because of habitat changes caused by agricultural intensification. It is unclear whether resource explo...

Lactation exerts heavy energetic and physiological costs to mothers, whilst determining early growth and survival of offspring. To mountain ungulates, access to high-quality forage during nursing and weaning is crucial for reproductive success. We have evaluated the effects of pasture quality on suckling behaviour and winter survival of Apennine ch...

Temperature variations are expected to influence altitudinal movements of mountain herbivores and, in turn, those of their predators, but relevant information is scarce. We evaluated monthly relationships between temperature and altitude used by a large mountain-dwelling herbivore, the Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus and its main predator, the...

The monitoring of population trends of wild ungulates is important to evaluate their population dynamics and to develop sound conservation/management plans. The wild boar Sus scrofa can impose heavy impacts on ecosytems and human activities, as well as be responsible for disease transmission. Estimating abundance of wild boars is a challenging issu...

Ecological theory predicts that sympatric species should avoid competition through diet, spatial and/or temporal partitioning. In carnivores, interference is widespread between species with similar diets. Smaller species are expected to differentiate their diet from that of larger, dominant ones, to reduce the risk of potentially lethal encounters....

Although chamois Rupicapra spp. are the most abundant mountain ungulates in Europe, no data are available on the presence of Giardia duodenalis infecting these species. A total of 157 fecal samples from Alpine Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra and Apennine Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata chamois were tested for the presence of G. duodenalis by immunofluores...

Review on the state-of-the-art tecniques to estimate wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations, presented (as invited lecture) at a congress on wild boar management organized by ATIt (Italian Theriological Association) held in Bologna (Italy) on the 1st December 2015.

Coevolved species should avoid competition through resource partitioning, but human-induced alteration of plant/animal communities may facilitate the onset of competitive interactions. In herbivores, access to high-quality forage in the warm months, that is, during nursing and weaning, influences growth and survival of offspring. In turn, resource...

Worldwide, wild boar (Sus scrofa) and feral pigs are involved in environmental damage and disease transmission. These impacts are often associated with relatively high local densities of pigs, so the monitoring of population trends is important. Dung counts can be used to estimate population trends, but knowledge of daily defecation rates (DDRs) is...

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Availability of food resources and individual characteristics can influence foraging behaviour, which can differ between males and females, leading to different patterns of food/habitat selection. In dimorphic species, females are usually more selective in food choice, show greater bite rates and spend more time foraging than males. We evaluated se...

Reintroductions are commonly used to restore the local biological diversity and/or save threatened taxa. In human-altered landscapes, we may expect that reintroduced species affect taxa already present. In Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (central Apennines, Italy), a 30% decline in the abundance of ‘vulnerable’ Apennine chamois (2005: c. 65...

The red deer of the Bosco Mesola Nature Reserve (northern Italy) constitute a population with relevance for zoogeography, genetics and conservation. We have analysed morphometrics of Mesola red deer (body weight, craniometry, stature, antler conformation and size) over a c. 30 year period (1980–2012), to (i) describe in detail their physical traits...

Most likely, the red deer Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 from the Bosco della Mesola Nature Reserve are the last autochthonous red deer in the Italian peninsula. In the 20th century, they nearly became extinct and have only recently recovered to higher numbers (at least c. 150 head in 2010). Apart from their historical relevance to the Italian fauna...

Spontaneous calls and replies to playback of Scops Owls were significantly more frequent during the breeding period, when paired birds defend territories. The probability of spontaneous calls varied with moon phase, with a peak occurring during nights with a full moon. In some cases, during the winter, Scops Owls responded to playback calls of Litt...

Consequences of predation may be particularly heavy on small populations of herbivores, especially if they are threatened with extinction. Over the 2006–2010 period, we documented the effects of the spontaneous return of the endangered snow leopard on the population of the vulnerable Himalayan tahr. The study area was an area of central Himalaya wh...

The impact ofwild boar Sus scrofa and feral pigs on ecosystems and human activities is of interest worldwide. Bait-delivered pharmaceuticals such as contraceptives or disease vaccines are increasingly advocated to assist the management of such impacts. We evaluated the Boar-Operated- System (BOS™) to deliver baits to wild boar in a Mediterranean ar...

Resource exploitation and behavioural interference underlie competition among carnivores. Competition is reduced by specializing on different prey and/or spatiotemporal separation, usually leading to different food habits. We predicted that two closely related species of large cats, the endangered snow leopard and the near-threatened common leopard...

In spite of its wide distribution, little information has been published on factors affecting space use of northern chamois Rupicapra rupicapra. We radio-tracked 12 (≥ 4 years old) adult male and nine adult female chamois, for 2 years (from April to December), in an area of the south-western Italian Alps. Eight males occupied stable and small home...