Lorenzo Rugiero

Institute for development ecology conservation cooperation · Ecology

This study examines the annual activity patterns and variation in sex ratios across different months of the year for three Lucanidae species (Lucanus cervus, Lucanus tetraodon and Dorcus parallelipipedus) in three distinct regions of central Italy. The results reveal significant differences in the month-by-month activity patterns among the species,...

Comparative studies of mortality in the wild are necessary to understand the evolution of aging; yet, ectothermic tetrapods are underrepresented in this comparative landscape, despite their suitability for testing evolutionary hypotheses. We present a study of aging rates and longevity across wild tetrapod ectotherms, using data from 107 population...

Natural history observations were made, during August–September 2021, on a population of the ecologically poorly known Vesperus luridus (Cerambycidae) at a hilly locality of Latium, Central Italy. These beetles were searched for by night along a 170 m long transect, with the help of hand torches. During the field surveys, we recorded a total of 130...

A body plan (bauplan) is a suite of morphological characters shared by phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development. Despite its value, the bauplan concept is still rarely employed to characterize functional groups in community ecology. Here, we examine habitat use and spatio-temporal activity correlates of an entire seve...

Abstract: Habitat modification is a major factor in the decline of reptile populations. The degree of the decline has been shown to be directly related to the intensity of habitat modification. Farming practices and urbanization are just two of the factors involved indicating that the development of practices that minimize or cancel anthropogenic i...

Long-term ecological studies are important for understanding wild populations' dynamics and processes and the actual factors that can determine their decline. Here, we report the results of a 28-years-long (1992-2019) monitoring of three distinct populations of a tortoise, Testudo hermanni, in Central Italy, with an emphasis on their population abu...

Aging evolutionary theories predict that patterns of actuarial and reproductive senescence should be aligned, with a common onset of senescence set at the age of first reproduction. However, a few empirical studies reported asynchrony between actuarial and reproductive senescence. This asynchrony is expected to be particularly pronounced in organis...

Reports of global declines in animal populations are now numerous and also include snakes, a group of animals now widely regarded as bio-indicators. A prerequisite for any conservation management plan to protect or restore snake population requires a data base that provides insight into population composition and changes. However snakes are well kn...

Published by the British Herpetological Society Hibernation is a key aspect of the physiological ecology of temperate zone reptiles and where suitable dens are present, communal hibernation and long-term den fidelity may be expected. We studied long-term communal occupancy of hibernation dens in Italy and France by aspic vipers, Vipera aspis. Long-...

We studied long-term communal occupancy of hibernation dens in Italy and France by aspic vipers, Vipera aspis. In Italy, regression analysis of annual changes in snake numbers at dens, against a null hypothesis of snake number stability at dens, indicated that den numbers were stable from 1987 - 2000. However, after this period to 2017 there was a...

Abstract - Patterns of movement are an important component in animal ecology. In temperate zone reptiles this includes movement soon after emergence from hibernation, often a crucial period for courtship and mating. Due to the effects of climate or habitat, intra-specific differences in movement in different areas might be expected. We examined thi...

In a context of climate change, ecological and physiological adaptations of organisms are of central importance for determining the outcome of niche challenges (e.g., with potential competitors) and species persistence. Typically, long-term data on free-ranging populations are needed to investigate such phenomena. Here, long-term data on a free-ran...

Attributes of basking sites are important elements to study in management plans of threatened freshwater turtles. Here, we analyzed the basking-site characteristics of European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) populations in a Mediterranean territory of central Italy (Tolfa Mountains, Latium). We used logistic regression and Principal Components Anal...

Sighting frequency of tortoises (Testudo hermanni), standardized by the number of person-hours of field effort, was studied between 1992 and 2013 at three different study areas in central Italy. Although the frequency of tortoise sightings fluctuated substantially across years and among study areas, there was a significant declining trend in all th...

The Hermann’s tortoise benefits from a positive image which gives this species significant sympathetic importance. The popularity of this species (notably as a pet) may lead us to believe that it should benefit from a certain level of protection. Yet, its populations are constantly decreasing, and the reduction of favourable habitat has triggered i...

Ectothermic vertebrates depend on ambient temperatures for their activities. Thus, global warming is expected to influence several aspects of their ecology. Here, we use a >20 year (1990–2011) dataset on monthly numbers of roadkills in an area of central Italy in order to document whether the phenology of a Mediterranean population of Western whip...

Global warming is thought to be a far-reaching threat to biodiversity, and is supposed to influence several aspects of the ecology of animals. Global warming should influence especially the ectotherm vertebrates, which depend directly from the external thermal conditions for their activities and performances. Here, we analyze the changes in phenolo...

The diet composition of rainbow lizards (Agama agama complex) populations was studied by feces analysis at eight distant places across a mega-transect in the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa), covering three countries: Togo, Benin and Nigeria. The effects of geography (= linear distance between study sites) and local conditions (using the mean annual ra...

Using data acquired over 17 years, dispersal patterns around a communal nesting site (CNS) of adult females of the oviparous colubrid snake Hierophis viridiflavus (LACEPEDE, 1789), were investigated. The authors analyzed capture-mark-recapture data in terms of the distances at which adult females were found from their CNS i.e., oviposition place. T...

We present field ecological data for the snake Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia (Colubridae) from southern Nigeria. Adult sex-ratio was close to equal, and females attained significantly larger body size than males (on average 470 mm versus 400 mm SVL). Annual above-ground activity peaked during the wet months. A preponderance of snakes were captured in a...

Dispersal patterns from a communal nesting/birth site of hatchlings of the oviparous colubrid snake Hierophis viridiflavus were investigated using capture-markrecapture data from a 17-year study. We found that hatchlings lighter at birth dispersed more than heavier ones, whereas after one year there was no difference in body mass between the indivi...

Tests of invasion success often require comparisons between introduced and native populations, but determining the native-range sources for introduced populations can be difficult. Molecular markers can help clarify the geographic extent of native-range sources, helping to identify which populations are appropriate for comparative studies. The Ital...

The study of the dietary changes which have intervened over the years in generalist and opportunist predators may provide useful information on the temporal modifications of their prey communities, especially under a climate change scenario. In this study, we analysed the quantitative changes in the small mammal portion of the diet of a generalist...

Interspecific competition has been demon-strated to be an important shaping force for snake communities worldwide, but relatively few studies have investigated its occurrence and extent with island assemblages of snakes. In Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea), two species of whip snakes (Colubridae) co-occur, one of them being abundant and widespread (Hie...

The population density of three lacertid lizards (Podarcis sicula, Podarcis muralis, Lacerta viridis) was studied along several transects crossing agro-forest habitats in Mediterranean central Italy. Overall, seven transects, in three different wooded patches, were walked for lizards. Distance sampling (with uniform model design) was applied to the...

Studies on the ecology of the dice snake, Natrix tessellata, performed in central Italy during the last two decades, are reviewed and discussed in this article. ese studies were carried out at some areas in the surroundings of Rome and consisted of dietary analyses and studies of population biology, including thermal ecology and reproductive biolog...

Herbivory is the dominant feeding strategy in tortoises, and dietary shifts are common in response to changes in resource availability. We conducted the first large-scale study of the diets of wild Hermann's Tortoises (Testudo hermanni hermanni) and found that the study population in central Italy was strictly herbivorous. The tortoises ate primari...

A review of several long-term studies has recently suggested that snakes might be declining in large parts of the world. Additional data from other long-term studies are therefore urgently needed in order to assess the generalities of such suggested declines. Based on a 20-year study, we analyzed demographic data on adult dice snakes (Natrix tessel...

The food habits of a freshwater pelomedusid turtle (Pelomedusa subrufa) were studied by fecal analysis and stomach flushing in 2 study areas in Nigeria. Males and females were predominantly carnivorous; they fed mainly on fish, tadpoles, and aquatic invertebrates but also on terrestrial vertebrates. Sexes overlapped highly in dietary habits during...

Although research on habitat use and habitat selection is essential for understanding population ecology and behavior, most such zoological studies have used only general habitat categories describing main habitat features instead of using modern plant ecological approaches. Here, we analyze Testudo hermanni microhabitat use at a coastal Mediterran...

Snakes are rather difficult subjects for demographic studies. When snakes are not abundant in the field, herpetologists have learnt that a good method for population studies is to rely on mass captures at den sites. In several snake species females also exhibit oviposition at communal nest sites, which are utilized year after year. These ovipositio...

Herbivory is the dominant feeding strategy in tortoises, and dietary shifts are common in response to changes in resource availability. We conducted the first large-scale study of the diets of wild Hermann’s Tortoises (Testudo hermanni hermanni) and found that the study population in central Italy was strictly herbivorous. The tortoises ate primari...

Herman's tortoise, Testudo h. hermanni, is an endangered subspecies in Italy, France, and Spain. We studied a Herman's tortoise population in the Riserva Naturale Regionale Monterano in the Tolfa Mountains of central Italy. We found that, unlike most other studies of this and related species, sex ratios were 11, and half the population was made up...

Long-term studies have revealed population declines in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. In birds, and particularly amphibians, these declines are a global phenomenon whose causes are often unclear. Among reptiles, snakes are top predators and therefore a decline in their numbers may have serious consequences for the functioning of m...

Although research in habitat use and selection is crucial to understand aspects of population ecology and adaptation in herpetology, most studies performed to date analyzed these issues by using habitat categories described vaguely from the botanical and vegetation ecology points of view. In this paper, we analyze the habitat use of Testudo hermann...

The ecological correlates of dorsal colour pattern polymorphism were studied along the transition zone between two supposed subspecies ( = colour pattern types in this article) of the common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, in a hilly area of Latium, Central Italy. In this area two supposed subspecies, i.e. P. m. brueggemanni and P. m. nigriventris,...

The food niche partitioning of four species of house snakes (Lamprophis fuliginosus, L. olivaceus, L. lineatus, and L. virgatus) was studied in suburban areas of south‐eastern Nigeria, West Africa. Snakes were captured in the field, and their stomach contents were obtained by forced‐squeezing of the ingested bolus. Pseudo‐community analysis and Mon...

The food habits of two species of colubrid snakes (Hierophis viridiflavus and Zamenis longissimus) were studied in three areas in Mediterranean central Italy representing a gradient of natural habitat alteration from a natural mixed oak forest towards an entirely deforested, urban-agricultural habitat. Two diet descriptors were used: 1) total numbe...

A series of 59 transect surveys was conducted in selected wet forest habitats, along the coast of West Africa, to estimate the density distribution of African Hinge-back tortoises (Kinixys homeana and K. erosa). Line transect data were fed into a simple model to derive a detection function. The parameters estimated by the model produced an elaborat...

Null models are an essential tool for investigating structure in natural communities of animals, including reptiles. In this paper, we studied the assembly structure of a lizard community constituted by four species (Lacerta bilineata, Podarcis muralis, P. sicula, Chalcides chalcides) along 25 different transects, each 300 m long and representing a...

The ecology of gekkonids occurring in African forests is poorly known. In this paper, we analyse the feeding habits of a guild of sympatric geckos at a forest-plantation mosaic area in south-eastern Nigeria. Faeces were collected on handling from Hemidactylus brookii, H. fasciatus, H. intestinalis, H. mabouia, H. echinus, and Lygodactylus conraui....

The Dice Snake (Natrix tessellata) is an aquatic colubrid that is known for having a basically piscivorous diet and a female-biased sexual size dimorphism (larger females). The feeding habits of three populations of N. tessellata from Mediterranean streams in central Italy were studied. The three streams differed in terms of their water regimes, on...

The snakes of the Mediterranean regions are in general characterised as wide ranging with relatively unspecialised ecological traits (e.g., feeding ecology and diet composition). The few endemic snake species with a narrow range can be of great interest to control whether the relative ecological non-specialization is truly general for Mediterranean...

The Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is increasingly threatened in Western Europe and in Italy because of habitat loss, pollution, and illegal removal of free‐ranging individuals for the pet trade. Hence, the conservation and appropriate management of the various populations is mandatory, and the few remnant, isolated populations inhabiting ur...

The effect of small summer fires on three species of Mediterranean lizards (the lacertids Podarcis muralis and Lacerta bilineata, and the scincid Chalcides chalcides) were studied at five burnt transects and eight unburnt control transects in urban green areas of Rome. Overall, the fire had different effects on the three species at the local level...

The comparative diet and body size of the Four-Lined Snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata), one of the largest and more vulnerable species of snakes in Mediterranean central Italy, were studied in five different habitats. Data given here collated both literature and original data. Overall, females were significantly larger than males but the strength of th...

The relationships between population abundance, body size, food habits and ecological guild (aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal, and fossorial) of snake communities are studied in three different habitats (swamp-rainforest, mangrove forest and derived savanna) of southern Nigeria, West Africa. There were slightly positive relationships between body siz...

Succès reproducteur individuel et taille de ponte dans une population de la couleuvre semi-aquatique Natrix tessellata en Italie centrale : les plus petits mâles et les plus grandes femelles sont-ils avantagés ? — Le succès de la formation des couples et de la reproduction de Natrix tessellata, serpent semi-aquatique, a été étudié dans le centre de...

The feeding relationships of four sympatric, ecologically nearly unknown, tree frogs of southern Nigeria (Hyperolius sylvaticus, H. guttulatus, H. fusciventris burtoni, and H. concolor) were studied during both the dry and the rainy seasons. Stomach contents were obtained by stomach flushing. The largest species were H. guttulatus and H. concolor,...

Annual variation of the population structure and habitat use in relation to sex and body size of the grass snake, Natrix natrix, were studied in a fragmented agro-forest habitat of Mediterranean central It a l y. The study was carried out in two years (1995 and 1998). The population structure was different in the two years, as the propo rtion of su...

Aspects of general ecology and population biology of two populations of freeliving viperine snakes (Natrix maura) were studied in Mediterranean localities of the island of Sardinia (Thyrrenian Sea, Italy). The apparent adult sex-ratio was not significantly different from equality, but males were slightly more numerous than females. The diet consist...

Anguis fragilis et Chalcides chalcides sont des lézards phylogénétiquement distincts, mophologiquement similaires, serpentif ormes, et qui vivent fréquemment en sympatrie en Europe méditerranéenne. Les potentialités de compétition entre ces deux espèces ont été étudiées en diverses localités du nord et du centre de l’ Italie. Les résultats montrent...

Food habits of the green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) were studied in some Mediterranean sites of the vicinities of Rome (Latium, central Italy), by means both of stomach dissection of individuals found already dead in the field and faeces analysis of living individuals. The taxonomic diet composition of the lizards was accurately described by both m...

The food habits of Coluber hippocrepis nigrescens, a colubrid snake endemic to the island of Pantelleria in the southern Mediterranean Sea, were studied by means of both stomach contents and faecal analyses. Snakes preyed only on vertebrates, and most of the prey eaten were rodents (especially Rattus norvegicus). Ingested biomass per snake averaged...

The snake genus Coronella (Colubridae) includes two species, a live-bearing (C. austriaca) and an oviparous taxon (C. girondica). Data were gathered on several life-history traits of both Coronella species in order to shed some light on the selective forces that favoured viviparity, or on subsequent adaptations to the shift in reproductive mode. Th...

Food habits of four sympatric terrestrial snakes (Vipera aspis, Coluber viridiflavus, Elaphe longissima, E. quatuorlineata) are studied in a forested area of the Roman Country, Lazio, about 15 km northeast of Rome. All species proved to be extremely similar in food choice, preying primarily upon small mammals (rodents and shrews) and lacertid lizar...

The European Pond Terrapin, Emys orbicularis (LINNAEUS, 17S8), is a semi-aquatic emydid that spends a considerable part of its time basking. Pond terrapins usually bask on the banks of water bodies or on small 'islets' like large stones, tree trunks etc., emerging from the water. We tested whether a certain type of basking site (bank or 'islet') is...

Melanistic adders (Vípera berus) have been considered to be ecologically superior to cryptic ones in cold climates because of their higher thermoregulatory efficiency. However, a popular hypothesis states that black snakes should be more exposed than cryptic ones to visually oriented predation, and that the frequency of both colour morphs within a...

Some aspects of comparative ecology in two sympatric Podarcis species, P. muralis and P. sicula, were studied in an urban park of Rome. Both species preyed on a wide variety of invertebrates, but mainly on insects. Food niche breadth was wider in P. muralis, and this is possibly related to the higher microhabitat heterogeneity of the species in the...

In central Italy, water snakes of the genus Natrix (N. natrix and N. tessellate) are among the most abundant reptile species. We studied the feeding habits and food niche partitioning by these water snakes at a site located about 25 km north of Rome. The two species partially partitioned the available food sources. N. tessellata showed the highest...

From nine species of snakes found in central Italy, six (Coluber viridißavus, Coronella austriaca, Elaphe longissima, Elaphe quatuor lineata, Natrix natrix, Vipera aspis) arc living practically sympatric in the territory of Canale Monterano being one of the richest places in central Italy as far as reptiles are concerned. Data on reproduction, annu...

Composition of the prey in Ruin Lizards, Podarcis sicula (RAFINESQUE-SCHMALTZ, 1810), from a coastal dune in Central Italy was studied. Analysis of the fecal pellets of 31 lizards (7 females, 24 males) captured in February and March revealed: number of prey items per lizard (x = 3,13 + 2,71 SD); trophic niche breadth according to SIMPSON (3,15); pr...