Luca Luiselli

• Full Professorship (Ecology; Italian Public Universities Network); Professorship (Statistics and Population Ecology; Université de Lomé Togo)
• CEO at IDECC (www.ideccngo.org) at Rivers State University

Foraging modes (ambush vs. active foraging) are often correlated with a suite of morphological, physiological, behavioural and ecological traits known as the "adaptive syndrome" or "syndrome hypothesis." In snakes, an ecological correlate often reported in the literature is that ambush‐hunting snakes have a higher relative meal size compared to act...

Turtles and tortoises (chelonians) have been integral components of global ecosystems for about 220 million years and have played important roles in human culture for at least 400,000 years. The chelonian shell is a remarkable evolutionary adaptation, facilitating success in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Today, more than half of th...

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...

Aim Squamate fitness is affected by body temperature, which in turn is influenced by environmental temperatures and, in many species, by exposure to solar radiation. The biophysical drivers of body temperature have been widely studied, but we lack an integrative synthesis of actual body temperatures experienced in the field, and their relationships...

The global refugee crisis is above all a human tragedy — but it affects wildlife, too

The hornbills (Bucerotiformes, Bucorvidae) are a fascinating and revered group of birds found only in tropical Asia and Africa. Unlike in Asia where threats to the species have been taken into consideration in the IUCN listing and in consequence the Asian hornbills are listed as vulnerable, threatened or endangered, in Africa there is still little...

The global refugee crisis, with over 100 million people forcibly displaced by 2022, is a growing humanitarian emergency that poses serious challenges to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the social and economic consequences of displacement are well acknowledged, its environmental impacts—particularly on biodiv...

Ecology's strength lies in its ability to explain and predict interactions between organisms and their environment. However, African ecological research has historically been dominated by descriptive studies, focusing on biodiversity patterns, species distributions, and behavioural observations or monitoring of large mammal populations (especially...

Camera traps are widely used for terrestrial wildlife monitoring but remain underutilized for aquatic species due to inherent challenges in freshwater environments. Freshwater turtles, particularly the critically endangered Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), are notoriously difficult to observe in the wild. Here, we present a novel floa...

Sexual size dimorphism (SSD), the difference in body size between males and females, is shaped by sexual and natural selection and often varies across populations due to environmental factors. We investigated SSD in the European stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) across three adjacent oak-forested landscapes in northern Latium, Italy. The three forest si...

Africa's unparalleled biodiversity and cultural heritage are closely tied to Indigenous Peoples (IP) and their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) systems, which offers vital insights into conservation and sustainability. This editorial highlights the active role of African IP in biodiversity conservation and food system resilience, emphasising...

Tropical savannah ecosystems exhibit high biodiversity, encompassing a range of megafauna, including elephants, lions, ungulates, birds, and insects. While substantial research has been conducted on the ecological dynamics of eastern and southern African savannahs, West African savannahs, particularly within the semi-arid Sudanian and Sahelian biom...

Supplementary Materials for Hema et al., 2025, J Arid Environments, vol. 227

The loss of biodiversity is one of the most critical global environmental challenges, driven by deforestation, habitat fragmentation and overexploitation. This study focuses on the biodiversity crisis in Africa, with particular emphasis on the conservation status of the giant Goliath beetles (genus Goliathus Lamarck, Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae). Thes...

Whilst wetlands are vital ecosystems supporting natural cycles and biodiversity, intensive agricultural practices and land use have led to widespread degradation, particularly in tropical Africa. In Uganda’s ‘cattle corridor’, an agro-pastoral landscape stretching across 84 000 km ² , natural wetlands have been largely destroyed, and their degradat...

Inland fisheries in the Sudd region of South Sudan, one of the world´s largest wetland and a RAMSAR site, are vital for local livelihoods and food security of dependent families. Although detailed studies are lacking due to the recent history of war, civil strife and extreme poverty, South Sudan has been experiencing substantially warmer and drier...

Advances in analytical techniques and the development of innovative remote sensing tools have greatly broadened the scope of ecological research. These advancements have led to notable progress in understanding the geography of study areas, with ground-truthing capabilities enabled by GPS technologies revolutionising the generation of precise spati...

The geographic range is a critical factor in assessing species’ threatened status on the IUCN Red List. A smaller geographic range increases the likelihood of a species being classified as threatened. Taxonomic revisions, which can split a widely distributed taxon into multiple smaller-range species, may elevate the threatened status for these newl...

This study investigates the effects of seasonal changes in vegetation productivity on olive baboon feeding behavior in a protected Guinea savannah (Kainji Lake National Park). Over two consecutive years (2017 and 2018), observations were conducted both during the wet and dry seasons using a scan sampling method. Results revealed that olive baboons...

Sunlight and the heat it provides are important ecological resources for reptiles especially for those species living in temperate zones that bask extensively to maximize heat uptake. Sun basking has both benefits and costs for reptiles, giving heat that provides the energy to drive physiology but basking in open patches increases risk of predation...

The discovery of the South East Africa Montane Archipelago has unveiled a biologically significant ecoregion with a high level of endemism, showcasing at least 127 endemic plants and 45 endemic vertebrates, including unique genera of both plants and reptiles. This remarkable find highlights Africa's ongoing contributions to global ecological knowle...

In 2007, a commented list of the amphibians of Togo, elaborated from the available literature, reported 49 species for the country. On the basis of that first paper, we herein add further museum vouchers and field data, and report the presence of 50 amphibian species in Togo. Three species are removed from the former list: Phrynobatrachus sp. aff....

Biological communities are structured by a variety of biotic and abiotic relationships, whose understanding forms the basis for effective conservation. Among the myriad factors influencing community dynamics, resource partitioning stands out, potentially enriching ecosystem complexity but also carrying risks for conservation if disregarded. In this...

Among the flower beetles (Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), the Goliathini comprise several genera of medium-and large-sized beetles widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. In this tribe, the genus Fornasinius Bertoloni, 1853, includes two species found in West Africa: F. higginsi (Westwood) and F. klingbeili Zöller, Fiebig, and Schulze. In this study,...

Many species of terrestrial and freshwater chelonians are at risk of extinction, particularly rainforest species due to massive habitat loss. Therefore, the presence of peripheral and isolated populations can have considerable conservation value. This article confirms the presence of Pelusios gabonensis in an area of mature forest in western Côte d...

In most Sub-Saharan African countries, such as Togo, forest ecosystems provide ecosystem services to the local population. These ecosystem services are of vital importance to the local populations, who depend on the benefits derived from their use to meet their socioeconomic needs. The permanent dependence of these populations on ecosystem services...

Wetlands are one of the world’s fastest shrinking ecosystems, yet they are home to roughly 43% of all reptile and amphibian species. Sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest growing human population on the planet while also experiencing significant internal migrations of displaced peoples who settle in refugee camps. These camps are often in remote and p...

Hippopotamus is widely declining in several African countries, whereas its status and population size are still unknown in other countries, including South Sudan. We provide insights into population estimates, sex ratios, and age structures of the hippopotamus within Nimule National Park, South Sudan. Ground surveys and indirect counts were carried...

In order to analyze the community composition of herpetofauna in the Dahomey Gap area in West Africa, we studied the amphibians and reptiles of distinct sites in Benin. Our aims were to highlight whether these communities are homogeneous (as can be predicted by the fact that the Dahomey Gap is a relatively homogeneous vegetation zone) or whether th...

Urbanisation impacts on both abiotic and biotic characteristics of the environment and is likely to bring new selective pressures on animal species living within these areas. The common European wall lizard Podarcis muralis adapts well to urbanisation and indeed may be described as the archetypical urban lizard. In this paper we investigated some a...

Simple Summary South Sudan’s recent recovery from armed conflict presents an opportunity to address critical conservation issues affecting the country’s biodiversity. The protection of the vast Sudd wetlands is vital for the conservation of many different species and habitats and to ensure the continuity and improvement of the lives of human commun...

We investigated the frequencies of sympatric small mammal species in 12 habitat-types located in the extreme south of the Italian peninsula (Calabria) using trapping techniques. Ten species were detected with Apodemus sylvaticus, the most abundant species. The assemblages of small mammal species recorded in the 12 selected habitat types revealed cl...

The temporal trends in species' descriptions of new amphibian species in the period 1758-2017 were studied to understand whether the increase in the number of active taxonomists could have influenced the increase in the number of species discovered over the years, and whether there was any differential attention during the various periods towards e...

Diversity profiles of macromoth faunas in relation to island characteristics were studied at eight islets offshore Sardinia (one of the main Mediterranean islands) belonging to two distinct archipelagos which are included in two protected areas: Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park and Marine Protected Area Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo. Night-fl...

The expansion of human activities across natural environments is now well known. This includes agricultural activities that effectively render many former natural environments sterile habitats for animals. Very often, what remains of the natural habitat are hedgerows that serve as habitat or pathways for movement between habitats for many species,...

We conducted a comprehensive threat analysis of the Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), the most endangered freshwater turtle in the world, historically occurring along river systems in Vietnam and China, but currently almost extinct. Here, our goal was to identify the pressures along two main rivers in Vietnam (Black and Red rivers, bot...

The Critically Endangered Nubian Flapshell Turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans) is found in the White Nile River system in South Sudan and northern Uganda. Over the past few decades , its populations have sharply declined, primarily due to human-induced threats, leading to its near-extinction across almost its entire range. In this paper, we present the re...

The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Sa-haran Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other available plants. In this regard, this bird was conside...

Wetlands are one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems, yet they provide outsized ecosystem services compared to their global surface area. Africa is experiencing a burgeoning human population, and though border areas receive short-term pulses in transient population growth, borders often create legal and logistical barriers to long-term settle...

Habitat fragmentation is one of the main threats to biodiversity in Africa. In this article,we highlight the importance of conserving the Guinean forests of West Africa, which arerich in biodiversity and endemism but threatened by habitat loss, degradation and frag-mentation. The size of forest patches is critical, with larger fragments containing...

The dry savannahs of the Sahelian vegetation zone house a remarkable community of large mammals that have been less studied than their counterparts in the eastern Africa. Here we examine some aspects of the ecology of a community of twenty different large mammal species in a savannah of Burkina Faso, for a relatively long-term period (seven years)....

Faecal samples are an important source of genetic information for studies of wild animals. The quality and quantity of faecal DNA can, however, be affected by different factors. Our goal was to compare different dung sample storage and DNA extraction methods to optimise the quality and quantity of DNA extracted from forest elephant dung samples. Du...

The number of recognised taxa tends to change continually over time in many groups of animals. It can be hypothesised, however, that non-elusive, relatively large taxa of great appeal to humans would show a high taxonomic stability over time. We test this hypothesis using the former order Artiodactyla (now Cetartiodactyla) as a case study. To do so...

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,...

Upland wetlands are disappearing throughout Africa. In Uganda the only remnants almost-natural high altitude wetlands occur in the Lake Bunyonyi system. Biotic communities are poorly known from the area, and nothing is known about the local communities of amphibians and reptiles. Here, we analyse the communities of amphibians and reptiles in a seri...

The Nubian Flapshell Turtle, Cyclanorbis elegans, is classified as one of the most threatened chelonian species globally (Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List). The species is presumed extinct in most of its historical distribution range, but still survives along the White Nile between South Sudan and northern Uganda. In this paper,...

Agricultural intensification has increasingly destroyed natural habitats, resulting in species declines. Insights into the effects of landscape structure on species' diversity and distribution are needed to effectively conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The influence of land use practices on amphibian species diversity was investigat...

I Cani da Ricerca per la Conservazione (CRC = cani con target biologico) sono utili strumenti nella ricerca di specie a rischio di piccole dimensioni, con abitudini criptiche e/o elusive come gli insetti. Proprio a causa della natura elusiva delle specie target e della conseguente difficoltà di verifica della veridicità delle segnalazioni (Mosconi...

Simple Summary Organisms that are similar in size, morphological characteristics, and adaptations, including vertebrates, often coexist by partitioning the available resources (food, space, and time). So, studies of the dynamics of these cases of coexistence are scientifically interesting. Here, we study a coexistence case between two species of fr...

Predicting the true status of Data Deficient (DD) species is a prominent theme in recent conservation biology, but there still is much debate regarding the conservation approach that should be used for DD taxa and no definitive conclusions are yet available. We review and analyse the current data available on the conservation status of amphibians i...

The rodent assemblages were studied in different habitat types of the Fazao-Malfakassa National Park located in Togo, West Africa. A suite of different methods was applied, including face-to-face interviews with local hunters, live trapping along standardized transects and opportunistic observations. A total of 20 rodent species were recorded based...

Defining priorities is important both in research and in conservation, especially when knowledge gaps are hindering successful management. In this review, we quantify the knowledge gaps for all non-marine West African chelonians based on 21 criteria. Additionally, we combine these knowledge gaps with each species' maximum size, range size, presence...

Very little is known of the ecology and distribution of Vietnamese tortoises and freshwater turtles, even though Vietnam is one of the world’s hotspots of chelonian diversity and, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), almost all its species are threatened. We report the diversity of chelonians for two distinct...

The Dahomey Gap in West Africa is a human-derived savannah-like vegetation zone interspersed by patches of moist forest, with large rainforest blocks at both West (Upper Guinean Forest) and East (Lower Guinean Forest) of its limits. Togo is a tiny country situated in the middle of the Dahomey Gap. In this paper, a biogeographic analysis of the comp...

This paper presents a review of challenges and threats deterring effective marine turtle conservation on the continental shelf of Africa to identify gaps on a regional basis and offer recommendations for research, conservation, and management. The approach involved (i) a comprehensive literature search on marine turtle ecology, status, nesting, and...

Most of the extraordinary biodiversity richness of SouthEast Asian countries is concentrated in the national parks and other Protected Areas, with species-rich turtle communities surviving mostly in these reserves where their natural habitats are better preserved. However, very few studies have documented the turtle species richness of the various...

The relationship between a reptile and its thermal environment is a key feature of habitat use, which may be impacted by, among others, the requirements for food, avoidance of competitors and predators. Juvenile lizards are subject to the same ecological pressures, but may additionally experience predation or exclusion from prime basking site by ad...

Rainbow lizards (Agama agama) are common in suburban areas throughout Africa, and have an opportunistic foraging strategy, with arthropods being the main prey source. In a coastal resort in southern Togo, West Africa, several individuals in a population were observed while feeding regularly upon non-natural human-made food (pizza) and showing a cle...

According to the IUCN, Southeast Asia is the area of the world with the highest number of threatened turtle species. The current status of chelonians is particularly catastrophic in Vietnam. However, there is still a lack of field data to unambiguously support this fact for a few species. To better understand the freshwater turtle diversity and eve...

Hunting for bushmeat in the tropics has become a major issue in terms of conservation and human health, especially in western and central Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, despite a ban on hunting since 1974, the bushmeat trade is widespread. This situation has been exacerbated by the long-term socio-political unrest in Côte d’Ivoire, resulting in the lack...

Biases in snake venom research have been partially identified but seldomly quantified. Using the Google Scholar web search engine, we collected a total of 267 articles published between 1964 and 2021, and reviewed them to assess the main trends in this field of study. We developed a 4-category classification of the harmful potential of each of the...

Goliath beetles (genus Goliathus) are among the largest and most charismatic insects in the world. In West African forests, two species (G. cacicus and G. regius) and natural hybrids are found. These beetles are widely collected for the entomological trade. We carried out standardized interview campaigns in Liberia and Ivory Coast to explore local...

The Dahomey Gap is a human-derived savannah zone, interspersed by patches of moist tropical forest, that separates the forest zone into two blocks, the Upper Guinean and the Lower Guinean forests. Community ecology aspects of amphibians and reptiles are still relatively unexplored in this ecological zone of West Africa. Here, the overall species ri...

Simple Summary One of the most important vegetation zones in West Africa is the so-called “Dahomey Gap”, which is a mostly savannah region that separates two rainforest blocks, the West African one (scientifically known as the Upper Guinean Forest block) and the central African one (Lower Guinean Forest block). Forest patches are sparsely distribut...

It is widely assumed that future climatic conditions, alongside their effect on local environments, will result in either a change in how species use their habitats or in a shift in species distributions. The Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to experience drastic changes in its average aridity and overall climate in the coming decades...

Nile Crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, are widespread along the riverine systems and wetlands of East Africa, and may locally be involved into serious conflicts with local human communities. A research study was conducted to investigate Human-Crocodiles Conflicts (HCC) and its impacts on lives and livelihoods of local communities in the Sudd Wetlan...

The influence of temperature on the physiological processes in reptiles is well known, for example growth, reproduction and muscular energy are all temperature dependent. However, there may be constraints on the ability of a reptile to harness thermal energy, particularly during cold seasons in the temperate zones. Substrate selection is a key fact...

Polyphylla ragusae (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae) is an endemic beetle restricted to the island of Sicily (Italy). This species is among the most threatened invertebrates in Italy. Currently, scientific knowledge of the distribution and habitat selection of P. ragusae is scarce, though anecdotal observations suggest that the species is primarily found i...

We analysed the effects of body mass on the monthly activity patterns of six Mediterranean lacertid lizard taxa, four relatively small species, the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus), the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), the blue-throated keeled lizard (Algyroides nigropunctatus), and the Ionian wall lizard (Podarcis ionicus), and two lar...

The Sudd in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile’s Baḥr al-Jabal section, is one of the largest and most important wetlands in the world. Communities in the region almost exclusively depend on fisheries for food and livelihoods. Although threatened by over-exploitation and habitat changes, fish populations are also affected by climate change. Usin...

Studies of animal communities along habitat gradients are useful in understanding the ecologicsl factors affecting species diversity and richness. Almost no investigations have been carried out on the community structure of vertebrate groups along habitat gradients modified by humans in historical or prehistoric times. Here, we analyze the communit...

Anoxia (Protanoxia) orientalis is a beetle of the family Melolonthidae for which Italy represents the western limit of its distribution. The ecology of this species is little known from the quantitative point of view. The ecological correlates of A. orientalis presence in the whole European range and, more specifically, at its western border in Sic...

We assessed numbers and biomass of species hunted and sold for wild meat in 12 park-adjacent settlements in the Fazao Malfakassa National Park (FMNP), Togo. From hunter interviews and market carcass counts 33 species, 28 from hunter interviews and 26 from market surveys were taken, respectively. A total of 2605 animals were recorded in the study, 1...

Conservation strategies are mainly decided, also for tropical species and habitats, on the basis of studies and examples made in the temperate regions, especially in North America and Europe. Conservation strategies for tropical species are often thought to fail due to a plethora of « human dimension » reasons. These reasons are external to the nat...

The sexually dimorphic dynastine centaurus beetle, genus Augosoma (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae), is endemic to tropical Africa where two species are found (A. centaurus and A. hippocrates). These beetles are consumed by rural populations, cause damage in plantations and are targets of insect collectors and traders. We present information on size differ...

We re-examined the knowledge on the relationships between fauna and forest management in Italy. We focused our attention on Vertebrates, including small mammals (Rodents and Soricomorphs), bats, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and on carabid and saproxylic beetles. We found that nearly all groups respond in accordance with Angelstam’s scheme of the...

The adult sex-ratio of a widespread dynastine beetle characterized by remarkable sexual shape dimorphism, Phyllognathus excavatus (Forster, 1771), is reported herein for the first time with regards to the Italian populations. These beetles were studied in a coastal locality of Mediterranean central Italy (Latium), and showed a significantly female-...

Tropical savannah ecosystems are characterized by extensive grasslands with more or less sparse trees and thickets, and are threatened globally by anthropogenic forces. These grassland habitats house a rich and diversified fauna assemblage, with some of its conspicuous elements (for instance, small mammals) that have not been sufficiently investiga...

Nowadays, Laos remains one of the scientifically least known countries of Asia in terms of herpetological knowledge. Here, we evaluate composition of species in freshwater ecosystems (main river courses) and terrestrial ecosystems (forests) in two distinct regions using Visual Encounter Surveys along designed transects, examination of fishers’ catc...

The snake communities in Asian tropical forests are relatively unknown, with most studies focusing on species lists. We investigated species composition, relative abundance, and community ecology of snakes in a mature secondary hilly forest area in the Quan Son District, northern Vietnam. To our knowledge, it is one of the few field investigations...

Wild meat markets play a crucial role for food security and cash income for subsistence hunters in the tropics and subtropics. In Nigeria, the amount of meat sold from most species crashed dramatically after the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014. Sales further diminished after arrival of COVID-19, likely because of restrictions to commerce and of change...

Prey choice is the non-random foraging and consumption of prey species by their predators, and is therefore the basis for studies of topics as diverse as quantifying food webs, predator-prey relationships, and optimal foraging models. Diamond-back Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are diet generalists with a large geographic distribution, the U.S. At...