Research Area: Ecology - Zoology
Coordinators: Daniele Pellitteri Rosa, Andrea Gazzola
ERC sectors: LS8_5 Biological aspects of environmental change, including climate change; LS8_10 Ecology and evolution of species interactions; LS8_11 Behavioural ecology and evolution
1. Ecology and Evolution of Animal Behavior
Behavioral variations between populations and individuals are investigated, in relation to environmental conditions and during development, and as a product of the interaction between heredity and experience. Target organisms are reptiles and amphibians, and topics include:
- behavioral plasticity of antipredator responses;
- the adaptive value of plasticity in different contexts;
- the study of animal personality as differences in individual behaviors that remain consistent over time and across ecological contexts;
- the study of the functioning of animal minds and how specific abilities can vary from species to species;
- the analysis of basic cognitive abilities in animal species to understand their evolutionary origins and their relationships with other disciplines such as experimental psychology and neurobiology (e.g., lateralization, spatial memory, and problem solving).
2. Animal Biodiversity: Distribution, Morphology, Eco-ethology, and Conservation
Fauna management and conservation projects, particularly amphibians, reptiles, and birds, are underway in various regional and national parks. These projects aim to:
- obtain data on presence and abundance, along with morphometric and physiological parameters;
- determine the role of environmental factors in determining the distribution of the species under investigation;
- identify the potential effects of human activity (urbanization, habitat fragmentation, introduction of alien species, climate change, environmental pollution) on the distribution and eco-ethological dynamics of particularly vulnerable species.
Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio, Parco del Ticino, Parco delle Groane, Parco Regionale Campo dei Fiori, Parco Agricolo Sud Milano, Parco Nord, Oasi di Sant'Alessio, Parco Faunistico La Torbiera, Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze, Museo di Storia Naturale di Genova, Museo delle Scienze di Trento (MUSE), Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid, Spain), Centro Investigação de Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO, Porto, Portugal)
1a - Gazzola, A., Ratto, D., Perrucci, F., Occhinegro, A., Leone, R., Giammello, F., Balestrieri, A., Pellitteri-Rosa, D., Rossi, P., & Brandalise, F. (2024). Predation cues induce predator specific changes in olfactory neurons encoding defensive responses in agile frog tadpoles. Plos One, 19(5), e0302728.
1b - Gazzola, A., Guadin, B., Balestrieri, A., & Pellitteri-Rosa, D. (2023). Effects of predation risk on the sensory asymmetries and defensive strategies of Bufotes balearicus tadpoles. Animal Cognition, 26(2), 491-501.
1c - Gazzola, A., Balestrieri, A., & Pellitteri-Rosa, D. (2023). Embryonic exposure to native and alien predator cues tunes tadpole defensive behaviour. Aquatic Ecology, 57(2), 421-431.
1d - Guadin, B., Gazzola, A., Balestrieri, A., Scribano, G., Martín, J., & Pellitteri-Rosa, D. (2021). Effects of a group-living experience on the antipredator responses of individual tadpoles. Animal Behaviour, 180, 93-99.
1e - Pellitteri-Rosa, D., Lazić, M., Gazzola, A., & Vallortigara, G. (2020). Righting behaviour in the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis): relations between behavioural and morphological lateralization. Animal Cognition, 23, 989-998.
2a - Paganelli, D., Bellati, A., Gazzola, A., Bracco, F., & Pellitteri-Rosa, D. (2024). Impacts, Potential Benefits and Eradication Feasibility of Aquatic Alien Species in an Integral Natural State Reserve. Biology, 13(1), 64.
2b - Chiacchio, M., Pellitteri-Rosa, D., Barbi, A., Corlatti, L., Rödder, D., Henle, K., & Grimm-Seyfarth, A. (2023). Comparative success of two sampling techniques for high-altitude Alpine grassland reptiles under different temporal designs. Amphibia-Reptilia, 1(aop), 1-10.
2c - Fasola, M., Pellitteri-Rosa, D., Pinoli, G., Alessandria, G., Boncompagni, E., Boano, G., ... & Morganti, M. (2023). Five decades of breeding populations census for 12 species of colonial waterbirds in northwestern Italy. Scientific Data, 10(1), 239.
2d - Scribano, G., Gazzola, A., Winkler, A., Balestrieri, A., Grioni, A., Lastrico, G., Tremolada, P., & Pellitteri-Rosa, D. (2023). Anti-predator behavioral responses of Italian agile frog tadpoles (Rana latastei) exposed to microplastics. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(5), 13688-13696.
2e - Chiatante, G., Pellitteri-Rosa, D., Torretta, E., Marzano, F. N., & Meriggi, A. (2021). Indicators of biodiversity in an intensively cultivated and heavily human modified landscape. Ecological Indicators, 130, 108060.