Università di Parma - Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale danfornoli@gmail.com
Galls are growths on plant tissue resulting from a parasitic insect attack. First estimates reported that the number of gall-inducer insects reached 132.000 species. These structures represent highly sophisticated systems, characterized by a huge variety of shapes, dimensions and positions on plants. In addition, galls support different communities of secondary fauna such as moths, beetles and ants. Concerning several species of ants, galls represent an ideal environment for the establishment of colonies. Nevertheless, nowadays there are few studies dealing with galls colonized by ants; and none of them investigate behavioural aspects. The present work focuses on galls induced by Andricus quercustozae (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on oak trees, investigating different behavioural aspects of ant colonization. In particular, field experiments were carried out: a) to study ant species-specific preferences for different features of the galls; b) to describe differences in gall architecture due to ant activity; c) to analyse the effects on plant health due to ant patrolling behaviour. Data show differences among species in gall choice and modification of nest features according to colony organization. Moreover, the analysis on the effects of ants on plant health shows a decrease of leaf damages and number of phytophagous insects when ants were present. In conclusion, ants hosted by galls can represent an indirect plant defense mechanism, although galls are initially a potential cost for the plant.
XXVIII SIE – Sessione poster 95
Effect of weather conditions on spring migrating Eurasian teals (Anas crecca)
GIULIA CERRITELLI1,LORENZO VANNI1,NATALE EMILIO BALDACCINI2,ALFONSO LENZONI3, MICHELE SORRENTI4,PAOLO LUSCHI1,DIMITRI GIUNCHI1
1 Università di Pisa - Dipartimento di Biologia
2 Università di Firenze - Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca sulla Selvaggina e sui Miglioramenti Ambientali a fini Faunistici
3 Associazione Cacciatori Migratori Acquatici, Milano 4 Federazione Italiana della Caccia - Ufficio Avifauna Migratoria, Roma
dimitri.giunchi@biologia.unipi.it
Weather conditions experienced during migration are expected to influence bird movements and their timing of arrival. We analysed satellite-tracking data from Eurasian teals (Anas crecca) fitted with Argos tags in three wintering Italian sites in order to define the migratory strategies of the species. We determined the course, speed and duration of spring migratory movements, together with the number and length of stopovers made along the route. Most of the tracked teals left the wintering grounds in February-March and reached the breeding sites located in North-Eastern Europe in May. Along their migratory route most birds stopped for several weeks at stopover sites, especially at the very beginning of migration, and this led to a slow overall migratory speed. We then focused on investigating the effect of a series of environmental cues on teal’s migratory strategies. The analysis mainly aimed at assessing if temperature and winds experienced during teal’s sojourn in an area could have had an effect on its decision to leave their wintering grounds and the stopover sites. Given that teal are small ducks and not diving ones, they need shallow water areas to feed which may freeze quite easily when temperatures decrease, so it can be hypothesized that temperatures may be a relevant cue for this species. We tried different models using different time windows, aggregate statistics and response functions, running distinct analysis for wintering and stopover sites. As expected, our data indicate that weather conditions, and especially temperature, affect migration movements, but, as already noted for other Anseriformes, this effect was mostly evident once the migration had started. Under the observed conditions, wind, on the other hand, did not seem to play a major role in teal’s decision to leave or not an area.
XXVIII SIE – Sessione poster 96
Human and non-human primates: visitors’ perception in a wildlife sanctuary
CHIARA GRASSO1,AUGUSTO VITALE2,SIMONE POLLO3,CHRISTIAN LENZI1
1 Associazione ETICOSCIENZA, Torino
2 Istituto Superiore di Sanità - Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e Neuroscienze, Reparto di Neuroscienze comportamentali, Roma
3 Sapienza Università di Roma - Dipartimento di Filosofia
chiaragrasso.eticoscienza@gmail.com
The considerable influx of tourists in parks and rescue centers represents a promising opportunity to investigate the relationship between public and primates. The present study was carried out in the free- roaming sanctuary, Monkeyland (South Africa), which hosted 600 rescued primates of 11 different species. An anonymous survey was conducted among visitors, containing general zoo-anthropological questions with the aim to evaluate their perception about wild animals. When analysing the data, macro categories were created for the reasons and motivations behind tourists’ choices, and no significant difference emerged between the behavioural categories and the aesthetic categories for the choice of the favourite primate. When inquiring about the desire to physically interact with a monkey (i.e., touching), we found no significant difference between male and female. The desire to interact physically, however decreased with the increase of the visitor age. Moreover, of the 237 visitors who desire such an interaction, only 11.4% think it was an appropriate encounter, while 85.2% think it wasn’t. Among those visitors who expressed no desire to touch the monkeys, 61.5% believe it was not correct for animal welfare, while 23.80% thought it can be dangerous for themselves. Finally, visitors were asked to indicate their favourite primate, and why. The preferred species of non-human primate among visitors was Lemur catta (15.5%) and the most cited reason for this choice was that this species was "Cute" (23%). The results indicate an awareness of the importance of animal welfare amongst the public, and respect for the primates’ wildness.
XXVIII SIE – Sessione poster 97