Explanipedia

Unghosting the Sardinian wildcat: morphological and molecular characterization of a vanishing felid Open

Roberta Lecis, Federica Mattucci, Andrea Sforzi, Marco Muzzeddu, Romolo Caniglia · 2025

The Sardinian wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) belongs to a felid North-African lineage that reached the Mediterranean island in Neolithic times. While numerous studies have been conducted on the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvest…

Starving or Stuffing? Plasticity in Wild Boar Body Mass Variations During Summer in a Mediterranean Area Open

Martina Calosi, Niccolò Fattorini, Andrea Sforzi, Luca Tonini, Francesco Ferretti · 2025

Identifying determinants of key phenotypic indicators driving animal population dynamics is fundamental to address measures aimed at mitigating human–wildlife interactions. In Mediterranean areas, summer drought reduces the availability of…

From Nest to Nest: High-Precision GPS-GSM Tracking Reveals Full Natal Dispersal Process in a First-Year Female Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus Open

Giampiero Sammuri, Guido Alari Esposito, Marı́a Paulis, Francesco Pezzo, Andrea Sforzi , et al. · 2025

This report presents the first complete natal dispersal trajectory of a female Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus, tracked in real time from fledging to first breeding using high-resolution continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) telemet…

Delineating the contours of citizen science: Development of the ECSA characteristics of citizen science Open

Dilek Fraisl, Muki Haklay, Gerid Hager, Uta Wehn, Linda See , et al. · 2025

Background Citizen science is increasingly recognized as a valuable scientific approach across disciplines, contexts, and research areas. However, its rapid expansion and diverse methodologies make it challenging to establish a single def…

The dispersal of domestic cats from Northern Africa and their introduction to Europe over the last two millennia Open

Maurizio de Martino, Bea De Cupere, Valentina Rovelli, Patrizia Serventi, Marica Baldoni , et al. · 2025

The domestic cat ( Felis catus ) descends from the African wildcat subspecies Felis lybica lybica . Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Uncertainty remains regardin…

Moving away from home: Early life movements and space use in juvenile Montagu’s Harriers (Circus pygargus) from central Italy Open

Giampiero Sammuri, Guido Alari Esposito, Giuseppe Anselmi, Francesco Pezzo, Vincenzo Rizzo Pinna , et al. · 2025

Assessing individual differences and variability in animal movement patterns is essential to improve our understanding of the evolution and ontogeny of migratory strategies. In long-distance migratory species, fledged juveniles often rely …

Advancing Knowledge of Wetland Vegetation for Plant Diversity Conservation: The Case of Small Lakes, Ponds, and Pools in Maremma (Southern Tuscany, Central Italy) Open

Lorenzo Lastrucci, Federico Selvi, Enrico Bajona, Andrea Sforzi, Eugenia Siccardi , et al. · 2025

Wetlands are among the world’s valuable ecosystems for biodiversity conservation, but they are also among the most threatened habitats, heavily impacted by human pressures and threats. The Mediterranean basin features numerous small lakes,…

Advancing Knowledge of Wetland Vegetation for Plant Diversity Conservation: The Case of Small Lakes, Ponds and Pools in Maremma (Central Italy) Open

Lorenzo Lastrucci, Federico Selvi, Enrico Bajona, Andrea Sforzi, Daniele Viciani · 2024

Wetlands are among the most valuable ecosystems on the planet for biodiversity conservation, but also among the most threatened habitats in the world, strongly affected by human pressures and threats. The Mediterranean basin features numer…

Criteria for citizen science – a source of community empowerment or a barrier? Open

Gitte Kragh, Liesbeth Gijsel, Cristina Luı́s, Andrea Sforzi, Annelies Duerinckx , et al. · 2024

Citizen science (CS) initiatives are diverse, leading to a complex landscape of approaches and terminology. To address this complexity and foster a shared understanding, criteria were co-created with CS researchers, practitioners and citiz…

Criteria for Citizen Science – A source of community empowerment or a barrier? Open

Gitte Kragh, Liesbeth Gijsel, Cristina Luı́s, Andrea Sforzi, Annelies Duerinckx , et al. · 2024

Citizen science (CS) initiatives are diverse, leading to a complex landscape of approaches and terminology. To address this complexity and foster a shared understanding, criteria were co-created with CS researchers, practitioners and citiz…

X-Polli:Nation: Contributing Towards Sustainable Development Goals Through School-Based Pollinator Citizen Science Open

Poppy Lakeman Fraser, Laura Colucci‐Gray, Annie Robinson, Andrea Sforzi, Ruth Staples-Rolfe , et al. · 2023

As the citizen science (CS) community flourishes, there is an opportunity to reflect on how practitioners can widen participation and work with participants as co-researchers to investigate and take action around global challenges. Through…

Genetic Variability and Family Relationships in a Reintroduced Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Population: A Field-Lab Integrated Approach Open

Flavio Monti, Chiara Mengoni, Andrea Sforzi, Francesco Pezzo, Lorenzo Serra , et al. · 2023

Reintroductions represent an opportunity to restore local biodiversity and reverse the effect of taxa extinction. However, they need feasibility and monitoring plans before and during their implementation to ensure concrete and lasting res…

Against the flow: unexpected migration movements over the open sea by inexperienced ospreys Open

Flavio Monti, Giampiero Sammuri, Francesco Montillo, Olivier Duriez, Andrea Sforzi · 2023

Spatio-temporal patterns of the European wildcat in a Mediterranean coastal area Open

Francesco Ferretti, Lorenzo Lazzeri, Andrea Sforzi · 2022

The rhythm of the night: patterns of activity of the European wildcat in the Italian peninsula Open

Lorenzo Lazzeri, Paola Fazzi, Marco Lucchesi, Emiliano Mori, Edoardo Velli , et al. · 2022

Threatened and extinct amphibians and reptiles in Italian natural history collections are useful conservation tools Open

Franco Andreone, Ivano Ansaloni, Enrico Bellia, Andrea Benocci, Carlotta Betto , et al. · 2022

Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity around the globe and among the primary actors in the recognition of species and the logical repositories for their type specimens. In this paper…

Hotspots in the grid: Avian sensitivity and vulnerability to collision risk from energy infrastructure interactions in Europe and North Africa Open

Jethro Gauld, João Paulo Silva, Philip W. Atkinson, Paul Record, Marta Acácio , et al. · 2022

Wind turbines and power lines can cause bird mortality due to collision or electrocution. The biodiversity impacts of energy infrastructure (EI) can be minimised through effective landscape‐scale planning and mitigation. The identification…

BERNARDINO RAGNI AND THE WILDCAT OF THE OLD WORLD Open

Bizzarri Lolita, Andrea Sforzi · 2021

The conference ‘The European wildcat in Italy: current knowledge and future prospects’ is the first thematic national meeting of a series of annual events called ‘Fauna’ dedicated to the figure of the zoologist Bernardino Ragni. The meetin…

Atti del Museo di Storia Naturale della Maremma n° 25 Open

Bizzarri Lolita, Andrea Sforzi, Massetti Marco, Federica Mattucci, Lorenzo Frangini , et al. · 2021

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INTEGRATING INSTITUTIONAL DATA COLLECTION AND COLLABORATIVE MONITORING: THE ITALIAN WILDCAT PROJECT Open

Andrea Sforzi · 2021

Over the past decades, advances in technology have radically changed the way environmental data collection can be performed. Web-based facilities and smartphone apps have become increasingly common, considerably widening the opportunities …

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Trichuris sp. (Nematoda: Trichuridae) in Crested Porcupines (Hystrix cristata; Rodentia: Hystricidae) from Italy Open

Serena Cavallero, Margherita Montalbano Di Filippo, Emiliano Mori, Andrea Viviano, Claudio De Liberato , et al. · 2021

Adult specimens of Trichuris sp. collected from crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata) from Italy were characterized using an integrative taxonomic approach involving morphological and molecular tools. The morphological features of this Tri…

The interplay of wind and uplift facilitates over-water flight in facultative soaring birds Open

Elham Nourani, Gil Bohrer, Paolo Becciu, Richard O. Bierregaard, Olivier Duriez , et al. · 2021

Flying over the open sea is energetically costly for terrestrial birds. Despite this, over-water journeys of many birds, sometimes hundreds of kilometres long, are uncovered by bio-logging technology. To understand how these birds afford t…

Contours of citizen science: a vignette study Open

Muki Haklay, Dilek Fraisl, Bastian Greshake Tzovaras, Susanne Hecker, Margaret Gold , et al. · 2021

Citizen science has expanded rapidly over the past decades. Yet, defining citizen science and its boundaries remained a challenge, and this is reflected in the literature—for example in the proliferation of typologies and definitions. Ther…

Survival and cause-specific mortality of European wildcat (Felis silvestris) across Europe Open

Matteo Luca Bastianelli, Joe Premier, Mathias Herrmann, Stefano Anile, Pedro Monterroso , et al. · 2021

Using GPS tracking and stable multi-isotopes for estimating habitat use and winter range in Palearctic ospreys Open

Flavio Monti, Aloїs Robert, Jean-Marie Dominici, Andrea Sforzi, Rafel Triay Bagur , et al. · 2021

Contours of citizen science: a vignette study Open

Muki Haklay, Dilek Fraisl, Bastian Greshake Tzovaras, Susanne Hecker, Margaret Gold , et al. · 2020

Citizen science has expanded rapidly over the past decades. Yet, defining citizen science and its boundaries remained a challenge, and this is reflected in the literature - for example in the proliferation of typologies and definitions. Th…

The interplay of wind and uplift facilitates over-water flight in facultative soaring birds Open

Elham Nourani, Gil Bohrer, Paolo Becciu, Richard O. Bierregaard, Olivier Duriez , et al. · 2020

Flying over the open sea is energetically costly for terrestrial birds. Despite this, over-water journeys of many birds, sometimes hundreds of kilometers long, are uncovered by bio-logging technology. To understand how these birds afford t…

Sea-Crossing Along Migratory Flyways is More Strongly Limited by Wind than by Lack of Uplift Open

Elham Nourani, Paolo Becciu, Richard O. Bierregaard, Olivier Duriez, Sinos Giokas , et al. · 2020

Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea Open

Olivier Duriez, Guillaume Péron, David Grémillet, Andrea Sforzi, Flavio Monti · 2018

Most large raptors on migration avoid crossing the sea because of the lack of atmospheric convection over temperate seas. The osprey Pandion haliaetus is an exception among raptors, since it can fly over several hundred kilometres of open …

Migration distance affects stopover use but not travel speed: contrasting patterns between long‐ and short‐distance migrating ospreys Open

Flavio Monti, David Grémillet, Andrea Sforzi, Jean Marie Dominici, Rafel Triay Bagur , et al. · 2018

The development of migratory behaviour is a continuous process which is not only determined by genes, but also moulded by individual differences based on life‐history variations occurring at each ontogenetic stage. Assessing consistency an…

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