Article 8
Body mass and trophic level variations in relation to habitat disturbance in a set of mammal species
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C. BATTISTI1*, G. FANELLI2, F. CERFOLLI3, G. AMORI4, L. LUISELLI5
1 “Torre Flavia” LTERLTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Città Metropolitana di Roma, Parks Service, Via Tiburtina, 691, 00159 Rome, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy
3 Department of Ecology and Biology Sciences (DE B), Tuscia University, Largo dell’Università, snc, Blocco C, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
4 CNR Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
5 IDE CC, Institute for Development, Ecology, Conservation and Cooperation, Via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa 33, 00144 Rome, Italy and Department of Applied and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, PMB 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
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ABSTRACT . – We tested whether the species linked to progressively disturbed environments differed in terms of their body size and trophic level. We used a set of mammal species from a region of central Italy (Latium), for which both a representative amount of data (> 30 records) and their habitat preferences were obtained from a regional atlas. To assess the level of disturbance, we used the hemeroby index (HS). We categorized the focal mammals in three groups subdivided by their body size (small, medium, large) and trophic level (omnivorous, herbivorous, predators), and applied a suite of statistical analyses, including GLM modeling. We observed that at the increase of species’ body mass, the HS index significantly decreased, while no significant changes occurred when using the categories of trophic level. Species inhabiting or colonizing disturbed habitats are usually r-strategists with high dispersal rates and rapid recruitment, traits often associated to small body size. There was also no correlation between body size and trophic level by species.
