New review paper: The opinion of Italian herpetologists on the use of Criterion E for species assessmentrelated to the monitoring activities performed on Speleomantes cave salamanders
Can we agree with the Criterion E used to classify extinction risk by IUCN? Read here the opinion of some Italian herpetologists.
Title: Uncertain future and uncertain projections: assessing extinction risks in European salamanders from projected chytrid fungus invasion using IUCN Criterion E
Authors: Luca Coppari, Milos Di Gregorio, Claudia Corti, Stefano Merilli, Manuela Mulargia, Roberto Cogoni, Raoul Manenti, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Acta Herpetologica
Link to the article Uncertain future and uncertain projections: assessing extinction risks in European salamanders from projected chytrid fungus invasion using IUCN Criterion E
New data paper related to the monitoring activities performed on Speleomantes cave salamanders
This data paper collects information on multiple surface and subterranean populations of Speleomantes obtained throughout a four-year monitoring period. The high-quality pictures are supplied with additional information on individuals such as weight, presence of malformations and parasite load.
Title: Four years monitoring of the endangered European plethodontid salamanders
Authors: Luca Coppari, Milos Di Gregorio, Claudia Corti, Stefano Merilli, Manuela Mulargia, Roberto Cogoni, Raoul Manenti, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Scientific Data
Link to the article Four years monitoring of the endangered European plethodontid salamanders
New article on the trophic niche of sympatric salamanders
In this article we further studied the trophic niche of two sympatric salamanders: the Fire salamander Salamandra salamandra and the Italian cave salamander Speleomantes italicus. We here collected data on the autumnal diet and, besides comparing that of the two species, for each species we also evaluated seasonal divergences.
Title: Variability of Seasonal Trophic Niche in Two Sympatric Salamanders: Italian Cave Salamanders and Fire Salamanders
Authors: Fabio Cianferoni, Milos Di Gregorio, Claudia Corti, Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Herpetologica
Link to the article Variability of Seasonal Trophic Niche in Two Sympatric Salamanders: Italian Cave Salamanders and Fire Salamanders
New article on salamander diet specialization
In this article we assessed the consistency of individual diet specialization of three populations of Speleomantes ambrosii throughout a period of three years. We found evidence of significant variation of the proportion of specialized individuals between different seasons, and between different years when considering the same season.
Title: Yearly variation in individual diet specialization: Evidence from cave salamanders
Authors: Enrico Lunghi, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Raoul Manenti, Giorgio Mancinelli
Journal: Global Ecology and Conservation
Link to the article Yearly variation in individual diet specialization: Evidence from cave salamanders
New article on cave ecotones
In this article we analyzed the abundance of three facultative cave species inhabiting the transition zone between surface environment and deep cave areas. Speciefically, we examined the abundance of two spiders and one snail, identifying which are the environmental and biological factors affecting the number of observed individuals.
Title: Microclimatic Influences on the Abundance of Three Non-Troglobiont Species
Authors: Luca Coppari, Raoul Manenti, Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Diversity
Link to the article Microclimatic Influences on the Abundance of Three Non-Troglobiont Species
New article on telomere length in cavefish
In this article we analyzed the telomere length in both cave and surface form of Astyanax mexicanus. Our results identifies longer telomeres in surface fish compared to cavefish, while no effect of aging was detected within sampled individuals. We hypothesize that telomere lenght likely shortened in cave form as adaptation to the lower stressful environment.
Title: Telomere length and dynamics in Astyanax mexicanus cave and surface morphs
Authors: Enrico Lunghi and Helena Bilandzija
Journal: PeerJ
Link to the article Telomere length and dynamics in Astyanax mexicanus cave and surface morphs
Special issue book
We are pleased to inform that the collection of articles published in the special issue “Salamanders: Distribution, Diversity, and Conservation” edited by Dr. Lunghi is now available as a book. You can download the pdf for free from the link below.
Title: Salamanders: Distribution, Diversity, and Conservation
Editor: Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Animlas
Research Topic: Adaptations to Subterranean Environments
We are pleased to inform that the collection of articles published in the research topic “Adaptations to Subterranean Environments” edited by Dr. Lunghi, Prof. Niemiller and Dr. Bilandzija is now available as ebook. You can download the pdf for free from this link.
We collected 13 papers, 8 research articles and 5 reviewes. Below our editorial.
Title: Adaptations to Subterranean Environments
Editors: Enrico Lunghi, Matthew Niemiller, Helena Bilandzija
Journal: Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution
Special issue book
We are pleased to inform that the collection of articles published in the special issue “Cave Communities: From the Surface Border to the Deep Darkness” edited by Dr. Manenti and Dr. Lunghi is now available as a book. You can download the pdf for free from the link below.
Title: Cave Communities: From the Surface Border to the Deep Darkness
Editors: Raoul Manenti and Enrico Lunghi
Journal: Diversity