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Marginal habitats provide unexpected survival benefits to the Alpine marmot
Ferrari, Caterina Zanet, Stefania Rolando, Antonio Bertolino, Sandro Bassano, Bruno von Hardenberg, Achaz
Ferrari, Caterina
Zanet, Stefania
Rolando, Antonio
Bertolino, Sandro
Bassano, Bruno
von Hardenberg, Achaz
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Publication Date
2022-01-06
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Abstract
Age-specific survival trajectories can vary significantly among wild populations. Identifying the environmental conditions associated with such variability is of primary importance to understand the dynamics of free-ranging populations. In this study, we investigated survival variations among alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) families living in areas with opposite environmental characteristics: the typical habitat of the species (alpine meadow) and a marginal area bordering the forest. We used data collected during an 11-year study in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy) and performed a Bayesian survival trajectory analysis on marked individuals. Furthermore, we investigated, at a territorial level, the relationships among demographic parameters and habitat variables by using a path analysis approach. Contrary to our expectations, for most of the marmot’s lifespan, survival rate was higher in the marginal site closer to the forest and with lower visibility than in the alpine meadow site. Path analysis indicated that the number of families living close to each other negatively affected the stability of the dominant couple, which in turn affected both juvenile survival and reproduction. Given the lower number of neighbouring families which inhabited the marginal site and the potentially different predation pressure by the most effective predator in the area (Aquila chrysaetos), our results suggest that species adapted to live in open habitats may benefit from living in a marginal habitat. This study highlights the importance of habitats bordering the forest in the conservation of alpine marmots.
Citation
Ferrari, C., Zanet, S., Rolando, A., Bertolino, S., Bassano, B. & von Hardenberg, A. (2022). Marginal habitats provide unexpected survival benefits to the Alpine marmot. Population Ecology, 64(1), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390X.12104
Publisher
Wiley
Journal
Population Ecology
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DOI
10.1002/1438-390X.12104
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Article
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ferrari, C., Zanet, S., Rolando, A., Bertolino, S., Bassano, B. & von Hardenberg, A. (2022). Marginal habitats provide unexpected survival benefits to the Alpine marmot. Population Ecology, 64(1), 64-77, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-390X.12104. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1438-3896
EISSN
1438-390X