Aliens in their native country: the case of the Alpine marmot Marmota marmota (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia, Rodentia) in the Apennine ridge

Andrea Viviano,Emiliano Mori

doi:10.21426/b636054517

Abstract

Author(s): Viviano, Andrea; Mori, Emiliano | Abstract: The distribution of the Alpine marmot released in the Northern Apennines has been largely unstudied. In this note, we summarise the current distribution and the altitude range of the Alpine marmot in the Apennine ridge, 80 years after their first releases. We searched for marmot occurrence on the Apennines (i) on citizen-science platforms and (ii) through a webmail on Sciuridae distribution in Italy. We collected 80 marmot records validated by photos and by field investigations. We showed that Alpine marmots are present on over 70,000 ha in the Apennines, between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. Most occurrences were recorded between 1600 and 1700 m a.s.l., in lines with other works on this species. Although the introduction of the Alpine marmot in the Apennines appears to have been successful, further molecular and ecological data are needed to assess origins and potential environmental impacts (e.g. on soil stability) of these established populations. This work may represent a description of the current status of this species, to be compared with future monitoring. In turn, updating the distribution of the Alpine marmot in the Apennines in the next years may be useful to assess potential distribution shift towards higher altitudes as a response to local climatic change.n

Highlights

Mountain ecosystems include sensitive environments subject to wide seasonal variations, which require particular adaptations by the species they host (Monge and LeonVelarde 1991; Inouye et al 2000)
Assessing and updating the distribution of mountain mammals is important for taxa adapted to live in altitude prairies, i.e. above the tree line
Alpine marmots occurred in the Apennine ridge up to Pleistocene (Zimina and Gerasimov 1973), but not in historical times

Summary

Introduction

Mountain ecosystems include sensitive environments subject to wide seasonal variations, which require particular adaptations by the species they host (Monge and LeonVelarde 1991; Inouye et al 2000). Several isolated populations are the result of local introduction (i.e. those in the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Jura, Vosges and Apennines) and reintroduction (i.e. Eastern Alps) (Borgo 2003; López et al 2010; Priori and Scaravelli 2011) events This rodent is typical of alpine meadows and high-altitude prairies (Armitage 2000; Galluzzi et al 2017), mostly placed on south-facing slopes at 12002800 m a.s.l., occasionally found at lower and higher altitudes (range, 600-3600 m: Ferri et al 1992; Armitage 2000). Alpine marmots occurred in the Apennine ridge up to Pleistocene (Zimina and Gerasimov 1973), but not in historical times Their presence in Apennine regions does not represent a reintroduction, but an actual introduction, because individuals of both known subspecies (the Alpine one and the Carpathian one) were released in this area (Ferri et al 1992)

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