In a context of climate change, ecological and physiological adaptations of organisms are of central importance for determining the outcome of niche challenges (e.g., with potential competitors) and species persistence. Typically, long-term data on free-ranging populations are needed to investigate such phenomena. Here, long-term data on a free-ranging population of western whip snakes (Hierophis viridiflavus: Colubridae) from central Italy were used in order to test the hypothesis that snake feeding frequencies should increase in relation to climate warming, thus positively affecting individual performance because of longer annual activity period, increased daily activity and larger prey base. Data from 231 'female snake-years' of records (including inter-annual recaptures) were collected were collected between 1990 and 2014. The frequency of fed snakes varied remarkably across the study period with a significant increase over the years. There was a significant positive effect of the mean annual temperature on the percentage of fed animals, whereas there was a nonsignificant relationship between yearly rainfall and percentage of fed animals. There was a positive relationship between mean annual temperature and yearly diversityof-prey index. No other climatic variables were significantly correlated with yearly diversity-of-prey index. This study supported the hypothesis that global warming may be favorable for thermophilic species (such as H. viridiflavus), as it enhances their foraging performances and hence their feeding frequencies. The same may not be necessarily true for other species which have colder preferenda (e.g., Zamenis longissimus).
Most dietary studies on predator species available in the literature are based on single populations, with no meta‐analysis across populations in distinct areas of their range. Here, we performed a systematic review of the available data on the food habits of barn owl (Tyto alba) across Italy, collected during the last 40 years in relation to the modeled patterns of richness of small mammal communities. The overall dataset came from 212 sites, with multiple surveys for some sites, and a total of 279 samples. There was a significant effect of sample size on niche breadth in each site. There was a significant difference in terms of dietary breadth among six distinct areas of Italy, with diet breadth being lower in Sardinia and higher in Latium‐Abruzzi, Tuscany, and North‐eastern Italy. Potential small mammal prey diversity was significantly different across distinct study sites, with Apulia and Sardinia having lower diversity than the rest of the sites. Potential small mammal prey diversity affected the niche breadth per site. Overall, the plasticity of the food niche breadth of the barn owl reflected not only local conditions but also more general distribution patterns of small mammal communities.
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