Camillo Cusimano

Identifying the environmental drivers of variation in fitness‐related traits is a central objective in ecology and evolutionary biology. Temporal fluctuations of these environmental drivers are often synchronized at large spatial scales. Yet, whether synchronous environmental conditions can generate spatial synchrony in fitness‐related trait values (i.e., correlated temporal trait fluctuations across populations) is poorly understood. Using data from long‐term monitored populations of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus, n = 31), great tits (Parus major, n = 35), and pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca, n = 20) across Europe, we assessed the influence of two local climatic variables (mean temperature and mean precipitation in February–May) on spatial synchrony in three fitness‐related traits: laying date, clutch size, and fledgling number. We found a high degree of spatial synchrony in laying date but a lower degree in clutch size and fledgling number for each species. Temperature strongly influenced spatial synchrony in laying date for resident blue tits and great tits but not for migratory pied flycatchers. This is a relevant finding in the context of environmental impacts on populations because spatial synchrony in fitness‐related trait values among populations may influence fluctuations in vital rates or population abundances. If environmentally induced spatial synchrony in fitness‐related traits increases the spatial synchrony in vital rates or population abundances, this will ultimately increase the risk of extinction for populations and species. Assessing how environmental conditions influence spatiotemporal variation in trait values improves our mechanistic understanding of environmental impacts on populations.

In this work, we collected records of Eurasian Thick-knee observations in Sicily by using scientific literature, citizen science programs, and social networks as data sources. The aims of this work is creating a complete and up-to-date dataset, which also includes the authors’ targeted research in the field. As compared with records previously reported in literature, the data collected here, which cover the last fifteen years, show a clear expansion trend for the Eurasian Thick-knee in Sicily. About one third of these new records come from Facebook groups dedicated to biodiversity, thus underlining the usefulness of unconventional sources to gather data on species with poorly known distributions. [Article in Italian]

In late April 2022, while listening to audio files from an unsupervised bioacoustic assessment of the shearwater populations (Aves, Procellariiformes) on the coast of Pantelleria island (Sicily, Italy), a cricket song of unknown attribution was heard. The first bioacoustic analyses, including FFT-based spectrograms and sound pressure envelopes, confirmed that it could not be attributed to the known sound of any Italian nor Mediterranean species of cricket. In the ensuing weeks, field research at the original station and further localities on the southern coast of Pantelleria provided photographs, living specimens, and further audio records. As soon as the photos were shared among the authors, it became clear the species belonged to the genus Acheta. Further bioacoustic analyses and morphological comparison with type specimens of Mediterranean and North-African congenerics in relevant collections and the scientific literature were conducted: they confirmed that the findings could onl...

The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long-term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild. Further, their number and global distribution provides a unique opportunity to assess the generality of patterns and to address broad-scale global issues (e.g. climate change). To solve data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolutionary research based on long-terms studies of birds, we have created the SPI-Birds Network and Database (www.spibirds.org) – a large-scale initiative that connects data from, and researchers working on, studies of wild populations of individually recognizable (usually ringed) birds. Within a year of the establishment, SPI-Birds counts 120 members working on more than 80 populations, w...

The breeding ecology of the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) was studied for 18 years in three different neighbouring habitats in Sicily, comprising oakwoods, reforested pine and a reforested mix of pine and broad-leaved trees. Both Blue and Great Tits laid eggs up to two weeks earlier in oakwoods than in the reforested areas. Our results indicate a statistically greater breeding success for both species in the oakwoods compared to reforested habitats, with the mixed reforested habitat having a greater success than that of reforested pine habitat. We also correlated reproductive characteristics with local air temperature to verify if the laying date of tits advanced over a long period of years. Even though a variable egg-laying trend was recorded in the three habitats, an overall negative trendline was obtained indicating that the onset of nesting advanced through the 18-year study period. On the other hand, the air temperature trend was positive over the s...

The phenology of many species shows strong sensitivity to climate change; however, with few large scale intra-specific studies it is unclear how such sensitivity varies over a species’ range. We document large intra-specific variation in phenological sensitivity to temperature using laying date information from 67 populations of two European songbirds covering a large part of their breeding range. Populations inhabiting deciduous habitats showed stronger phenological sensitivity compared with those in evergreen and mixed habitats. Strikingly, however, the lowest sensitivity was seen in populations that had experienced the greatest change in climate. Therefore, we predict that the strongest phenological advancement will not occur in those populations with the highest sensitivity. Our results show that to effectively assess the impact of climate change on phenology across a species range it will be necessary to account for intra-specific variation in phenological sensitivity, climate ...

Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nests of 21 species of hole and non-hole-nesting birds. There was a significant, positive relationship between clutch size and the base area of the nest box or the nest, and this relationship did not differ significantly between open nesting and hole-nesting species. The slope of the relationship showed significant intr...

Update on the distribution of breeding Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus in Sicily. In recent years<br> there have been numerous observations of Nightjar in areas where it had never previously been<br> observed. In some cases the reason may be a deeper exploration, but in other cases the possible<br> explanation is the expansion of the species. However, it is quite interesting the change in the habitat<br> by this species. The present paper provides an update of its status based on data collected in the<br> fifteen years following the publication of the last Sicilian Atlas of breeding birds.

Secondary hole-nesting birds that do not construct nest holes themselves and hence regularly breed in nest boxes constitute important model systems for field studies in many biological disciplines with hundreds of scientists and amateurs involved. Those research groups are spread over wide geographic areas that experience considerable variation in environmental conditions, and researchers provide nest boxes of varying designs that may inadvertently introduce spatial and temporal variation in reproductive parameters. We quantified the relationship between mean clutch size and nest box size and material after controlling for a range of environmental variables in four of the most widely used model species in the Western Palaearctic: great tit Parus major, blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and collared flycatcher F.albicollis from 365 populations and 79610 clutches. Nest floor area and nest box material varied non-randomly across latitudes and longitudes, ...

Passive wind dispersal is one of the major mechanisms through which organisms disperse and colonise new areas. The detailed understanding of which factors affect this process may help to preserve its efficiency for the future. Despite its interest, the analysis of factors affecting the aeroplankton dispersal in urban environments is rare in literature. We sampled the aeroplankton community uninterruptedly every 4 hours from 17 May to 19 September 2011 in the urban garden of Parco d’Orléans, within the campus of the University of Palermo (Sicily). Sampling was performed by means of a Johnson-Taylor suction trap with automatised sample storing. Weather variables were recorded at a local meteorological station. Overall, 11,739 insects were caught during the present study, about 60% of which belonged to the order Hymenoptera, with particular presence of families Agaonidae and Formicidae. The suction trap also captured specimens of very small size, and in some cases, species caught resul...