Dr. Luca Corlatti

CV

Luca Corlatti is a post-doctoral researcher in the field of animal behavioural ecology. After fieldwork experiences in Italy, Denmark and Sweden, he graduated in Environmental Sciences at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2006 with a thesis on ungulate demography. In 2008 and 2009 he has worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management in Vienna, Austria. Between 2009 and 2013, as a PhD fellow in Evolutionary Biology (Zoology) at Siena University, Italy (supervised by Prof. Sandro Lovari and Dr. Bruno Bassano), he has primarily focussed on the evolution of ungulate mating systems, specifically on the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of alternative tactics in a population of Alpine chamois in the Italian Alps. This interest has led to him to the project he has designed on the influence of anthropogenic effects on mating systems of mountain ungulates. He is also interested in other aspects of animal bio-ecology, such as population dynamics, spatial movements and abundance estimation.

Selected Publications

• Corlatti, L., Bassano, B., Polakova, R., Fattorini, L., Pagliarella, M., Lovari, S. 2014. Preliminary analysis of reproductive success in a large mammal with alternative mating tactics, the Alpine chamois, Rupicapra r. rupicapra. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, in press.
• Corlatti, L., Palme, R., and S. Lovari. 2014. Physiological response to etho-ecological stressors in male Alpine chamois: timescale matters! Naturwissenschaften, 101: 577-586.
• Corlatti, L., Béthaz, S., von Hardenberg, A., Bassano, B., Palme, R. and S. Lovari. 2012. Hormones, parasites and alternative mating tactics in Alpine chamois: identifying the mechanisms of life history trade-offs. Animal Behaviour, 84: 1061-1070.
• Corlatti, L., Lorenzini, R., and S. Lovari. 2011. Conservation of the chamois Rupicapra spp. Mammal Review, 41: 163-174.
• Corlatti, L., Lebl, K., Filli, F. and T. Ruf. 2012. Unbiased sex-specific survival in Alpine chamois. Mammalian Biology, 77: 135-139.

FRIAS Research Project

Mating systems and anthropogenic influence: a life history perspective on mountain ungulates

Mating behaviour is expected to vary between and within populations in response to variations of social and environmental factors. Anthropogenic influences may directly or indirectly impact on the predictors of animal mating behaviour, for example through the removal of certain phenotypes, or through habitat fragmentation or climate change and thus play a key role from a conservation perspective. The main objective of my research will be to provide a detailed analysis/discussion of the available information regarding the role of anthropogenic influences on the mating systems of mountain ungulates, a group of species that shows a variety of morphological adaptations to different environments and of social organizations. The successful pursuit of my main goal will depend upon the acquisition of a detailed knowledge of the mechanisms underlying mating systems of mountain ungulates and of the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on their life history traits. I therefore plan to adopt a 3-steps predictive approach, based on the fulfilment of systematic reviews that will aim to: a) provide a characterisation of the variation of mating systems within mountain ungulates; b) explore the effects of direct and indirect anthropogenic influences on the behaviour and life history traits of mountain ungulates; c) combine the body of knowledge gained from points a) and b) to investigate how anthropogenic effects can impact on predictors of mating behaviour. In this framework, I intend to develop concrete research hypotheses, which I then plan to address in a future, field-based research programme.