The effects of a sudden urbanization on micromammal communities: a case study of post-earthquake L’Aquila (Abruzzi Region, Italy)

Abstract

The earthquake that occurred in L’Aquila (Abruzzi Region, Italy) on 6 April 2009 caused the destruction of many buildings and the deaths of 309 people. In summer 2009, new settlements were built in rural areas near L’Aquila to host part of the population whose houses were uninhabitable or had been totally destroyed. Our study is focused on the impact of these “new towns”, analyzing the variation of the micromammal community, from 2002 to 2013, through a barn owl pellet analysis. The study area is a 3-km buffer plot sited in the northwest of L’Aquila and affected by the so-called Progetto CASE (“Complessi Antisismici Sostenibili ed Ecocompatibili”) and Progetto MAP (“Moduli Abitativi Provvisori”). This analysis shows how the micromammal community has changed, qualitatively and quantitatively, because of the improvised and inadequately planned earthquake urbanization. For example, more sensitive species, such as wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and Savi’s pine vole (Microtus savii), both abundant before the earthquake, were replaced by the more anthropophilous house mouse (Mus domesticus) after the construction of the new settlements.