Love getaway: dispersal pattern and distance of the crested porcupine

The crested porcupine Hystrix cristata is undergoing a marked range expansion in Italy, and it is reaching the northern regions, where it was historically absent. We studied its dispersal ability by marking 86 subadult individuals through coloured tapes on dorsal quills, in contrasting environmental context (i.e. coastal scrubland, deciduous woodland, suburbs, rural areas and farmlands), in Southern Tuscany. Recaptures occurred only for 14 (16.3%) of them, allowing us to evaluate dispersal patterns, which ranged from 180 to 4896 m. We showed that no sexual difference occurred in dispersal distances, as expected by the monogamous mating system of this rodent. The season did not affect dispersal patterns significantly, although most of these movements occurred at the peak of the main reproductive season. Dispersal distance increased with increasing home range and with increasing woodland cover (i.e. % of study site covered by woodland). Forest reexpansion in Italy may thus have promoted the range expansion by this species during the last 40 years.