Gray squirrel in Italy. A critical appraisal to a recent paper.

Amerini R. & R. Battiston (2014): a few comments to a recent paper paper Recently uploaded to Academia.edu, the paper “La sottile linea di confine tra lo scoiattolo rosso Sciurus vulgaris e lo scoiattolo grigio Sciurus carolinensis” is very interesting for all people committed with conservation, ecology, and biogeography. However, in my opinion, the paper shows a great shallowness as regards the bibliographical information. In particular, it was not taken into account any of the papers published on the subject by Currado from 1987 to 2004. I suggest that authors consult the works of the late Prof. Italo Currado about the gray squirrel, and another species of squirrel introduced in Europe, including Italy, according to a process defined by the writer as "biogeographical Pollution". Italo Currado (1936 – 2005), Professor at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Turin,was among the most important experts of North American gray squirrel, at world level. He sounded the alarm against illegal import of these rodents, demonstrating the danger for the native species (red squirrel), so that is facing extinction, and the harmfulness to hazelnut crops in the Roero, Langhe and Monferrato. Follows a series of references to the work of Currado. I think is not possible to ignore the Currado’s research, especially dealing with this phenomenon in Italy References Currado I., Scaramozzino P.L., Brussino G., 1987. Note sulla presenza dello scoiattolo grigio (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788) in Piemonte (Rodentia: Sciuridae). Ann.Fac.Sc.Agr.Univ. Torino, XIV: 307-331. Currado I., Scaramozzino P.L., 1989. Pet or pest? Lo scoiattolo grigio nord americano, simpatico nei parchi, ma nemico di boschi e agricoltura. Piemonte Parchi, 27: 21-23. Currado I., Scaramozzino P.L., 1989. Grey Squirrel in Italy (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788). Fifth International Theriological Congress, Rome, 22-29 August 1989, abstracts volume: 538-539. Currado I., Piton P., 1991. Debarking behaviour in grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis (Rodentia: Sciuridae) on poplars in Piedmont (northwestern Italy). Third International Colloquium “The Rodent and its Environment”, Lyon, 6-8 March 1991: 8 pp. Currado I., 1995. Lo scoiattolo grigio americano (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin), nuovo nemico per l’arboricoltura da legno in Italia (Rodentia: Sciuridae). Atti del conv. “Arboricoltura da legno e politiche comunitarie”, Tempio Pausania, 22-24 giugno 1993: 85-94. Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., Wauters L., 1995. The grey squirrel in Italy, notes on the environment of the occupied areas and their surroundings. 2nd European Congress of Mammalogy, Southampton, 27.03-01.04.1995: 6 pp. Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., Fella M., Coscia L., Grattapaglia M., 1995. Habitat fragmentation and dispersion of the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in Italy. 3rd European Squirrel Workshop, Grafenau, Germania, 11-15.09.1995: 2 pp. Brussino G., Currado I., 1996. Lo scoiattolo grigio americano: una grave minaccia per pioppi, cereali, frutta, nocciole e... tartufi. Quaderni della Regione Piemonte, Agricoltura, I(1): 21-22. Wauters L., Gurnell J., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., 1997. Grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis management in Italy - squirrel distribution in a highly fragmented landscape. Wildlife Biology, 3(2): 117-124. Wauters L., Mazzoglio P.J., Currado I., Gurnell J., 1997. Replacement of red squirrels by introduced grey squirrels in Italy: evidence from a distribution survey. In: J. Gurnell e P. Lurz “The conservation of red squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris L”, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, London: 79-88. Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., Amori G., Wauters L., 1997. Rischi biologici delle introduzioni: il caso dello Scoiattolo grigio (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788) in Italia. Supplemento alle Ricerche sulla Biologia della Selvaggina 27: 277-284. Wauters L.A., Gurnell J., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., 1997. Grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis management in Italy – squirrel distribution in a highly fragmented landscape. Wildl.Biol., 3: 117-124. Bertolino S., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J. 1997. Squirrels in Italy. 4th European Squirrel Workshop, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Sweden, Abstract p. 3. 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Bertolino S., Mazzoglio P.J., Vaiana M., Currado I. 1999. Biologia riproduttiva e danni alla vegetazione prodotti da Callosciurus finlaysoni (Rodentia, Sciuridae). IV Convegno Nazionale dei Biologi della Selvaggina, Libro dei riassunti, p. 148. Bertolino S., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., Vaiana M. 1999. Danni a impianti per l’arboricoltura da legno provocati da Sciuridae alloctoni introdotti in Italia. II Congresso Nazionale di Selvicoltura, vol. 4: 501-506 Bertolino S., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J. 1999. Finlayson’s (Variable) Squirrel Callosciurus finlaysoni in Italy. Mammalia, 63 (4): 522-525 Currado I., Bertolino S., Mazzoglio P.J. 1999. Callosciurus finlaysoni (Horsfield, 1824). In: Mitchell-Jones A.J., Amori G., Bogdanowicz W., Kryštufek B., Reijnders P.J.H., Spitzenberger F., Stubbe M., Thissen J.B.M., Vohralík V. & Zima J.,(eds). The Atlas of European Mammals. The Academic Press, London: 184-185. Bertolino S., Currado I., Mazzoglio P.J., Amori G. 2000. Native and alien squirrels in Italy. Hystrix, Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 11(2): 49-58. Lurz P.W.W., Rushton S.P., Wauters L.A., Bertolino S., Currado I. , Mazzoglio P.J, Shirley M.D.F., 2001. Predicting grey squirrel expansion in North Italy: a spatially explicit modelling approach. Landscape Ecology, 16: 407-420. Bertolino S., Vaiana M., Currado Italo, 2001. Activity budget and foraging behaviour in the variable squirrelCallosciurus finlaysonii. Proceedings VIth European Squirrel Workshop, Acqui Terme, Italy: 3. Mazzoglio P.J., Bertolino S., Currado I., 2001. An attempt to determine population dynamics of introduced  alien squirrel species. Proceedings VIth European Squirrel Workshop, Acqui Terme, Italy: 18. Blengio L., Mazzoglio P.J., Currado I., 2001. Individual identification in the Variable Squirrel Callosciurus finlaysonii floweri (Bonhote, 1901) (Rodentia Sciuridae). 6th European Squirrel Workshop, Acqui Terme, 11-13.09.2001: 1 p. Bertolino S., Mazzoglio P.J., Vaiana M., Currado I., 2001. Comportamento alimentare dello scoiattolo variabileCallosciurus finlaysonii in un’area di recente introduzione. III Congresso Italiano di Teriologia, Sanremo, Libro dei Riassunti: 59. Bertolino S., Mazzoglio P.J., Vaiana M., Currado I., 2004. Activity budget and foraging behavior of introducedCallosciurus finlaysonii (Rodentia, Sciuridae) in Italy. Journal of Mammalogy, 85(2): 58-63. Bertolino S., Mazzoglio P.J., Vaiana M., Currado I. (in press). Reproductive biology and bark-stripping behaviour of Callosciurus finlaysoni (Rodentia, Sciuridae) in Italy. Biologia e Conservazione della Fauna.