Cecilia Di Bernardi

I am a postdoctoral researcher at Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, SLU. My research focuses on the ecology and management of large and medium-sized terrestrial mammals. 

Bachelor's degree in Biology (2015) at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, with a thesis in primate ethology carried out at the Unit of Cognitive Primatology and Primate Center, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome. Master's degree in Ecobiologia (2018) at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, with a thesis on arctic fox ecology conducted at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Norway. PhD in Animal Biology from the Doctoral Programme in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, in collaboration with the Scandinavian wolf research project SKANDULV at Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, SLU. 

Auclair, L.*, Di Bernardi, C.*, Sand, H., Åkesson, M., Zimmermann, B., Flagstad, Ø, Wabakken, P., Wikenros, C. (2025). Recruitment probability in a large carnivore: the role of biological and human‐related factors in early‐life. Oikos, e11422. https://doi.org/10.1002/oik.11422 *shared first co-authorship.

Di Bernardi, C.*, Chapron, G.*, Kaczensky, P., Álvares, F., Andrén, H., Balys, V., Blanco, J. C., Chiriac, S., Ćirović, D., Drouet-Hoguet, N., Huber, D., Iliopoulos, Y., Kojola, I., Krofel, M., Linnell, J. D. C., Majić Skrbinšek, A., Männil, P., Marucco, F., Melovski, D., Mengüllüoğlu, D., Mergeay, J., Mysłajek, R. W., Nowak, S., Ozoliņš, J., Ranc, N., Reinhardt, I., Rigg, R., Salvatori, V., Schley, L., Sunde, P., Trajçe, A., Trbojević, I., Trouwborst, A., von Arx, M., Zlatanova, D., Boitani, L. (2025). Continuing recovery of wolves in Europe. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. 4(2), e0000158. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000158 *shared first co-authorship.

Wikenros, C., Sand, H., Di Bernardi, C., Zimmermann, B. (2024). The role of predation, forestry and productivity on moose harvest at different spatiotemporal levels of management units. Wildlife Biology, (2024): e01248, https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01248 

Wikenros, C., Di Bernardi, C., Zimmermann, B., Åkesson, M., Demski, M., Øystein, F., Mattisson, J., Tallian, A., Wabakken, P., Sand, H. (2023). Scavenging patterns of an inbred wolf population in a landscape with a pulse of human-provided carrion. Ecology and Evolution, 13, no. 7: e10236, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10236

Di Bernardi, C., Wikenros, C., Ciucci, P., Boitani, L., Sand, H., Åkesson, M. (2023). Experimental feeding validates nanofluidic array technology for DNA detection of ungulate prey in wolf scats. Environmental DNA, http://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.434 

Tietgen, L., Hagen, I. J., Kleven, O., Di Bernardi, C., Kvalnes, T., Norén, K., Hasselgren, M., Wallén, J. F., Angerbjörn, A., Landa, A., Eide, N. E., Flagstad, Ø., Jensen, H. (2021). Fur colour in the arctic fox – genetic architecture and consequences for fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288(1959), 20211452. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1452

Di Bernardi, C., Wikenros, C., Hedmark, E., Boitani, L., Ciucci, P., Sand, H., Åkesson, M. (2021). Multiple species‐specific molecular markers using nanofluidic array as a tool to detect prey DNA from carnivore scats. Ecology and Evolution, 11(17), 11739-11748. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7918

Di Bernardi, C., Thierry, A. M., Eide, N. E., Bowler, D. E., Rød‐Eriksen, L., Blumentrath, S., Tietgen, L., Sandercock, B. K., Flagstad, Ø. & Landa, A. (2021). Fitness and fur colouration: Testing the camouflage and thermoregulation hypotheses in an Arctic mammal. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90(5), 1328-1340. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13457

Visalberghi, E., Di Bernardi, C., Marino, L. A., Fragaszy, D., & Izar, P. (2017). Female bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) use objects to solicit the sexual partner. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 131(3), 207-213. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000072