Biodiversity offsetting is a net‐outcome policy by which metrics are used to quantify the loss of wildlife and habitat due to development (generally building for housing, industrial purposes or infrastructure). An equivalent or greater quantity of biodiversity is supposedly created, protected or restored elsewhere. The literature on the merit of biodiversity offsetting is equivocal, largely because the policy is prescriptive in favour of development but overlooks the conflict between development and environmental deterioration (much as in other policy within the ambit of ‘sustainable development'). The unadmitted contradiction can be seen relatively easily by appreciating that the site scale and wider scales are largely discrete. Even if biodiversity net gain really were achieved in going from site to site, the wider prejudice of development would still be the overriding influence in the observed (wide‐scale) decline of wildlife. By facilitating ever more human environmental impact, biodiversity offsetting does the opposite of what it purports to do; it destroys wildlife.
{"title":"Biodiversity offsetting destroys wildlife","authors":"Philip J. Wilson","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01177","url":null,"abstract":"Biodiversity offsetting is a net‐outcome policy by which metrics are used to quantify the loss of wildlife and habitat due to development (generally building for housing, industrial purposes or infrastructure). An equivalent or greater quantity of biodiversity is supposedly created, protected or restored elsewhere. The literature on the merit of biodiversity offsetting is equivocal, largely because the policy is prescriptive in favour of development but overlooks the conflict between development and environmental deterioration (much as in other policy within the ambit of ‘sustainable development'). The unadmitted contradiction can be seen relatively easily by appreciating that the site scale and wider scales are largely discrete. Even if biodiversity net gain really were achieved in going from site to site, the wider prejudice of development would still be the overriding influence in the observed (wide‐scale) decline of wildlife. By facilitating ever more human environmental impact, biodiversity offsetting does the opposite of what it purports to do; it destroys wildlife.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141704989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antonija Rimša, Raffaella Schmid, A. Ilgaža, Martins Briedis, O. Keišs, S. Hahn
Migratory behaviour in seasonal environments affects host–pathogen relationships, especially for vector‐transmitted blood parasites of the order Haemosporida. The common starling Sturnus vulgaris is a short‐distance migrant where the north‐eastern European breeding population spend the non‐breeding season in temperate mild western Europe. Despite the high abundance and known susceptibility as a host, blood parasitism in wild starlings has rarely been studied with molecular methods. Here, we monitored haemosporidian parasitism in a Latvian starling population over four breeding seasons. We found a total annual parasite prevalence of 2.7–15.7% caused by four Haemoproteus, three Plasmodium, and one Leucocytozoon cytochrome‐b (cyt‐b) genetic lineages. Herein, seven of these lineages have been recorded for the first time in the common starling as host. Lineage‐specific parasitemia was generally low (Haemoproteus range: 0.008–1.028%, Plasmodium range: 0.002–0.005%, Leucocytozoon range: 0.003–0.004%) indicating chronic infection stages in all parasitised hosts during the breeding season. Additionally, the proportion of leukocytes in peripheral blood was enhanced in infected compared to non‐infected hosts indicating activated immune defence during the chronic infection stage. Finally, 11% (3 out of 27) of individuals had cleared the infection from peripheral blood after one year. Causes for the variability in infection prevalence in common starlings across years, as well as the transmission period during the host annual cycle, are still open for future studies.
{"title":"Haemosporidian parasites (Apicomplexa, Haemosporida) of breeding common starling Sturnus vulgaris in Latvia","authors":"Antonija Rimša, Raffaella Schmid, A. Ilgaža, Martins Briedis, O. Keišs, S. Hahn","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01293","url":null,"abstract":"Migratory behaviour in seasonal environments affects host–pathogen relationships, especially for vector‐transmitted blood parasites of the order Haemosporida. The common starling Sturnus vulgaris is a short‐distance migrant where the north‐eastern European breeding population spend the non‐breeding season in temperate mild western Europe. Despite the high abundance and known susceptibility as a host, blood parasitism in wild starlings has rarely been studied with molecular methods. Here, we monitored haemosporidian parasitism in a Latvian starling population over four breeding seasons. We found a total annual parasite prevalence of 2.7–15.7% caused by four Haemoproteus, three Plasmodium, and one Leucocytozoon cytochrome‐b (cyt‐b) genetic lineages. Herein, seven of these lineages have been recorded for the first time in the common starling as host. Lineage‐specific parasitemia was generally low (Haemoproteus range: 0.008–1.028%, Plasmodium range: 0.002–0.005%, Leucocytozoon range: 0.003–0.004%) indicating chronic infection stages in all parasitised hosts during the breeding season. Additionally, the proportion of leukocytes in peripheral blood was enhanced in infected compared to non‐infected hosts indicating activated immune defence during the chronic infection stage. Finally, 11% (3 out of 27) of individuals had cleared the infection from peripheral blood after one year. Causes for the variability in infection prevalence in common starlings across years, as well as the transmission period during the host annual cycle, are still open for future studies.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141353496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aleš Vorel, Ivo Kadlec, Tadeáš Toulec, A. Selimovic, Jan Horníček, Oldřich Vojtěch, Jan Mokrý, Lukáš Pavlačík, Walter Arnold, Jessica Cornils, M. Kutal, Martin Duľa, Lukáš Žák, Vojtěch Barták
Decades of persecution has resulted in the long‐term absence of grey wolves Canis lupus from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves has eased the pressure, allowing wolves to rapidly re‐establish territories in their previous central European habitats over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, these habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped 20 wolves, originating from seven packs in six central European regions, with GPS collars, allowing us to calculate monthly average home range sizes for 14 of the animals of 213.3 km2 using autocorrelated kernel density estimation. We then used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats used within each home range. Our data confirmed a general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase, and no specific pattern for non‐breeders. Predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests, though some wolves within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grassland, possibly influenced by local land use and high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re‐colonisation of central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively quickly across central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicts with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify any management implications.
{"title":"Home range and habitat selection of wolves recolonising central European human‐dominated landscapes","authors":"Aleš Vorel, Ivo Kadlec, Tadeáš Toulec, A. Selimovic, Jan Horníček, Oldřich Vojtěch, Jan Mokrý, Lukáš Pavlačík, Walter Arnold, Jessica Cornils, M. Kutal, Martin Duľa, Lukáš Žák, Vojtěch Barták","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01245","url":null,"abstract":"Decades of persecution has resulted in the long‐term absence of grey wolves Canis lupus from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves has eased the pressure, allowing wolves to rapidly re‐establish territories in their previous central European habitats over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, these habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped 20 wolves, originating from seven packs in six central European regions, with GPS collars, allowing us to calculate monthly average home range sizes for 14 of the animals of 213.3 km2 using autocorrelated kernel density estimation. We then used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats used within each home range. Our data confirmed a general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase, and no specific pattern for non‐breeders. Predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests, though some wolves within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grassland, possibly influenced by local land use and high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re‐colonisation of central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively quickly across central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicts with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify any management implications.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141351156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Mayer, Erlend Furuhovde, Kristoffer Nordli, Giorgia Myriam Ausilio, Petter Wabakken, A. Eriksen, Alina L. Evans, K. Mathisen, Barbara Zimmermann
Efficient wildlife management requires precise monitoring methods, for example to estimate population density, reproductive success, and survival. Here, we compared the efficiency of drone (equipped with a RGB camera) and ground approaches to detect and observe GPS‐collared female moose Alces alces and their calves. We also quantified how drone (n = 42) and ground (n = 41) approaches affected moose behavior and space use (n = 24 individuals). The average time used for drone approaches was 17 min compared to 97 min for ground approaches, with drone detection probability being higher (95% of adult female moose and 88% of moose calves) compared to ground approaches (78% of adult females and 82% of calves). Drone detection success increased at lower drone altitudes (50–70 m). Adult female moose left the site in 35% of drone approaches (with > 40% of those moose becoming disturbed once the drone hovered < 50 m above ground) compared to 56% of ground approaches. We failed to find short‐term effects (3 h after approaches) of drone approaches on moose space use, but moose moved > fourfold greater distances and used larger areas after ground approaches (compared to before the approaches had started). Similarly, longer‐term (24 h before and after approaches) space use did not differ between drone approaches compared to days without known disturbance, but moose moved comparatively greater distances during days of ground approaches. In conclusion, we could show that drone approaches were highly efficient to detect adult moose and their calves in the boreal forest, being faster and less disturbing than ground approaches, making them a useful tool to monitor and study wildlife.
{"title":"Monitoring GPS‐collared moose by ground versus drone approaches: efficiency and disturbance effects","authors":"M. Mayer, Erlend Furuhovde, Kristoffer Nordli, Giorgia Myriam Ausilio, Petter Wabakken, A. Eriksen, Alina L. Evans, K. Mathisen, Barbara Zimmermann","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01213","url":null,"abstract":"Efficient wildlife management requires precise monitoring methods, for example to estimate population density, reproductive success, and survival. Here, we compared the efficiency of drone (equipped with a RGB camera) and ground approaches to detect and observe GPS‐collared female moose Alces alces and their calves. We also quantified how drone (n = 42) and ground (n = 41) approaches affected moose behavior and space use (n = 24 individuals). The average time used for drone approaches was 17 min compared to 97 min for ground approaches, with drone detection probability being higher (95% of adult female moose and 88% of moose calves) compared to ground approaches (78% of adult females and 82% of calves). Drone detection success increased at lower drone altitudes (50–70 m). Adult female moose left the site in 35% of drone approaches (with > 40% of those moose becoming disturbed once the drone hovered < 50 m above ground) compared to 56% of ground approaches. We failed to find short‐term effects (3 h after approaches) of drone approaches on moose space use, but moose moved > fourfold greater distances and used larger areas after ground approaches (compared to before the approaches had started). Similarly, longer‐term (24 h before and after approaches) space use did not differ between drone approaches compared to days without known disturbance, but moose moved comparatively greater distances during days of ground approaches. In conclusion, we could show that drone approaches were highly efficient to detect adult moose and their calves in the boreal forest, being faster and less disturbing than ground approaches, making them a useful tool to monitor and study wildlife.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141381804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chiara Giari, L. Corlatti, Elena Morocutti, Ilse Storch, Friederike Zenth
Capture and manipulation are an integral part of wildlife research and management. These practices, however, can affect animals either directly or indirectly, and studies should generally evaluate the consequences of captures to ensure animal welfare and reduce sampling bias. Here, we investigated the indirect, behavioural effects of live‐capture on escape response to humans in Alpine marmot Marmota marmota within the Stelvio National Park (central Italian Alps) over three seasons (2021–2023). We used flight initiation distance (FID) as a measure of escape response and tested it in relation to capture status using linear mixed modelling. Captures did not have any detectable effect on escape response, and FID was best explained by covariates such as starting distance, distance to nearest burrow, current behaviour during the observation and year of observation. It might be that, in marmots, escape response to humans is a rather inert behaviour. As such, although we cannot rule out unmeasured effects, capture may not represent an excessively traumatic experience which could trigger immediate behavioural modification. In turn, capture is unlikely to compromise animal welfare or cause scientific bias in studies investigating escape response in this species, at least over the short term.
{"title":"Captures do not affect escape response to humans in Alpine marmot","authors":"Chiara Giari, L. Corlatti, Elena Morocutti, Ilse Storch, Friederike Zenth","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01292","url":null,"abstract":"Capture and manipulation are an integral part of wildlife research and management. These practices, however, can affect animals either directly or indirectly, and studies should generally evaluate the consequences of captures to ensure animal welfare and reduce sampling bias. Here, we investigated the indirect, behavioural effects of live‐capture on escape response to humans in Alpine marmot Marmota marmota within the Stelvio National Park (central Italian Alps) over three seasons (2021–2023). We used flight initiation distance (FID) as a measure of escape response and tested it in relation to capture status using linear mixed modelling. Captures did not have any detectable effect on escape response, and FID was best explained by covariates such as starting distance, distance to nearest burrow, current behaviour during the observation and year of observation. It might be that, in marmots, escape response to humans is a rather inert behaviour. As such, although we cannot rule out unmeasured effects, capture may not represent an excessively traumatic experience which could trigger immediate behavioural modification. In turn, capture is unlikely to compromise animal welfare or cause scientific bias in studies investigating escape response in this species, at least over the short term.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141268002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The global energy demand is growing, and the world is shifting towards using more renewable energy, like increased onshore wind power development. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) and Very High Frequency (VHF) location data from adult, territorial wolves Canis lupus in Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway; 1999–2021), to examine the potential for wind power development to affect wolf behavioural ecology. We examined the spatial overlap of areas proposed for wind power development with wolf territory activity centres prior to construction, to test to what extent overlap varies with season, time of day and social status (breeding versus non‐breeding wolves). Measures of overlap were the distance between wolf activity centre points and nearest proposed wind turbine, the probability of proposed wind turbines being within the activity centre, and the density of proposed wind turbines within the activity centre. The wolf activity centre points were closer to sites of proposed turbines in early summer than in late winter and the density of proposed turbines in the activity centre was higher in early summer than in late winter. These findings probably result from an altitudinal shift in wolf area use between summer and winter. We also found that the probability for proposed turbines to be within the activity centre was higher for non‐breeding than for breeding wolves during early summer, whereas it was higher for breeding compared to non‐breeding wolves during late winter. This difference might be an effect of that breeding wolves have a restricted area use during the early summer season (denning period), resulting in a lower probability of turbines being inside their activity centre as compared to late winter. There was no clear pattern for other seasonal and social status differences. The results should be viewed as a starting point for further research and supplemented with before‐after studies.
{"title":"Will future wind power development in Scandinavia have an impact on wolves?","authors":"Cecilia Miltz, Ane Eriksen, Camilla Wikenros, Petter Wabakken, Håkan Sand, Barbara Zimmermann","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01250","url":null,"abstract":"The global energy demand is growing, and the world is shifting towards using more renewable energy, like increased onshore wind power development. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) and Very High Frequency (VHF) location data from adult, territorial wolves Canis lupus in Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway; 1999–2021), to examine the potential for wind power development to affect wolf behavioural ecology. We examined the spatial overlap of areas proposed for wind power development with wolf territory activity centres prior to construction, to test to what extent overlap varies with season, time of day and social status (breeding versus non‐breeding wolves). Measures of overlap were the distance between wolf activity centre points and nearest proposed wind turbine, the probability of proposed wind turbines being within the activity centre, and the density of proposed wind turbines within the activity centre. The wolf activity centre points were closer to sites of proposed turbines in early summer than in late winter and the density of proposed turbines in the activity centre was higher in early summer than in late winter. These findings probably result from an altitudinal shift in wolf area use between summer and winter. We also found that the probability for proposed turbines to be within the activity centre was higher for non‐breeding than for breeding wolves during early summer, whereas it was higher for breeding compared to non‐breeding wolves during late winter. This difference might be an effect of that breeding wolves have a restricted area use during the early summer season (denning period), resulting in a lower probability of turbines being inside their activity centre as compared to late winter. There was no clear pattern for other seasonal and social status differences. The results should be viewed as a starting point for further research and supplemented with before‐after studies.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140966144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah Romanowski, Kelly Jowett, Dion Garrett, Chris Shortall
The common swift Apus apus is an obligate aerial, migratory, insectivorous bird, that has experienced significant declines in the UK since the 1990s. Reductions in the availability of prey during their summer breeding season in the UK are likely to be a key factor in this decline. This short communication aims to contribute new insights into the current foraging behaviours of adult swifts feeding their nestlings, as a means of provoking new conversation and stimulating further work. Food bolus samples are small ball‐like structures containing the insect prey that is regurgitated to nestlings. Boluses from adult swifts provisioning their nestlings were collected incidentally at a breeding colony in Suffolk, UK. These were taxonomically identified and compared to corresponding daily insect catches from a nearby Rothamsted Insect Survey suction trap operating within the foraging area of common swifts. There was a distinction between the contents of the bolus samples and the suction‐trap samples, whereby larger‐bodied aerial invertebrates appeared in greater numbers in bolus samples. This was evidenced by the relatively high numbers of agriculturally important species, pollen beetles, and cabbage stem flea beetles in bolus samples compared to low numbers in suction traps. Smaller invertebrates such as aphids (Aphididae), parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera), and thrips (Thysanoptera) were not frequent in the bolus samples, relative to the high numbers identified from the suction‐trap catch. These results are discussed in relation to swifts providing a pest suppression service, potential impacts of pesticides, and how selective foraging may both buffer and facilitate the challenges swifts face in a modern agricultural landscape.
{"title":"Swift sampling of farmland aerial invertebrates offers insights into foraging behaviour in an aerial insectivore","authors":"Hannah Romanowski, Kelly Jowett, Dion Garrett, Chris Shortall","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01294","url":null,"abstract":"The common swift Apus apus is an obligate aerial, migratory, insectivorous bird, that has experienced significant declines in the UK since the 1990s. Reductions in the availability of prey during their summer breeding season in the UK are likely to be a key factor in this decline. This short communication aims to contribute new insights into the current foraging behaviours of adult swifts feeding their nestlings, as a means of provoking new conversation and stimulating further work. Food bolus samples are small ball‐like structures containing the insect prey that is regurgitated to nestlings. Boluses from adult swifts provisioning their nestlings were collected incidentally at a breeding colony in Suffolk, UK. These were taxonomically identified and compared to corresponding daily insect catches from a nearby Rothamsted Insect Survey suction trap operating within the foraging area of common swifts. There was a distinction between the contents of the bolus samples and the suction‐trap samples, whereby larger‐bodied aerial invertebrates appeared in greater numbers in bolus samples. This was evidenced by the relatively high numbers of agriculturally important species, pollen beetles, and cabbage stem flea beetles in bolus samples compared to low numbers in suction traps. Smaller invertebrates such as aphids (Aphididae), parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera), and thrips (Thysanoptera) were not frequent in the bolus samples, relative to the high numbers identified from the suction‐trap catch. These results are discussed in relation to swifts providing a pest suppression service, potential impacts of pesticides, and how selective foraging may both buffer and facilitate the challenges swifts face in a modern agricultural landscape.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140964270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peter Sunde, Sofie A. Kjeldgaard, R. M. Mortensen, Kent Olsen
Wildlife that share habitats with humans with limited options for spatial avoidance must either tolerate frequent human encounters or concentrate their activity into those periods with the least risk of encountering people. Based on 5259 camera trap images of adult wolves from eight territories, we analyzed the extent to which diel activity patterns in a highly cultivated landscape with extensive public access (Denmark) could be explained from diel variation in darkness, human activity, and prey (deer) activity. A resource selection function that contrasted every camera observation (use) with 24 alternative hourly observations from the same day (availability), revealed that diel activity correlated with all three factors simultaneously with human activity having the strongest effect (negative), followed by darkness (positive) and deer activity (positive). A model incorporating these three effects had lower parsimony and classified use and availability observations just as well as a ‘circadian' model that smoothed the use‐availability ratio as function of time of the day. Most of the selection for darkness was explained by variation in human activity, supporting the notion that nocturnality (proportion of observations registered at night vs. day at the equinox) is a proxy for temporal human avoidance. Contrary to our expectations, wolves were no more nocturnal in territories with unrestricted public access than in territories where public access was restricted to roads, possibly because wolves in all territories had few possibilities to walk more than few hundred meters without crossing roads. Overall, Danish wolf packs were 6.5 (95% CI: 4.6–9.6) times more active at night than at daylight, which make them amongst the most nocturnally active wolves reported so far. These results confirm the prediction that wolves in habitats with limited options for spatial human avoidance, invest more in temporal avoidance.
{"title":"Human avoidance, selection for darkness and prey activity explain wolf diel activity in a highly cultivated landscape","authors":"Peter Sunde, Sofie A. Kjeldgaard, R. M. Mortensen, Kent Olsen","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01251","url":null,"abstract":"Wildlife that share habitats with humans with limited options for spatial avoidance must either tolerate frequent human encounters or concentrate their activity into those periods with the least risk of encountering people. Based on 5259 camera trap images of adult wolves from eight territories, we analyzed the extent to which diel activity patterns in a highly cultivated landscape with extensive public access (Denmark) could be explained from diel variation in darkness, human activity, and prey (deer) activity. A resource selection function that contrasted every camera observation (use) with 24 alternative hourly observations from the same day (availability), revealed that diel activity correlated with all three factors simultaneously with human activity having the strongest effect (negative), followed by darkness (positive) and deer activity (positive). A model incorporating these three effects had lower parsimony and classified use and availability observations just as well as a ‘circadian' model that smoothed the use‐availability ratio as function of time of the day. Most of the selection for darkness was explained by variation in human activity, supporting the notion that nocturnality (proportion of observations registered at night vs. day at the equinox) is a proxy for temporal human avoidance. Contrary to our expectations, wolves were no more nocturnal in territories with unrestricted public access than in territories where public access was restricted to roads, possibly because wolves in all territories had few possibilities to walk more than few hundred meters without crossing roads. Overall, Danish wolf packs were 6.5 (95% CI: 4.6–9.6) times more active at night than at daylight, which make them amongst the most nocturnally active wolves reported so far. These results confirm the prediction that wolves in habitats with limited options for spatial human avoidance, invest more in temporal avoidance.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140971662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elizabeth A. Brunton, Alexis L. Levengood, Thye Lim Tee, Lin May Chiew, Pradeep A. Gunasegaran, Yen Wah Seng, B. N. Yeoh, A. Tuuga, S. T. Wong
As the number of threatened wildlife species increases globally, captive rehabilitation and release of wild caught animals plays an increasingly significant role in conservation efforts, particularly where poaching threatens wild populations. Sun bear Helarctos malayanus populations are decreasing globally, with habitat loss and fragmentation and poaching as key threats to the species. This study aimed to assess post‐release behaviour of rehabilitated sun bears (n = 12) using GPS‐collar data to inform ongoing efforts to rehabilitate wild caught bears. We assessed spatial patterns of movement using kernel density estimates and utilisation distributions. We utilised an information theory (IT) and generalised linear modelling approach to assess temporal patterns of sun bear movement (n = 9). Post‐release home range estimates (mean = 56.68 km2, range:1.9–202.4) and behaviour varied widely between bears, with no significant difference in home range size between males (n = 3) and females (n = 6). Home ranges of most bears stabilised within the first month. Bears that were rehabilitated and released together did not spend a significant amount of time together following release. Bears were most active during daytime hours and most established a post‐release home range encompassing the riverside. The ultimate success of the releases is unknown, due to collar malfunction and damage, and the inaccessibility of the study terrain. We find that future releases of sun bears would benefit from soft‐release and in situ rehabilitation techniques. This study provides important insights into the complexity of bear reintroductions informing future rehabilitation and releases for threatened bear species.
{"title":"A window into the forest: post‐release behaviour of rehabilitated Bornean sun bears Helarctos malayanus euryspilus in Sabah, Malaysia","authors":"Elizabeth A. Brunton, Alexis L. Levengood, Thye Lim Tee, Lin May Chiew, Pradeep A. Gunasegaran, Yen Wah Seng, B. N. Yeoh, A. Tuuga, S. T. Wong","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01264","url":null,"abstract":"As the number of threatened wildlife species increases globally, captive rehabilitation and release of wild caught animals plays an increasingly significant role in conservation efforts, particularly where poaching threatens wild populations. Sun bear Helarctos malayanus populations are decreasing globally, with habitat loss and fragmentation and poaching as key threats to the species. This study aimed to assess post‐release behaviour of rehabilitated sun bears (n = 12) using GPS‐collar data to inform ongoing efforts to rehabilitate wild caught bears. We assessed spatial patterns of movement using kernel density estimates and utilisation distributions. We utilised an information theory (IT) and generalised linear modelling approach to assess temporal patterns of sun bear movement (n = 9). Post‐release home range estimates (mean = 56.68 km2, range:1.9–202.4) and behaviour varied widely between bears, with no significant difference in home range size between males (n = 3) and females (n = 6). Home ranges of most bears stabilised within the first month. Bears that were rehabilitated and released together did not spend a significant amount of time together following release. Bears were most active during daytime hours and most established a post‐release home range encompassing the riverside. The ultimate success of the releases is unknown, due to collar malfunction and damage, and the inaccessibility of the study terrain. We find that future releases of sun bears would benefit from soft‐release and in situ rehabilitation techniques. This study provides important insights into the complexity of bear reintroductions informing future rehabilitation and releases for threatened bear species.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140975617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scott J. Waller, K. Morelle, I. Seryodkin, Alexander N. Rybin, Svetlana V. Soutyrina, A. Licoppe, M. Hebblewhite, D. Miquelle
Knowledge of animal movement patterns is invaluable to understanding the spread of diseases among wildlife populations. One example is the recent African swine fever (ASF) outbreak among wild boar Sus scrofa populations across East Asia, where there is a lack of information on movements of this species. During a wild boar tracking project to inform abundance estimation methods in the Russian Far East's Sikhote‐Alin Biosphere Zapovednik, the combination of high variability in pulsed resources of acorns and pine nuts between fall 2019 and fall 2020, and the outbreak of ASF during the latter year, offered the unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between wild boar movements to exploit pulsed resources and the potential for disease spread. We analyzed relocation data from GPS‐collared wild boar in fall 2019 and 2020 and compared them to reference data in Belgium, representative of western Europe. We found remarkable differences in movement patterns, with Far East wild boar travelling large distances in fall 2020 (maximum observed of 77 km in four days) when the availability of acorns was low. In our resource selection analysis, we found clear selection for mast‐producing forest types that corresponded with the species of greater mast production (oak or pine) for that year. Comparing the displacement of individual wild boar along a moving window of 1–7 days (time between infection and the onset ASF symptoms) highlighted the potential of rapid ASF spread over long distances when wild boar are in search of pulsed resources. This work demonstrates the capacity of wild boar to move long distances to exploit resources and emphasizes the need to consider resource availability when predicting the speed and extent to which diseases such as ASF can spread.
{"title":"Resource‐driven changes in wild boar movement and their consequences for the spread of African Swine Fever in the Russian Far East","authors":"Scott J. Waller, K. Morelle, I. Seryodkin, Alexander N. Rybin, Svetlana V. Soutyrina, A. Licoppe, M. Hebblewhite, D. Miquelle","doi":"10.1002/wlb3.01276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01276","url":null,"abstract":"Knowledge of animal movement patterns is invaluable to understanding the spread of diseases among wildlife populations. One example is the recent African swine fever (ASF) outbreak among wild boar Sus scrofa populations across East Asia, where there is a lack of information on movements of this species. During a wild boar tracking project to inform abundance estimation methods in the Russian Far East's Sikhote‐Alin Biosphere Zapovednik, the combination of high variability in pulsed resources of acorns and pine nuts between fall 2019 and fall 2020, and the outbreak of ASF during the latter year, offered the unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between wild boar movements to exploit pulsed resources and the potential for disease spread. We analyzed relocation data from GPS‐collared wild boar in fall 2019 and 2020 and compared them to reference data in Belgium, representative of western Europe. We found remarkable differences in movement patterns, with Far East wild boar travelling large distances in fall 2020 (maximum observed of 77 km in four days) when the availability of acorns was low. In our resource selection analysis, we found clear selection for mast‐producing forest types that corresponded with the species of greater mast production (oak or pine) for that year. Comparing the displacement of individual wild boar along a moving window of 1–7 days (time between infection and the onset ASF symptoms) highlighted the potential of rapid ASF spread over long distances when wild boar are in search of pulsed resources. This work demonstrates the capacity of wild boar to move long distances to exploit resources and emphasizes the need to consider resource availability when predicting the speed and extent to which diseases such as ASF can spread.","PeriodicalId":54405,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140975969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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