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Li Y, Wang H, Jiang Z, Song Y, Yang D, Li L. Seasonal differences of the Milu's home range at the early rewilding stage in Dongting Lake area, China. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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Long-Distance Movements of Feral Cats in Semi-Arid South Australia and Implications for Conservation Management. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11113125. [PMID: 34827857 PMCID: PMC8614416 DOI: 10.3390/ani11113125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary To efficiently control invasive animals, it is vital to have knowledge about their behaviour, their movements and how they use the landscape. Unusual behaviour is normally excluded from datasets, as it is considered to be an outlier that may distort analyses. In our study, we present movement data from feral cats in the arid and semi-arid zones of Australia. Feral cats are a serious problem to the native wildlife of Australia and in many parts of the world. Cats are known to show fidelity to geographic areas and may defend them against other cats. Until now, research has focused on these areas, home ranges or territories, that feral cats need to survive and reproduce. We argue that a part of their movement behaviour, large journeys away from the area they normally use, has been overlooked and has been considered to be unusual behaviour. We explain why we think that this is the case and present examples from other studies additional to our data set to show that these long-distance movements are a regular occurrence. To achieve a better protection of native wildlife from predation by feral cats, we believe that these long-distance movements should be considered as part of the normal behaviour of feral cats when planning cat control operations. Abstract Movements that extend beyond the usual space use of an animal have been documented in a range of species and are particularly prevalent in arid areas. We present long-distance movement data on five feral cats (Felis catus) GPS/VHF-collared during two different research projects in arid and semi-arid Australia. We compare these movements with data from other feral cat studies. Over a study period of three months in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, 4 out of 19 collared cats moved to sites that were 31, 41, 53 and 86 km away. Three of the cats were males, one female; their weight was between 2.1 and 4.1 kg. Two of the cats returned to the area of capture after three and six weeks. During the other study at Arid Recovery, one collared male cat (2.5 kg) was relocated after two years at a distance of 369 km from the area of collar deployment to the relocation area. The movements occurred following three years of record low rainfall. Our results build on the knowledge base of long-distance movements of feral cats reported at arid study sites and support the assertion that landscape-scale cat control programs in arid and semi-arid areas need to be of a sufficiently large scale to avoid rapid reinvasion and to effectively reduce cat density. Locally, cat control strategies need to be adjusted to improve coverage of areas highly used by cats to increase the efficiency of control operations.
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Laguna E, Carpio AJ, Vicente J, Barasona JA, Triguero-Ocaña R, Jiménez-Ruiz S, Gómez-Manzaneque Á, Acevedo P. The spatial ecology of red deer under different land use and management scenarios: Protected areas, mixed farms and fenced hunting estates. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 786:147124. [PMID: 33965822 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The knowledge regarding the spatial ecology of red deer (Cervus elaphus) in different environments is crucial if effective management actions are to be designed. However, this knowledge continues to be scarce in the complex contexts of mixed land use and management circumstances. This study describes the spatial ecology of red deer monitored using GPS collars in Mediterranean ecosystems of South-Central Spain, considering the effect of individual and seasonal (food shortage period, rut, hunting season and food abundance period) factors on different land use and management scenarios, namely protected areas, mixed farms and fenced hunting estates. Our results showed less activity (ACT), a shorter daily range (DR) and a smaller home range (HR) during the food shortage period: ACT: 0.38 ± (SD) 0.12; DR: 3010.9 ± 727.3 m; and weekly HR: 122.2 ± 59.6 ha. With regard to land use, individuals were less ACT and had a smaller DR on fenced hunting estates (ACT: 0.24 ± 0.12; DR: 1946.3 ± 706.7 m) than in protected areas (ACT: 0.59 ± 0.12; DR: 4071.4 ± 1068.2 m) or on mixed farms (ACT: 0.57 ± 0.29; DR: 5431.1 ± 1939.5 m) in all the periods studied. Red deer selected land cover with forage and shelter when foraging and resting, respectively. When drive hunt events occurred (mixed farms and fenced hunting estates), the deer were more prone to select safer habitats (scrublands) and avoid open areas (crops or grasslands) than were their counterparts in protected areas. The patterns observed can be explained by sexual and seasonal differences as regards requirements, the response to disturbances and, interestingly, population management. Our results provide useful information with which to design scientifically-based species adaptive management in response to relevant and timely situations in Europe, such as the potential transmission of shared infections, vehicle collisions, and damage to crops and ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Laguna
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Antonio J Carpio
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain; Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, C-1 Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Joaquín Vicente
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - José A Barasona
- VISAVET, Health Surveillance Centre, Department of Animal Health, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Roxana Triguero-Ocaña
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain; VISAVET, Health Surveillance Centre, Department of Animal Health, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Saúl Jiménez-Ruiz
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Universidad de Córdoba, 14014 Córdoba, Spain
| | | | - Pelayo Acevedo
- Grupo Sanidad y Biotecnología (SaBio), Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), UCLM-CSIC-JCCM, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
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Signer J, Fieberg JR. A fresh look at an old concept: home-range estimation in a tidy world. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11031. [PMID: 33954027 PMCID: PMC8048401 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
A rich set of statistical techniques has been developed over the last several decades to estimate the spatial extent of animal home ranges from telemetry data, and new methods to estimate home ranges continue to be developed. Here we investigate home-range estimation from a computational point of view and aim to provide a general framework for computing home ranges, independent of specific estimators. We show how such a workflow can help to make home-range estimation easier and more intuitive, and we provide a series of examples illustrating how different estimators can be compared easily. This allows one to perform a sensitivity analysis to determine the degree to which the choice of estimator influences qualitative and quantitative conclusions. By providing a standardized implementation of home-range estimators, we hope to equip researchers with the tools needed to explore how estimator choice influences answers to biologically meaningful questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Signer
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - John R. Fieberg
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
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Reiner G, Rumpel M, Zimmer K, Willems H. Genetic Differentiation of Wild Boar Populations in a Region Endangered by African Swine Fever. J Wildl Manage 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Reiner
- Working Group Wildlife Biology Justus‐Liebig University 35392 Giessen Germany
| | - Martin Rumpel
- Working Group Wildlife Biology Justus‐Liebig University 35392 Giessen Germany
| | - Karl Zimmer
- Institute of Veterinary Diagnostics Landesuntersuchungsamt 56068 Koblenz Germany
| | - Hermann Willems
- Working Group Wildlife Biology Justus‐Liebig University 35392 Giessen Germany
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