Spatial heterogeneity in human activities favors the persistence of wolves in agroecosystems

Differences in boldness between Eurasian and American wolves (Canis lupus) might be based on adaptive mechanisms

Boldness - defined as the propensity of individuals to take risks - is a key research area within animal behavioural studies, significantly affecting adaptive strategies, habitat selection, foraging behaviour, reproduction, dispersal, and other crucial survival behaviours. Despite the extensive study of personality traits like extraversion and curiosity across various animal species, data on wolves (Canis lupus), particularly on the subspecies level, remains sparse. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining boldness and its associated personality traits in different wolf subspecies (Canis lupus lupus, Canis lupus arctos, Canis lupus lycaon) (n = 23), and wolf-dog hybrids (n = 10), utilising novel object interaction tests and validated questionnaires previously applied to wild canids. Our results show significant differences in boldness as well as in related personality traits between taxa, both between pure wolves and wolf hybrids, with significantly higher boldness of North American subspecies. The inter-subspecies differences were more significant than the differences between groups or at the individual level, suggesting that subspecies ecology and historical selection pressure in subspecies history might have caused long-lasting adaptations in Canis lupus ssp.

An ensemble modeling approach to predict spatial risk patches of the Persian leopard-livestock conflicts in Lorestan Province, Iran

This study was conducted in the Lorestan Province in the west of Iran with two objectives of identifying major environmental variables in spatial risk modeling and identifying spatial risk patches of livestock predation by the Persian leopard. An ensemble approach of three models of maximum entropy (MaxEnt), generalized boosting model (GBM), and random forest (RF) were applied for spatial risk modeling. Our results revealed that livestock density, distance to villages, forest density, and human population density were the most important variables in spatial risk modeling of livestock predation by the leopard. The center of the study area had the highest probability of livestock predation by the leopard. Ten spatial risk patches of livestock predation by the leopard were identified in the study area. In order to mitigate the revenge killing of the leopards, the findings of this study highlight the imperative of implementing strategies by the Department of Environment (DoE) to effectively accompany the herds entering the wildlife habitats with shepherds and a manageable number of guarding dogs. Accordingly, the identified risk patches in this study deserve considerable attention, especially three primary patches found in the center and southeast of Lorestan Province.

Human presence as a determinant of the occurrence of mammals in a high diversity protected area of Cerrado-Caatinga ecotone in Brazil

The Cerrado domain and its biodiversity has suffered several anthropogenic influences. Our objective was to evaluate the influence of biotic and anthropic variables on the mammal community in a protected area in the Cerrado-Caatinga ecotone. For this we sampled the mammals using camera traps (4,072 days/trap) for 16 months. We used generalized mixed linear models (GLMM) with model selection via Akaike's Information Criteria corrected for small sample size (AICc) to assess the influence of variables on richness, abundance and functional groups of mammals. We made a total of 663 photographic records of 16 species of medium and large mammals. The richness and number of mammals was negatively influenced by the distance to human settlements while carnivores were not affected by any of the variables evaluated, herbivores and generalists were more common in areas closer from human habitation. Despite the presence of large areas of native vegetation, our results show that there is a dominance of common and generalist species. The protected area is vulnerable to different sources of human pressure and the design and implementation of a management plan can be a key tool for protecting biodiversity and regulating the use of natural resources by local communities.

Hide-and-Seek in a Highly Human-Dominated Landscape: Insights into Movement Patterns and Selection of Resting Sites of Rehabilitated Wolves (Canis lupus) in Northern Italy

Assessing the behavioural responses of floating wolves to human presence is crucial for investigating the chance of wolf populations expanding into urbanised landscapes. We studied the movement ecology of three rehabilitated wolves in a highly human-dominated landscape (Po Plain, Italy) to explore wolf's plasticity amid widespread human pressure. To reach this aim, we estimated individual 95% utilisation distributions (UD) after the release and inspected both 95% UDs and net squared displacements to identify individual movement patterns; tested for differences in movement patterns during day and night; and analysed the selection of resting sites during dispersal movement in a highly human-altered environment. Both the 95% UDs and step lengths were smaller for wolves settling in suitable areas than for those settling in more urbanised areas. All wolves exhibited strong temporal segregation with humans during all movement phases, particularly while dispersing across highly urbanised areas. Main roads and proximity to built-up areas were shown to limit wolves' dispersal, whereas small-wooded patches that provide shelter during rest facilitated long-distance movements. This study provides important insights into wolf movement and settling in urban and peri-urban areas, providing critical knowledge to promote human-carnivore coexistence.

Identifying connectivity for two sympatric carnivores in human-dominated landscapes in central Iran

Central Iran supports a diversity of carnivores, most of which are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Carnivore conservation requires the identification and preservation of core habitats and ensuring connectivity between them. In the present study, we used species distribution modeling to predict habitat suitability and connectivity modeling to predict linkage (resistant kernel and factorial least-cost path analyses) for grey wolf and golden jackal in central Iran. For grey wolf, elevation, topographic ruggedness, and distance to Conservation Areas (CAs) were the strongest predictors; for golden jackal, distance to human settlements, dump sites and topographic ruggedness were the most influential variables in predicting the occurrence of this species. Our results also indicated a high potential for large parts of the landscape to support the occurrence of these two canid species. The largest and the most crucial core habitats and corridor paths for the conservation of both species are located in the southern part of the study landscape. We found a small overlap between golden jackal corridor paths and core habitats with CAs, which has important implications for conservation and future viability of the golden jackal populations. Some sections of core areas are bisected by roads, where most vehicle collisions with grey wolf and golden jackal occurred. To minimize mortality risk, we propose that successful conservation of both species will necessitate integrated landscape-level management, as well as conservation of core areas and corridors and development of mitigation strategies to reduce vehicle collisions.

Human disturbance has contrasting effects on niche partitioning within carnivore communities

Among species, coexistence is driven partly by the partitioning of available resources. The mechanisms of coexistence and competition among species have been a central topic within community ecology, with particular focus on mammalian carnivore community research. However, despite growing concern regarding the impact of humans on the behaviour of species, very little is known about the effect of humans on species interactions. The aim of this review is to establish a comprehensive framework for the impacts of human disturbance on three dimensions (spatial, temporal and trophic) of niche partitioning within carnivore communities and subsequent effects on both intraguild competition and community structure. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on carnivore niche partitioning (246 studies) and extracted 46 reported effects of human disturbance. We found evidence that human disturbance impacts resource partitioning, either positively or negatively, in all three niche dimensions. The repercussions of such variations are highly heterogeneous and differ according to both the type of human disturbance and how the landscape and/or availability of resources are affected. We propose a theoretical framework of the three main outcomes for the impacts of human disturbance on intraguild competition and carnivore community structure: (i) human disturbance impedes niche partitioning, increasing intraguild competition and reducing the richness and diversity of the community; (ii) human disturbance unbalances niche partitioning and intraguild competition, affecting community stability; and (iii) human disturbance facilitates niche partitioning, decreasing intraguild competition and enriching the community. We call for better integration of the impact of humans on carnivore communities in future research on interspecific competition.

Large carnivores and zoos as catalysts for engaging the public in the protection of biodiversity

Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires renewed collaborative approaches. Large carnivores are ambassador species, and as such they can aid the protection of a wide range of species, including evolutionarily distinct and threatened ones, while being popular for conservation marketing. However, conflicts between carnivores and people present a considerable challenge to biodiversity conservation. Our cross disciplinary essay brings together original research to discuss key issues in the conservation of large carnivores as keystone species for biodiversity rich, healthy ecosystems. Our findings suggest the need to promote coexistence through challenging ‘wilderness’ myths; to consider coexistence/conflict as a continuum; to include varied interest groups in decision making; to address fear through positive mediated experiences, and to explore further partnerships with zoos. As wide-reaching institutions visited by over 700 million people/year worldwide, zoos combine knowledge, emotion and social context creating ideal conditions for the development of care towards nature, pro-environmental behaviors and long-term connections between visitors and carnivores. Based on current research, we provide evidence that large carnivores and zoos are both powerful catalysts for public engagement with biodiversity conservation, recognizing barriers and suggesting future ways to collaborate to address biodiversity loss.

Eurasian lynx fitness shows little variation across Scandinavian human-dominated landscapes

Despite extensive research on the ecology and behavioural adaptations of large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes, information about the fitness consequences of sharing landscapes is still limited. We assessed the variation in three consecutive components of female fitness: the probability of reproduction, litter size and juvenile survival in relation to environmental and human factors in a solitary carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), occurring in human-dominated landscapes in Scandinavia. We used demographic data from 57 radio-collared adult females between 1995-2011 (126 radio-years). Overall, the yearly probability of female reproduction was 0.80, mean litter size was 2.34 (range 1-4) and the probability to find a female that reproduced in the spring being accompanied by at least one offspring during the subsequent winter was 0.70. We did not find evidence that food availability was a key factor influencing female fitness. Female lynx may adapt to food availability when establishing their home ranges by adopting an obstinate strategy, ensuring a minimum amount of prey necessary for survival and reproduction even during periods of prey scarcity. In human-dominated landscapes, where sufficient prey are available for lynx, mortality risk may have a larger influence on lynx population dynamics compared to food availability. Our results suggest that lynx population dynamics in human-dominated landscapes may be mainly driven by human impacts on survival.

The denning behaviour of dingoes (Canis dingo) living in a human-modified environment

Little is known about reproduction and den site selection by free-ranging dingoes. We present observations of den sites used by dingoes inhabiting a large-scale mining operation located in the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia. We observed 24 dens concentrated within a 1-km radius. Den sites were generally situated in elevated positions overlooking the surrounding area, were a short distance from food and water resources, required vegetation (particularly spinifex grass) to provide a firm foundation and stable ceiling in the soft sand, and had single den openings that faced away from the rising and daytime sun. Distance to human structures or activity did not appear to influence site selection. Four of the dens were active, containing a total of 37 pups aged between two and four weeks of age. One den contained 18 pups of different ages, indicating that communal denning was also occurring. The high number of breeding females within close proximity suggests that multiple family groups are able to share resources and live in close proximity. Our findings highlight the importance of human-modified areas and abundance of resources in the reproduction and breeding site selection of dingoes.

Multimethod, multistate Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach for use in regional monitoring of wolves

In many cases, the first step in large-carnivore management is to obtain objective, reliable, and cost-effective estimates of population parameters through procedures that are reproducible over time. However, monitoring predators over large areas is difficult, and the data have a high level of uncertainty. We devised a practical multimethod and multistate modeling approach based on Bayesian hierarchical-site-occupancy models that combined multiple survey methods to estimate different population states for use in monitoring large predators at a regional scale. We used wolves (Canis lupus) as our model species and generated reliable estimates of the number of sites with wolf reproduction (presence of pups). We used 2 wolf data sets from Spain (Western Galicia in 2013 and Asturias in 2004) to test the approach. Based on howling surveys, the naïve estimation (i.e., estimate based only on observations) of the number of sites with reproduction was 9 and 25 sites in Western Galicia and Asturias, respectively. Our model showed 33.4 (SD 9.6) and 34.4 (3.9) sites with wolf reproduction, respectively. The number of occupied sites with wolf reproduction was 0.67 (SD 0.19) and 0.76 (0.11), respectively. This approach can be used to design more cost-effective monitoring programs (i.e., to define the sampling effort needed per site). Our approach should inspire well-coordinated surveys across multiple administrative borders and populations and lead to improved decision making for management of large carnivores on a landscape level. The use of this Bayesian framework provides a simple way to visualize the degree of uncertainty around population-parameter estimates and thus provides managers and stakeholders an intuitive approach to interpreting monitoring results. Our approach can be widely applied to large spatial scales in wildlife monitoring where detection probabilities differ between population states and where several methods are being used to estimate different population parameters.

Patterns of Exposure of Iberian Wolves (Canis lupus) to Canine Viruses in Human-Dominated Landscapes

Wildlife inhabiting human-dominated landscapes is at risk of pathogen spill-over from domestic species. With the aim of gaining knowledge in the dynamics of viral infections in Iberian wolves (Canis lupus) living in anthropized landscapes of northern Spain, we analysed between 2010 and 2013 the samples of 54 wolves by serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for exposure to four pathogenic canine viruses: canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus-2 (CPV), canine adenovirus 1 and 2 (CAV-1 and CAV-2) and canine herpesvirus. Overall, 76% of the studied wolves presented evidence of exposure to CPV (96% by HI, 66% by PCR) and 75% to CAV (75% by virus neutralization (VN), 76% by PCR, of which 70% CAV-1 and 6% CAV-2). This represents the first detection of CAV-2 infection in a wild carnivore. CPV/CAV-1 co-infection occurred in 51% of the wolves. The probability of wolf exposure to CPV was positively and significantly correlated with farm density in a buffer zone around the place where the wolf was found, indicating that rural dogs might be the origin of CPV infecting wolves. CPV and CAV-1 appear to be enzootic in the Iberian wolf population, which is supported by the absence of seasonal and inter-annual variations in the proportion of positive samples detected. However, while CPV may depend on periodical introductions by dogs, CAV-1 may be maintained within the wolf population. All wolves were negative for exposure to CDV (by VN and PCR) and CHV (by PCR). The absence of acquired immunity against CDV in this population may predispose it to an elevated rate of mortality in the event of a distemper spill-over via dogs.