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Edelhoff H, Milleret C, Ebert C, Dupont P, Kudernatsch T, Zollner A, Bischof R, Peters W. Sexual segregation results in pronounced sex-specific density gradients in the mountain ungulate, Rupicapra rupicapra. Commun Biol 2023; 6:979. [PMID: 37749272 PMCID: PMC10520025 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05313-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Sex-specific differences in habitat selection and space use are common in ungulates. Yet, it is largely unknown how this behavioral dimorphism, ultimately leading to sexual segregation, translates to population-level patterns and density gradients across landscapes. Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra r.) predominantly occupy habitat above tree line, yet especially males may also take advantage of forested habitats. To estimate male and female chamois density and determinants thereof, we applied Bayesian spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models in two contrasting study areas in the Alps, Germany, during autumn. We fitted SCR models to non-invasive individual encounter data derived from genotyped feces. Sex-specific densities were modeled as a function of terrain ruggedness, forest canopy cover, proportion of barren ground, and site severity. We detected pronounced differences in male and female density patterns, driven primarily by terrain ruggedness, rather than by sex-specific effects of canopy cover. The positive effect of ruggedness on density was weaker for males which translated into a higher proportion of males occupying less variable terrain, frequently located in forests, compared to females. By estimating sex-specific variation in both detection probabilities and density, we were able to quantify and map how individual behavioral differences scale up and shape spatial patterns in population density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Edelhoff
- Wildlife Biology and Management Research Unit, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany.
| | - Cyril Milleret
- Faculty of Environmental Management and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Cornelia Ebert
- Seq-IT GmbH & Co.KG, Department Wildlife Genetics, Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Pierre Dupont
- Faculty of Environmental Management and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Thomas Kudernatsch
- Department of Conservation and Biodiversity, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany
| | - Alois Zollner
- Department of Conservation and Biodiversity, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany
| | - Richard Bischof
- Faculty of Environmental Management and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Wibke Peters
- Wildlife Biology and Management Research Unit, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany
- Wildlife Biology and Management Unit, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
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2
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Corlatti L, Iacolina L, Safner T, Apollonio M, Buzan E, Ferretti F, Hammer SE, Herrero J, Rossi L, Serrano E, Arnal MC, Brivio F, Chirichella R, Cotza A, Crestanello B, Espunyes J, Fernández de Luco D, Friedrich S, Gačić D, Grassi L, Grignolio S, Hauffe HC, Kavčić K, Kinser A, Lioce F, Malagnino A, Miller C, Peters W, Pokorny B, Reiner R, Rezić A, Stipoljev S, Tešija T, Yankov Y, Zwijacz‐Kozica T, Šprem N. Past, present and future of chamois science. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wlb3.01025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- L. Corlatti
- Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, Univ. of Freiburg Freiburg Germany
- Stelvio National Park Bormio Italy
| | - L. Iacolina
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, Univ. of Primorska Koper Slovenia
- Aalborg Univ., Dept of Chemistry and Biosciences Aalborg Denmark
| | - T. Safner
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biometrics, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
- Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Molecular Plant Breeding (CoE CroP‐BioDiv) Zagreb Croatia
| | - M. Apollonio
- Dept of Veterinary Medicine, Univ. of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - E. Buzan
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, Univ. of Primorska Koper Slovenia
- Faculty of Environmental Protection Velenje Slovenia
| | - F. Ferretti
- Research Unit of Behavioural Ecology, Ethology and Wildlife Management, Dept of Life Sciences, Univ. of Siena Siena Italy
| | - S. E. Hammer
- Inst. of Immunology, Dept of Pathobiology, Univ. of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Austria
| | - J. Herrero
- Dept of Agrarian and Environmental Science, Univ. of Zaragoza Huesca Spain
| | - L. Rossi
- Dept of Veterinary Sciences, Univ. of Turin Grugliasco (TO) Italy
| | - E. Serrano
- Wildlife Ecology&Health Group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Dept de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona Barcelona Spain
| | - M. C. Arnal
- Dept of Animal Pathology, Univ. of Zaragoza Zaragoza Spain
| | - F. Brivio
- Dept of Veterinary Medicine, Univ. of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - R. Chirichella
- Dept of Veterinary Medicine, Univ. of Sassari Sassari Italy
| | - A. Cotza
- Research Unit of Behavioural Ecology, Ethology and Wildlife Management, Dept of Life Sciences, Univ. of Siena Siena Italy
| | - B. Crestanello
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Centre for Research and Innovation, Fondazione E. Mach S. Michele all'Adige (TN) Italy
| | - J. Espunyes
- Wildlife Conservation Medicine Research Group (WildCoM), Dept of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona Bellaterra Spain
| | | | - S. Friedrich
- Wildlife Research Unit (WFS), Agricultural Center Baden‐Württemberg (LAZBW) Aulendorf Germany
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Univ. of Goettingen Göttingen Germany
| | - D. Gačić
- Dept of Forest Resources Use, Faculty of Forestry, Univ. of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - L. Grassi
- Dept of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS), Univ. of Padua Legnaro Italy
| | - S. Grignolio
- Dept of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Univ. of Ferrara Ferrara Italy
| | - H. C. Hauffe
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Centre for Research and Innovation, Fondazione E. Mach S. Michele all'Adige (TN) Italy
| | - K. Kavčić
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - A. Kinser
- Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung Hamburg Germany
| | - F. Lioce
- Conservation Genomics Research Unit, Centre for Research and Innovation, Fondazione E. Mach S. Michele all'Adige (TN) Italy
- Dept of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Univ. of Ferrara Ferrara Italy
| | - A. Malagnino
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA Grenoble France
- Dept of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea Univ. Swansea UK
| | - C. Miller
- Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung Hamburg Germany
| | - W. Peters
- Dept of Biodiversity, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Bavarian State Inst. of Forestry Freising Germany
| | - B. Pokorny
- Faculty of Environmental Protection Velenje Slovenia
- Slovenian Forestry Inst. Ljubljana Slovenia
| | - R. Reiner
- Inst. of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Univ. of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
- Berchtesgaden National Park Berchtesgaden Germany
| | - A. Rezić
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - S. Stipoljev
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - T. Tešija
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biometrics, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
| | - Y. Yankov
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Biology and Aquaculture, Trakia Univ. Stara Zagora Bulgaria
| | | | - N. Šprem
- Faculty of Agriculture, Dept of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Univ. of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia
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3
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Reiner R, Zedrosser A, Zeiler H, Hackländer K, Corlatti L. Habitat and climate shape growth patterns in a mountain ungulate. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8650. [PMID: 35309748 PMCID: PMC8901871 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Uptake and use of energy are of key importance for animals living in temperate environments that undergo strong seasonal changes in forage quality and quantity. In ungulates, energy intake strongly affects body mass gain, an important component of individual fitness. Energy allocation among life-history traits can be affected by internal and external factors. Here, we investigate large-scale variation in body growth patterns of Alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra, in relation to sex, age, temperature, and habitat variations across 31 (sub)populations in the Central European Alps. Taking advantage of an exceptionally large dataset (n = 178,175) of chamois hunted over 27 consecutive years between 1993 and 2019 in mountain ranges with different proportions of forest cover, we found that (i) patterns of body mass growth differ between mountain ranges, with lower body mass but faster mass growth with increasing proportion of forest cover and that (ii) the effect of spring and summer temperatures on changes in body growth patterns are larger in mountain ranges with lower forest cover compared to mountain ranges with higher forest cover. Our results show that patterns of body mass growth within a species are more plastic than expected and depend on environmental and climatic conditions. The recent decline in body mass observed in Alpine chamois populations may have greater impacts on populations living above the treeline than in forests, which may buffer against the effects of increasing temperatures on life-history traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rudolf Reiner
- Berchtesgaden National Park Berchtesgaden Germany.,Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna Austria.,Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health University of South-Eastern Norway Telemark Norway
| | - Hubert Zeiler
- Berchtesgaden National Park Berchtesgaden Germany.,Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna Austria.,Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health University of South-Eastern Norway Telemark Norway.,Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (German Wildlife Foundation) Hamburg Germany.,Wildlife Ecology and Management University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany.,Stelvio National Park Bormio Italy
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna Austria.,Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (German Wildlife Foundation) Hamburg Germany
| | - Luca Corlatti
- Wildlife Ecology and Management University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany.,Stelvio National Park Bormio Italy
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4
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Rice C, Larue B, Festa-Bianchet M. Variation in age of primiparity in mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) estimated from horn growth increments. CAN J ZOOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2021-0166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Variation in age of primiparity is important for population dynamics and wildlife management because it can affect population growth. Using a novel technique based on the trade-off between annual horn growth and reproduction, we estimated the age of primiparity for 2274 female mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus (Blainville, 1816)) harvested across British Columbia, Canada, from 1976 to 2019. We then investigated spatio-temporal variation in the probability that harvested females were primiparous when aged 3, 4, or 5 years and older using Bayesian ordinal regressions. We found that the probability of primiparity at 3 years decreased over time in nearly all mountain ranges. In the Coastal Mountain range, however, the probability of primiparity at age 3 significantly increased. These results suggest that the large coastal populations of mountain goats could be more resilient to harvest than other populations in British Columbia, which may be experiencing environmental effects promoting later primiparity. Models predicting age of primiparity from annual growth measures are a valuable tool for wildlife management and could help conservation of many species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad Rice
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Benjamin Larue
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Marco Festa-Bianchet
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
- Département de biologie et Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
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5
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Reiner R, Zedrosser A, Zeiler H, Hackländer K, Corlatti L. Forests buffer the climate-induced decline of body mass in a mountain herbivore. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2021; 27:3741-3752. [PMID: 33993622 PMCID: PMC8361913 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is known to affect key life-history traits, such as body mass, reproduction, and survival in many species. Animal populations inhabiting mountain habitats are adapted to extreme seasonal environmental conditions but are also expected to be especially vulnerable to climate change. Studies on mountain ungulates typically focus on populations or sections of populations living above the tree line, whereas populations inhabiting forested habitats are largely understudied. Here, we investigate whether forested areas can mitigate the impact of climatic change on life-history traits by evaluating the interactive effects of temperature and habitat characteristics on body mass variation in the Alpine chamois Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra. We examined data of 20,573 yearling chamois collected from 1993 to 2019 in 28 mountain ranges in the Austrian Eastern Alps, characterized by different proportion of forest cover. Our results show that the temporal decline of chamois body mass is less pronounced in areas with greater proportion of forest cover. For chamois living in forest habitats only, no significant temporal change in body mass was detected. Variation in body mass was affected by the interaction between density and snow cover, as well as by the interaction between spring temperatures and forest cover, supporting the role of forests as thermal buffer against the effects of increasing temperatures on life-history traits in a mountain ungulate. In turn, this study suggests a buffering effect of forests against climate change impacts. Assessments of the consequences of climate change on the life-history traits and population dynamics of mountain-dwelling species should thus consider the plasticity of the species with respect to the use and availability of different habitat types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rudolf Reiner
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- Berchtesgaden National ParkBerchtesgadenGermany
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
- Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental HealthUniversity of South‐Eastern NorwayBø i TelemarkNorway
| | | | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementUniversity of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Luca Corlatti
- Chair of Wildlife Ecology and ManagementUniversity of FreiburgFreiburgGermany
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6
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Tracking red deer population size using deterministic cohort analysis. Mamm Biol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00128-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
AbstractReliable and cost-effective monitoring tools to track population size over time are of key importance for wildlife management and conservation. Deterministic cohort analysis may be used to this aim, especially in hunted populations, but it requires that all mortality events are recorded and that individual age at death is known exactly. In this study, we investigated the reliability of cohort analysis as a relative index to track over-time variation in red deer (Cervus elaphus) abundance, in the absence of exact information about natural mortality and age. Visual tooth inspection was used to age 18,390 individuals found dead or hunted between 1982 and 2020 within the Trentino sector of the Stelvio National Park and the Val di Sole hunting district (Central Italian Alps). Temporal trend of reconstructed population size was checked using spring spotlight counts as a benchmark, through the Buishand range test and a linear model. Our results showed a significant and positive relationship between reconstructed population size and spring spotlight counts between 1982 and 2013, suggesting that cohort analysis could reliably track red deer population trend up to 7 years in the past. With a relative error of + 1.1 (SD = 1.5) years in the estimation of age, and fairly stable hunting pressure, our results support the use of deterministic cohort analysis as a relative index of abundance for monitoring red deer over time, even in the absence of exact information about natural mortality. Under violation of assumptions, however, the performance of deterministic reconstruction should be carefully inspected at the management scale.
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