Explore the vast range of titles available.

Since the gray wolf was eradicated from large parts of Europe, this species has been recolonizing much of its former distribution, particularly since the past 30 years. Wolves benefit from European legal protection through the Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention, and reporting on the evolution of their populations in each country of Europe is mandatory. To monitor French wolf populations over the long term, a standardized high‐quality methodological framework has been developed to analyze data from noninvasively collected samples and assess population diversity. We delineated each step and implemented a laboratory control procedure to analyze 8733 samples harvested within the French distribution range of the species between 2006 and 2022, and provided key quality and diversity indicators. Of these samples, 82.8% were successfully amplified and sequenced for the mitochondrial control region. Subsequently, the wolf samples were genotyped at 22 microsatellite autosomal loci and a sex locus displayed over two independent multiplexes using the multitube approach. The average success rate of polymerase chain reaction per locus was 64.2% across all replicates. The residual genotyping error rates were low compared to those in other studies using non‐invasively collected samples, with mean residual allelic dropout rates of 5.8% per locus and mean residual false allele rates of 1.0% per locus. The high‐quality dataset identified 1735 individuals in total over the last 15 years, of which 99.9% exhibited a single Italo–Alpine mitotype. Genetic diversity was relatively low, with mean observed heterozygosity of 0.482 and mean expected heterozygosity of 0.519. This supports the natural colonization of the French Alps by a few individuals originating from the remaining Italian populations, which started approximately 30 years ago. By generating high‐quality standards and quality control processes, this protocol enhances the cost‐efficiency ratio of monitoring French wolf populations and holds high value for managers tasked with the management and conservation of wolf populations in the long term. This study aimed to describe the essential steps and control procedures for establishing a high‐quality, standardized methodological framework for long‐term monitoring of the French wolf population. We described a panel of 22 microsatellite loci, together with a sex marker, and estimates of key quality indicators for evaluating the framework. Finally, we used this panel to estimate the basic indicators of genetic diversity in the French wolf population.

Monitoring species in time and space is vital to identify changes in their status and to help define management measures to improve their conservation. Abundance is often used to monitor species at the population level. However, this metric is costly and requires intensive fieldwork, reaching limits in the context of elusive territorial species distributed over large areas. As a cost‐effective alternative, we developed a spatial metric to monitor such species using the grey wolf in France as a case study. We built a dynamic occupancy model for the wolf population in France and calibrated some parameters to turn site occupancy probabilities into occupied versus unoccupied sites. Then, we evaluated the performance of the model under different monitoring‐focus scenarios to catch, both at the national and local scales, trends in wolf demography in order to monitor the population and inform its status for the current and previous years. We calibrated the spatial metric to achieve the best trade‐off between avoiding false positives and false negatives. To do so, we aimed to match known occurrences of wolf permanent presence areas (packs and non‐packs) identified from naïve detection, as well as population sizes estimated from capture–recapture analysis. The best scenario performed efficiently to predict wolf presence and absence, as well as new permanent presence area occurrences. However, it detected less the disappearance of such areas, which are usually quickly recolonized when located in the core area of the species distribution. The spatial metric results were presented through three elements: annual maps of the predicted wolf presence, annual estimates of the total area occupied by the wolves at the national scale and evaluation of the changes in occupancy at a local scale from year to year. Practical implication. This spatial metric could be efficient to monitor species trends at a large scale while being more cost‐effective in data collection compared to capture–recapture analysis at such a large scale. While accounting for imperfect detection with presence–absence data, the different elements of the spatial metric also provide dynamic maps over the years, allowing for management processes at both national and local scales. Résumé Le suivi spatiotemporel des espèces est essentiel pour identifier des changements dans leur statut et définir des mesures de gestion visant à améliorer leur conservation. L'abondance est souvent utilisée pour le suivi des populations. Cependant, cette mesure est coûteuse et nécessite un travail de terrain intensif, atteignant des limites dans le contexte d'espèces territoriales faiblement détectables réparties sur de vastes zones. Nous avons développé une métrique spatiale, comme alternative plus efficiente, pour le suivi de ces espèces et présentons le loup gris en France comme cas d'étude. Nous avons construit un modèle d'occupation dynamique pour la population de loups en France et calibré certains paramètres pour transformer les probabilités d'occupation en sites occupés ou inoccupés. Ensuite, nous avons évalué la performance du modèle selon différents scénarios de suivi pour saisir, à la fois à l'échelle nationale et locale, les tendances de la population de loups et d'informer son statut pour l'année en cours et les années précédentes. Nous avons calibré la métrique spatiale afin d'obtenir le meilleur compromis entre les faux positifs et les faux négatifs. Pour ce faire, nous avons cherché la correspondance avec les zones de présence permanente des loups (meutes et non meutes) identifiées à partir d'une détection naïve, ainsi qu'avec les estimations de taille de population obtenues par modèles de capture‐recapture. Le meilleur scénario a permis de prédire efficacement la présence et l'absence des individus, ainsi que l'apparition de nouvelles zones de présence permanente. Cependant, il a moins bien détecté la disparition de ces zones, qui sont généralement recolonisées rapidement lorsqu'elles sont situées dans la zone cœur de la distribution de l'espèce. Les résultats de la métrique spatiale ont été présentés à travers trois éléments: des cartes annuelles de la présence prédite des loups, des estimations annuelles de la zone totale occupée par les loups à l'échelle nationale, et l'évaluation des changements dans l'occupation à l'échelle locale d'une année sur l'autre. Implication pratique. Cette métrique spatiale pourrait être efficace pour suivre les tendances de l'espèce à grande échelle tout en étant plus efficiente en ce qui concerne la collecte de données comparé aux modèles de capture‐recapture à une telle échelle. Tout en tenant compte de la détection imparfaite avec les données de présence‐absence, les différents éléments de la métrique spatiale fournissent également des cartes dynamiques au fil des ans, permettant d'informer le processus de gestion à la fois à l'échelle nationale et à l'échelle locale. As a cost‐effective alternative to abundance, we developed and calibrated a spatial metric to monitor elusive territorial species distributed over large areas. The spatial metric can provide three elements: annual maps of predicted presence, annual estimates of the total area occupied and evaluation of changes in occupancy at a local scale from year to year. We applied this monitoring metric to the grey wolf in France.

Wolves have large spatial requirements and their expansion in Europe is occurring over national boundaries, hence the need to develop monitoring programs at the population level. Wolves in the Alps are defined as a functional population and management unit. The range of this wolf Alpine population now covers seven countries: Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Liechtenstein and Germany, making the development of a joint and coordinated monitoring program particularly challenging. In the framework of the Wolf Alpine Group (WAG), researchers developed uniform criteria for the assessment and interpretation of field data collected in the frame of different national monitoring programs. This standardization allowed for data comparability across borders and the joint evaluation of distribution and consistency at the population level. We documented the increase in the number of wolf reproductive units (packs and pairs) over 21 years, from 1 in 1993–1994 up to 243 units in 2020–2021, and examined the pattern of expansion over the Alps. This long-term and large-scale approach is a successful example of transboundary monitoring of a large carnivore population that, despite administrative fragmentation, provides robust indexes of population size and distribution that are of relevance for wolf conservation and management at the transnational Alpine scale.

Obtaining estimates of animal population density is a key step in providing sound conservation and management strategies for wildlife. For many large carnivores however, estimating density is difficult because these species are elusive and wide-ranging. Here, we focus on providing the first density estimates of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the French Jura and Vosges mountains. We sampled a total of 413 camera trapping sites (with two cameras per site) between January 2011 and April 2016 in seven study areas across seven counties of the French Jura and Vosges mountains. We obtained 592 lynx detections over 19,035 trap days in the Jura mountains and 0 detection over 6,804 trap days in the Vosges mountains. Based on coat patterns, we identified a total number of 92 unique individuals from photographs, including 16 females, 13 males, and 63 individuals of unknown sex. Using spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, we estimated abundance in the study areas between 5 (SE = 0.1) and 29 (0.2) lynx and density between 0.24 (SE = 0.02) and 0.91 (SE = 0.03) lynx per 100 km2. We also provide a comparison with nonspatial density estimates and discuss the observed discrepancies. Our study is yet another example of the advantage of combining SCR methods and noninvasive sampling techniques to estimate density for elusive and wide-ranging species, like large carnivores. While the estimated densities in the French Jura mountains are comparable to other lynx populations in Europe, the fact that we detected no lynx in the Vosges mountains is alarming. Connectivity should be encouraged between the French Jura mountains, the Vosges mountains, and the Palatinate Forest in Germany where a reintroduction program is currently ongoing. Our density estimates will help in setting a baseline conservation status for the lynx population in France.

Recently, a minimally invasive procedure based on a laser technique (SiLaT) has been developed for the treatment of pilonidal cysts. Although less invasive and less painful than surgery, this solution is nevertheless limited by its high cost. Other more affordable laser devices, such as the holmium laser, are also used in minimally invasive surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using the holmium laser instead of the SiLaT laser in the treatment of pilonidal cysts. Retrospective cohort study with the primary endpoint being the cure rate one month after treatment. Median duration of local care was 21 days (mean = 22 ± 7.5) and healing rate at 1 month was 90.7%. During follow-up, 102 patients (44.9%) experienced pain in the coccygeal region often exacerbated by sitting and significantly more common in people with a small frame, overwhelmingly female. A surgical site infection was reported in 36 patients (15.9%). Recurrence, occurred in 39 patients (17.2%), was related to cyst type (type 1 do not recur, type 3 recur twice three time than type 2). Holmium laser does not differ from SiLaT laser in the healing rate of pilonidal cysts after treatment. However, it is characterised by a moderately higher incidence of complications, foremost of which is the occurrence of pain that can persist for up to a year after the procedure and which could be related to an increase in heat inherent to the use of holmium. As a result, this procedure does not seem to represent an alternative to SiLaT.

The efficiency of the management of predations on livestock by gray wolves (Canis lupus) through culling is under debate. Evaluating wolf culling efficiency requires to simultaneously analyze the effects of culling on the wolf population and the repercussions of these population changes on livestock predation. This protocol is technically difficult to implement in the field. To properly assess culling efficiency, we provided an integrated and flexible individual‐based model that simulated interactions between wolf population dynamics, predation behavior and culling management. We considered many social processes in wolves. We calibrated the model to match the Western Alps as a case study. By considering the prey community in this area and the opportunistic nature of wolf predation, we assumed that predation on livestock at the wolf territory level increased with pack's food needs. Under this assumption and considering livestock availability as high and livestock vulnerability as uniform in space and time, culling maintained wolf population size and predation risks at low levels. Contrary to what was expected, culling decreased the mean annual proportions of dispersing wolves in our simulations, by speeding settlement. This population‐level mechanism compensated for the high mortality and the pack instability caused by culling. Compensation was however dependent on the selectivity and the timing of culling. When executed before the natural mortality module in our model, the selective culling could undermine replacement of lost breeders and therefore decrease wolf population resilience to culling. Our model gives insights about culling effects in one specific simulated context, but we do not expect that our assumption about predation behavior necessarily holds in other ecological contexts and we therefore encourage further explorations of the model.

Diseases likely affect large carnivore demography and can hinder conservation efforts. We considered three highly contagious viruses that infect a wide range of domestic and wild mammals: canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2), canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine enteric coronaviruses (CECoV). Infection by either one of these viruses can affect populations through increased mortality and/or decreased general health. We investigated infection in the wolf populations of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise National Park (PNALM), Italy, and of Mercantour National Park (PNM), France. Faecal samples were collected during one winter, from October to March, from four packs in PNALM (n = 79) and from four packs in PNM (n = 66). We screened samples for specific sequences of viral nucleic acids. To our knowledge, our study is the first documented report of CECoV infection in wolves outside Alaska, and of the large-scale occurrence of CPV-2 in European wolf populations. The results suggest that CPV-2 is enzootic in the population of PNALM, but not in PNM and that CECoV is episodic in both areas. We did not detect CDV. Our findings suggest that density and spatial distribution of susceptible hosts, in particular free-ranging dogs, can be important factors influencing infections in wolves. This comparative study is an important step in evaluating the nature of possible disease threats in the studied wolf populations. Recent emergence of new viral strains in Europe additionally strengthens the need for proactive monitoring of wolves and other susceptible sympatric species for viral threats and other impairing infections.

To document and halt biodiversity loss, monitoring, quantifying trends and assessing management and conservation strategies on wildlife populations and communities are crucial steps. With increasing technological innovations, more and more data are collected and new quantitative methods are constantly developed. These rapid developments come with an increasing need for analytical skills, which are hardly accessible to managers. On the other hand, researchers spend more and more time on research grant applications and administrative tasks, which leaves fewer opportunities for knowledge transfer. This situation tends to increase the gap between researchers and managers. Here, we illustrate how to fill this gap by presenting two long‐term collaborations between a research unit—Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology; CEFE—and a national agency—French Biodiversity Agency; OFB. The first example is a collaboration providing statistical support to national parks for the design and implementation of scientific monitoring protocols. It relies on the recruitment of a research engineer funded by OFB and physically based at CEFE, who works closely with OFB and managers. The second example is a collaboration on the management of large carnivores. For more than 10 years, it has involved several PhD students and post‐doctoral fellows co‐supervised by CEFE and OFB, and has recently resulted in the recruitment of a permanent OFB researcher who works half‐time at CEFE and half‐time at OFB. These case studies illustrate the modalities of collaborative work between public institutions acting at different levels of biodiversity conservation for the co‐construction of research agendas and the exchange of knowledge. These collaborations also bring out some challenges. Inter‐knowledge and mutual learning remain difficult at scales larger than that of the teams concerned. The staff working at this interface needs to possess good listening skills, respect all partners' needs and demonstrate flexibility. Knowledge exchanges require time, thus reducing productivity according to quantitative metrics such as scientific publications or institutional reports. These collaborations can therefore be difficult to assume socially, and remain tenuous because they rely on a good understanding of the differences in governance of the various partners. Based on our experience, success is favoured by long‐term and close relationships, and by co‐construction of projects at early stage. Sharing a space (i.e. office or building) facilitates face‐to‐face interactions during planned work sessions and casual meetings that build up a shared scientific culture and mutual trust. Résumé Pour documenter et enrayer la perte de biodiversité, plusieurs étapes clés consistent à surveiller, quantifier les tendances et évaluer les stratégies de gestion des populations d’espèces sauvages. Grâce aux innovations technologiques croissantes, de plus en plus de données sont collectées et de nouvelles approches quantitatives sont constamment proposées. Ces développements rapides s’accompagnent d’un besoin croissant de compétences analytiques. Cette situation tend à creuser le fossé entre les chercheurs et les gestionnaires. Nous illustrons ici la manière de combler ce fossé en présentant deux collaborations de long terme entre une unité de recherche – le Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (CEFE) – et un organisme public – l’Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB). Le premier exemple est une collaboration visant à fournir un soutien statistique aux parcs nationaux pour la conception et la mise en œuvre de protocoles de suivi scientifique. Cette collaboration s’appuie sur le recrutement d’un ingénieur de recherche financé par l’OFB, basé physiquement au CEFE, et qui travaille en étroite collaboration avec l’OFB. Le deuxième exemple est une collaboration sur la gestion des grands carnivores. Depuis plus de 10 ans, cette collaboration a impliqué plusieurs personnes en doctorat et post‐doctorat co‐encadrées par le CEFE et l’OFB, et a récemment abouti au recrutement d’une chercheuse permanente par l’OFB qui partage son temps de travail entre le CEFE et l’OFB. Ces études de cas illustrent les modalités d’un travail collaboratif entre des institutions publiques opérant à différents niveaux de la conservation de la biodiversité pour la co‐construction d’agendas de recherche et le partage de connaissances. Ces collaborations s’accompagnent aussi de plusieurs défis. L'interconnaissance et l’apprentissage mutuel restent difficiles à des échelles plus grandes que celles des équipes concernées. Le personnel travaillant à cette interface doit faire preuve d'une bonne capacité d’écoute, respecter les besoins de tous les partenaires et faire preuve de flexibilité. L’échange de connaissances nécessite du temps, ce qui réduit la productivité mesurée selon des indicateurs quantitatifs basés sur les publications scientifiques ou les rapports institutionnels. Ces collaborations peuvent être difficiles à assumer socialement et restent fragiles car elles dépendent d’une bonne compréhension des différences de gouvernance entre les différents partenaires. Selon notre expérience, le succès d’une telle collaboration est favorisé par des relations étroites et à long terme, et par la co‐construction de projets à un stade précoce. Le partage d’un espace facilite les interactions en face‐à‐face lors des sessions de travail planifiées et les rencontres occasionnelles qui construisent une culture scientifique partagée et une confiance mutuelle.

An estimate of changes in a species’ distribution range is a key variable in assessing its conservation status. It may be based on the direct detection of individuals, or on the use of indirect presence sign surveys. In both cases, the process requires one to switch from a point-based approach, where individuals/presence signs are located using a coordinate system, to an area-based one, each original point being replaced by a cell area unit (CAU), with a given shape and size. The estimated distribution range (EDR) is the spatial union of the CAUs over the area of interest. Based on wolf presence signs collected in France (1996–2006), we analysed the influence of the shape and size of types of CAUs (circular area versus square grid mesh; 6, 25, 50 and 100 km 2 ) on the changes in EDR. EDR increased with time and a saturating phase was noticed by the end of the period. We assessed the effects of the year and the type of CAU on EDR using exploratory data analysis. Larger CAUs resulted logically in larger EDR values, whatever the CAU shape. For a given CAU size, contiguous square grids yielded larger EDR values than overlapping circular buffers. The effect of the interactions between the year and the type of CAU on EDR changes was evidenced using an auto-modelling method based on principal component analysis. Compared to smaller units, larger CAUs resulted in larger growth rates during the range increase phase, and in smaller rates during the saturating phase. A basic and descriptive conceptual model helped interpreting this pattern as a consequence of the characteristics of the colonisation process in the wolf population. We discuss the present results within the framework of conservation status assessment and management of the wolf population.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are important statistical tools for ecologists to understand and predict species range. However, standard SDMs do not explicitly incorporate dynamic processes like dispersal. This limitation may lead to bias in inference about species distribution. Here, we adopt the theory of ecological diffusion that has recently been introduced in statistical ecology to incorporate spatio-temporal processes in ecological models. As a case study, we considered the wolf (Canis lupus) that has been recolonizing Eastern France naturally through dispersal from the Apennines since the early 90's. Using partial differential equations for modelling species diffusion and growth in a fragmented landscape, we develop a mechanistic-statistical spatio-temporal model accounting for ecological diffusion, logistic growth and imperfect species detection. We conduct a simulation study and show the ability of our model to i) estimate ecological parameters in various situations with contrasted species detection probability and number of surveyed sites and ii) forecast the distribution into the future. We found that the growth rate of the wolf population in France was explained by the proportion of forest cover, that diffusion was influenced by human density and that species detectability increased with increasing survey effort. Using the parameters estimated from the 2007-2015 period, we then forecasted wolf distribution in 2016 and found good agreement with the actual detections made that year. Our approach may be useful for managing species that interact with human activities to anticipate potential conflicts.