Explore the vast range of titles available.

The link between spatio-temporal resource patterns and animal movement behaviour is a key ecological process, however, limited experimental support for this connection has been produced at the home range scale. In this study, we analysed the spatial responses of a resident large herbivore (roe deer Capreolus capreolus ) using an in situ manipulation of a concentrated food resource. Specifically, we experimentally altered feeding site accessibility to roe deer and recorded (for 25 animal-years) individual responses by GPS tracking. We found that, following the loss of their preferred resource, roe deer actively tracked resource dynamics leading to more exploratory movements, and larger, spatially-shifted home ranges. Then, we showed, for the first time experimentally, the importance of site fidelity in the maintenance of large mammal home ranges by demonstrating the return of individuals to their familiar, preferred resource despite the presence of alternate, equally-valuable food resources. This behaviour was modulated at the individual level, where roe deer characterised by a high preference for feeding sites exhibited more pronounced behavioural adjustments during the manipulation. Together, our results establish the connections between herbivore movements, space-use, individual preference, and the spatio-temporal pattern of resources in home ranging behaviour.

Ungulates in alpine ecosystems are constrained by winter harshness through resource limitation and direct mortality from weather extremes. However, little empirical evidence has definitively established how current climate change and other anthropogenic modifications of resource availability affect ungulate winter distribution, especially at their range limits. Here, we used a combination of historical (1997–2002) and contemporary (2012–2015) Eurasian roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) relocation datasets that span changes in snowpack characteristics and two levels of supplemental feeding to compare and forecast probability of space use at the species’ altitudinal range limit. Scarcer snow cover in the contemporary period interacted with the augmented feeding site distribution to increase the elevation of winter range limits, and we predict this trend will continue under climate change. Moreover, roe deer have shifted from historically using feeding sites primarily under deep snow conditions to contemporarily using them under a wider range of snow conditions as their availability has increased. Combined with scarcer snow cover during December, January, and April, this trend has reduced inter-annual variability in space use patterns in these months. These spatial responses to climate- and artificial resource-provisioning shifts evidence the importance of these changing factors in shaping large herbivore spatial distribution and, consequently, ecosystem dynamics.

Climate change effects on primary productivity are especially evident along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Some of the species with a fast reproductive cycle strategy and relying on primary productivity may rapidly respond to such changes with alterations to demographic parameters. However, how these bottom‐up effects may emerge in systems with different population dynamics has not been elucidated. We aimed to assess the role of food availability on rodent demography in populations characterised by different dynamics, that is multiannual cycles in Northern European populations and mast‐driven outbreaks in Southern European populations, both driven by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We live‐trapped woodland rodents at these latitudinal extremes in two study systems (Norway, Italy) while deploying control/treatment designs of food manipulation providing ad libitum trophic resource availability, albeit not reflecting the natural resource fluctuations. We applied a multistate open robust design model to estimate population patterns and survival rates while controlling for seasonal variation, intrinsic traits, and co‐occurrence of sympatric species. Yellow‐necked and wood mouse (Apodemus spp.) were sympatric with bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) in Italy, while only the latter was trapped in Norway. Food provisioning increased both survival and population size of bank vole in Norway, where temperatures are harsher and snow cover persists in winter. In milder Italian habitats, the wood mouse abundance was boosted by food availability, increasing also survival rates (but only in females), whereas the bank vole showed a decrease in both parameters across sexes. We speculate that overabundant food resources may trigger some forms of competition between sympatric wood mouse and bank vole, although other types of interactions, such as predation and parasitism, may also contribute. By manipulating food availability in two systems where rodents have different population dynamics, we showed how resource availability exerted bottom‐up effects on rodent demography, especially in the context of climate change, although being mediated by other intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The study aimed to assess the role of food availability on rodent demography in populations characterised by different dynamics, that is multiannual cycles in Northern European populations and mast‐driven outbreaks in Southern European populations.

Winter supplemental feeding of ungulates potentially alters their use of resources and ecological interactions, yet relatively little is known about the patterns of feeding sites use by target populations. We used camera traps to continuously monitor winter and spring feeding site use in a roe deer population living in a peri-urban area in Northern Italy. We combined circular statistics with generalized additive and linear mixed models to analyze the diel and seasonal pattern of roe deer visits to feeding sites, and the behavioral drivers influencing visit duration. Roe deer visits peaked at dawn and dusk, and decreased from winter to spring when vegetation regrows and temperature increases. Roe deer mostly visited feeding sites solitarily; when this was not the case, they stayed longer at the site, especially when conspecifics were eating, but maintained a bimodal diel pattern of visits. These results support an opportunistic use of feeding sites, following seasonal cycles and the roe deer circadian clock. Yet, the attractiveness of these artificial resources has the potential to alter intra-specific relationships, as competition for their use induces gatherings and may extend the contact time between individuals, with potential behavioral and epidemiological consequences.

The re‐expansion of large mammals in European human‐dominated landscapes poses new challenges for wildlife conservation and management practices. Supplementary feeding of ungulates is a widespread practice with several motivations, including hunting, yet the known effects on target and non‐target species have yet to be disentangled. According to optimal foraging theory, such concentrated food sources may attract herbivores and carnivores in turn. As such, feeding sites may skew the spatial distribution of wildlife and alter intra‐and interspecific interactions, including predator–prey dynamics. Here, we investigated the use of ungulate‐specific feeding sites by target and non‐target species in a human‐dominated and touristic area of the Alps, using systematic camera trapping. We assessed potential temporal segregation between roe deer and red deer at feeding sites and whether these concentrated artificial food sources influenced the occurrence and site use intensity of ungulates and wolves at the broader scale. We found that feeding site frequentation by roe deer was influenced by the presence of red deer, with a higher crepuscular and diurnal activity and a longer time span between visits at feeding stations strongly used by red deer, indicating potential temporal niche partitioning between the two ungulates. We also found that ungulates occurred with a higher probability at shorter distances from feeding sites and used sites with high human outdoor activity less intensively than less disturbed ones. Wolves' site use intensity was higher closer to feeding sites, indicating a potential effect of supplemental feeding sites on both prey's and predators' space use. Our results reveal side effects of artificial feeding sites, thus contributing to a more informed and evidence‐based management, with high relevance especially in light of the considerable recovery of large mammals across anthropized regions of Europe and the popularity of artificial feeding of ungulates for hunting or recreational purposes. We thus advise limiting this practice in areas where large herbivores, predators, and humans closely coexist. La ricolonizzazione da parte dei grandi mammiferi di regioni europee intensamente antropizzate pone nuove sfide di conservazione e gestione della fauna selvatica. Il foraggiamento supplementare degli ungulati è una pratica diffusa con diversi scopi, tra cui la caccia, ma gli effetti su specie target e non target devono ancora essere chiariti. Secondo la teoria del foraggiamento ottimale, tali fonti concentrate di cibo possono attrarre gli erbivori e, a loro volta, anche i carnivori. Pertanto, i siti di foraggiamento artificiale possono alterare la distribuzione spaziale della fauna e modificare le interazioni intra e interspecifiche, incluse le dinamiche preda‐predatore. In questo studio, abbiamo analizzato l'utilizzo di siti di alimentazione artificiale per ungulati da parte di specie target e non target in un'area delle Alpi fortemente antropizzata e turistica, utilizzando l'approccio del fototrappolaggio sistematico. Abbiamo inoltre valutato l'esistenza di una potenziale segregazione temporale tra capriolo e cervo presso i siti di foraggiamento e verificato se queste fonti di cibo artificiali e concentrate influenzassero l'occorrenza e l'intensità di utilizzo dei siti da parte di ungulati e lupi su scala più ampia. Abbiamo riscontrato che la frequentazione dei siti di foraggiamento da parte del capriolo è influenzata dalla presenza del cervo, con una maggiore attività crepuscolare e diurna e un lasso di tempo più lungo fra le visite nei siti fortemente utilizzati dal cervo, il che suggerisce un possibile evitamento temporale. Inoltre, gli ungulati mostrano una maggiore probabilità di occorrenza a distanze minori dai siti di foraggiamento e utilizzano meno intensamente i siti con elevata attività umana rispetto a quelli meno disturbati. Abbiamo inoltre riscontrato una maggiore intensità di utilizzo dei siti vicino ai punti di foraggiamento da parte dei lupi, indicando un possibile effetto di queste pratiche sia sulle prede che sui predatori. I nostri risultati evidenziano diversi effetti indesiderati dei siti di foraggiamento artificiale, contribuendo a una gestione più informata e basata su evidenze scientifiche, particolarmente rilevante alla luce della significativa ripresa dei grandi mammiferi in regioni antropizzate d'Europa e della diffusione del foraggiamento artificiale a scopi venatori o ricreativi. Raccomandiamo pertanto di limitare questa pratica laddove erbivori, predatori e umani convivono strettamente.

Background Prey species can display antipredator movement behaviours to reduce predation risk, including proactive responses to chronic or predictable risk, and reactive responses to acute or unpredictable risk. Thus, at any given time, prey movement choice may reflect a trade-off between proaction and reaction. In previous studies, proaction and reaction have generally been considered separately, which neglects their potentially simultaneous influence on animal movement decisions and overall space use. Methods In this study, we analysed how proaction and reaction interact to shape the movements of GPS-collared red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) in response to hunting by humans. Using an exhaustive inventory of red deer hunting events and very high-resolution canopy cover density (LiDAR), we combined movement metric (displacement and path length) models and integrated step selection functions to investigate antipredator movement responses to lethal risk on various spatiotemporal scales, considering a dynamic landscape of risk. Results Our results show that red deer either proactively avoided areas of chronic risk, or they selected canopy cover where and when risk was predictably high. However, when risk was encountered anyway, canopy cover was no longer selected, but only modulated a reactive response along a remain-to-leave continuum. This reaction was even more evident when the environment was unfamiliar, underlining the importance of memory in such reaction patterns. Conclusions We describe how proaction and reaction fuse in an antipredator sequence of interconnected movement decisions in a large herbivore, and discuss how this result may help disentangle the ecological consequences of behavioural responses to predation. Finally, we lay the foundations for further investigations into the origins of similarities and differences between proactive and reactive movement responses.

Human-induced environmental alterations in the Alps may importantly affect small mammal species, but evidence in this sense is limited. We live-trapped small rodents in the Central-Eastern Italian Alps in three close-by habitat types (rocky scree, alpine grassland, and heath) at 2100 m a.s.l. during summer-fall, in 1997 and 2016. We compared small rodent assemblages through a Redundancy Detrended Analysis (RDA). In both surveys, we detected two specialist species, i.e., the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the snow vole (Chionomys nivalis), and, unexpectedly, the forest generalist bank vole (Myodes glareolus). In 1997, grassland was mainly occupied by the common vole, while the bank vole and the snow vole were sympatric in the other habitats. In 2016, the snow vole was detected only in the scree, while other species did not show distribution changes. We discuss a series of hypotheses that might have driven the differences observed across decades, among which is a species-specific response to abiotic and biotic environmental alterations, with the alpine habitat specialist moving out of sub-optimal habitats. We encourage further research on this topic, e.g., via long-term longitudinal studies.

In alpine environments, snow typically reduces the accessibility of herbivores to food during winter and may hamper survival in those species with poor adaptation to move in deep snow. Supplemental feeding systems compensate for food limitation, but modify resource distribution and potentially affect individual space use. We investigated the importance of snow cover and supplemental feeding in shaping winter habitat use and selection of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), a small deer species not specifically adapted to snow. We applied a used/available experimental design to assess the effects of snow cover on roe deer distribution at a fine scale and compared this approach with remotely sensed satellite data, available at moderate spatial resolution (snow MODIS). Based on this, we developed a resource selection function. We found a strong selection for habitat spots covered by forest where snow sinking depth was less pronounced, likely providing thermal and hiding protection on the one side and minimising the effect of snow on locomotion on the other. Roe deer showed only a minor preference for sites in proximity to feeding stations, possibly compensating the costs of access to these sites by means of a ‘trail-making’ behaviour. Snow cover assessed by moderate resolution satellite was not proportional to roe deer probability of use, highlighting the importance of local information on snow quality and distribution to complement remotely sensed data.

Background Social network analysis of animal societies allows scientists to test hypotheses about social evolution, behaviour, and dynamic processes. However, the accuracy of estimated metrics depends on data characteristics like sample proportion, sample size, and frequency. A protocol is needed to assess for bias and robustness of social network metrics estimated for the animal populations especially when a limited number of individuals are monitored. Methods We used GPS telemetry datasets of five ungulate species to combine known social network approaches with novel ones into a comprehensive five-step protocol. To quantify the bias and uncertainty in the network metrics obtained from a partial population, we presented novel statistical methods which are particularly suited for autocorrelated data, such as telemetry relocations. The protocol was validated using a sixth species, the fallow deer, with a known population size where ∼ 85 % of the individuals have been directly monitored. Results Through the protocol, we demonstrated how pre-network data permutations allow researchers to assess non-random aspects of interactions within a population. The protocol assesses bias in global network metrics, obtains confidence intervals, and quantifies uncertainty of global and node-level network metrics based on the number of nodes in the network. We found that global network metrics like density remained robust even with a lowered sample size, while local network metrics like eigenvector centrality were unreliable for four of the species. The fallow deer network showed low uncertainty and bias even at lower sampling proportions, indicating the importance of a thoroughly sampled population while demonstrating the accuracy of our evaluation methods for smaller samples. Conclusions The protocol allows researchers to analyse GPS-based radio-telemetry or other data to determine the reliability of social network metrics. The estimates enable the statistical comparison of networks under different conditions, such as analysing daily and seasonal changes in the density of a network. The methods can also guide methodological decisions in animal social network research, such as sampling design and allow more accurate ecological inferences from the available data. The R package aniSNA enables researchers to implement this workflow on their dataset, generating reliable inferences and guiding methodological decisions.

Many animals restrict their movements to a characteristic home range. This constrained pattern of space use is thought to result from the foraging benefits of memorizing the locations and quality of heterogeneously distributed resources. However, due to the confounding effects of sensory perception, the role of memory in home-range movement behavior lacks definitive evidence in the wild. Here, we analyze the foraging decisions of a large mammal during a field resource manipulation experiment designed to disentangle the effects of memory and perception. We parametrize a mechanistic model of spatial transitions using experimental data to quantify the cognitive processes underlying animal foraging behavior and to predict how individuals respond to resource heterogeneity in space and time. We demonstrate that roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) rely on memory, not perception, to track the spatiotemporal dynamics of resources within their home range. Roe deer foraging decisions were primarily based on recent experience (half-lives of 0.9 and 5.6 d for attribute and spatial memory, respectively), enabling them to adapt to sudden changes in resource availability. The proposed memory-based model was able to both quantify the cognitive processes underlying roe deer behavior and accurately predict how they shifted resource use during the experiment. Our study highlights the fact that animal foraging decisions are based on incomplete information on the locations of available resources, a factor that is critical to developing accurate predictions of animal spatial behavior but is typically not accounted for in analyses of animal movement in the wild.