space use
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2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjana Pal ◽  
Anshu Panwar ◽  
Surendra Prakash Goyal ◽  
Sambandam Sathyakumar

The woolly wolf Canis lupus chanco is increasingly being accepted as a unique taxon that needs immediate protection and management; however, information on its ecology remains limited across its range. We used camera trapping data set of 4 years (2015–2019) to investigate seasonal activity patterns and space use and assessed woolly wolf food habits in the Gangotri National Park, western Himalaya, India. We used generalized linear mixed models to assess the distribution of the wolf about prey, seasonal livestock grazing, human presence, habitat, and seasons. We observed a positive association with elevation and a negative response to an increase in ruggedness. The capture of wolves increased in winters, indicating a possible effect of snow on the ranging pattern. Spatial avoidance to anthropogenic pressure was not evident in our study; however, temporal avoidance was observed. The activity pattern of the wolf varied among seasons. Wolves were mostly active in the morning and late evening hours in summer and showed a diurnal activity pattern in winter. A less diverse diet was observed where the mean percentage frequency of occurrence and relative biomass was highest for bharal, followed by livestock. Himalayan marmot Marmota himalayana, birds, and rodents also form minor constituents to the diet. Synthesizing all three factors (space, diet, and activity), it may be stated that the wolf presence in the region is influenced by both wild prey availability and seasonality. Therefore, conservation of woolly wolves would require securing a vast landscape with optimal wild prey.


2022 ◽  
Vol 289 (1966) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah N. Sells ◽  
Michael S. Mitchell ◽  
David E. Ausband ◽  
Angela D. Luis ◽  
Douglas J. Emlen ◽  
...  

Ecologists have long sought to understand space use and mechanisms underlying patterns observed in nature. We developed an optimality landscape and mechanistic territory model to understand mechanisms driving space use and compared model predictions to empirical reality. We demonstrate our approach using grey wolves ( Canis lupus ). In the model, simulated animals selected territories to economically acquire resources by selecting patches with greatest value, accounting for benefits, costs and trade-offs of defending and using space on the optimality landscape. Our approach successfully predicted and explained first- and second-order space use of wolves, including the population's distribution, territories of individual packs, and influences of prey density, competitor density, human-caused mortality risk and seasonality. It accomplished this using simple behavioural rules and limited data to inform the optimality landscape. Results contribute evidence that economical territory selection is a mechanistic bridge between space use and animal distribution on the landscape. This approach and resulting gains in knowledge enable predicting effects of a wide range of environmental conditions, contributing to both basic ecological understanding of natural systems and conservation. We expect this approach will demonstrate applicability across diverse habitats and species, and that its foundation can help continue to advance understanding of spatial behaviour.


2022 ◽  
Vol 955 (1) ◽  
pp. 012021
Author(s):  
B Rahman

Abstract Jelawat Park of Sampit City is a city park located in the city center and in a river bank area. Utilizing the river as one of the main views of the area, Mentaya River and the icon of Jelawat fish statue are the vocal points of Jelawat Park that attract visitors to pay a visit. The river which is the viewpoint of the area has attracted many visitors to Jelawat Park, but a question may rise: whether Jelawat Park gives an effect on Mentaya River. This study aims to analyze the roles of Jelawat Park based on space use for community education towards the sustainability of Mentaya river functions. The Jelawat Park space use consists of 4 spaces, namely the core-park, river view, playground and supporting spaces. A quantitative methodology was used and assisted by frequency distribution analysis to give meaning cluster results in each space. The result of this study is that the river view space provides the highest cognitive and affective aspects to the community regarding the river functions. The conclusion is that the closer a space is to the river, the higher cognitive and affective effects on the river will be, but the proximity of a space to the river will decrease the cognitive and affective effects if the activity in that space is unrelated to the river.


2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soňa Nuhlíčková ◽  
Ján Svetlík ◽  
Manfred Eckenfellner ◽  
Felix Knauer ◽  
Herbert Hoi

Abstract In this study, we investigated the influence of different weather aspects on breeding performance, food supply and nest-space use in hoopoe offspring (Upupa epops). Camera recordings of 88 nests were used to examine how ambient environmental conditions influence food supply, offspring nest-space use and the trade-off nestlings face regarding the two mainly used locations in the nest. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive analysis involving different factors including weather parameters together with food provisioned to nestlings on different temporal scales to identify the factors having the most influence on nest-space use. We found that different breeding conditions significantly influenced how nestlings used the nest. During excessively humid weather, nestlings spent more time under the entrance hole when small food was delivered. However, nestlings supplied with large prey more often remained hidden in the distant area, despite the adverse weather situation. In all three aspects and temporal scales, our analysis confirmed that prey was the most important factor influencing offspring nest-space use, suggesting a crucial role of large insects for hoopoes. Finally, we found that long-term effects of weather affect overall food provisioned to nestlings and thus offspring behaviour. We provide evidence that parental feeding location and prey size, which are in turn influenced by weather conditions, are the most influential factors for nest-space use. This study expands our knowledge of parent–offspring communication and how environmental factors may lead to differential nest-space use, which may be regarded as the earliest form of habitat preference in birds. Significance statement Nests are usually constrained in space but designed to protect offspring from the environment while giving them limited possibilities to express behavioural diversity. This is particularly true for bird nests, where nestlings are usually packed in close contact with one another and without much space for movement, except begging. Here we demonstrate that nest features, such as available nest space together with environmental conditions surrounding a nest, influence nestling strategies and behaviours, including social interactions between nest mates, which further leads to fitness consequences. Our results seem to be of great importance for habitat selection theory in birds, in particular regarding the early development of habitat preferences (imprinting) and use. On the other hand, the result may also have important implications for conservation issues given that nestling behaviour may be used as a determinant of environmental quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Laurence Jolivet ◽  
Florian Masson ◽  
Sonia Saïd

Abstract. Fauna impacts its environment as well as spatial environment influences fauna space use. Forest management implies taking into account pressure from animals in fragile-balanced patches. Our goal is to propose maps that would benefit forest planning by reflecting individual movement and space use depending on the animal species and local spatiotemporal environment. The study case focuses on two species, roe deer and red deer, and on a forested site in the northeast of France. Movements of several individuals were analysed from collected GPS locations. Foraging places likely to correspond to intense research behaviour were computed using the First-Passage Time method. These places were assumed as being of interest and were characterized with landscape features and temporal information. Maps were produced to synthetize information about foraging places by defining adapted symbolizations. Then maps about functional space were proposed based on extrapolation of favourable or avoided areas from the characterized observed foraging places and space use. Landscape patches were mapped according to a gradient of potential interest by animals’ species, in order to highlight needs of specific planning actions in the forestry context. Map displays were driven by forestry end-use and designed so that to be compliant to a numeric geographical portal, giving access to different available on-line layers and computed created ones.


Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars K. Lindsø ◽  
Pierre Dupont ◽  
Lars Rød-Eriksen ◽  
Ida Pernille Øystese Andersskog ◽  
Kristine Roaldsnes Ulvund ◽  
...  

AbstractSpatial capture–recapture modelling (SCR) is a powerful tool for estimating density, population size, and space use of elusive animals. Here, we applied SCR modelling to non-invasive genetic sampling (NGS) data to estimate red fox (Vulpes vulpes) densities in two areas of boreal forest in central (2016–2018) and southern Norway (2017–2018). Estimated densities were overall lower in the central study area (mean = 0.04 foxes per km2 in 2016, 0.10 in 2017, and 0.06 in 2018) compared to the southern study area (0.16 in 2017 and 0.09 in 2018). We found a positive effect of forest cover on density in the central, but not the southern study area. The absence of an effect in the southern area may reflect a paucity of evidence caused by low variation in forest cover. Estimated mean home-range size in the central study area was 45 km2 [95%CI 34–60] for females and 88 km2 [69–113] for males. Mean home-range sizes were smaller in the southern study area (26 km2 [16–42] for females and 56 km2 [35–91] for males). In both study areas, detection probability was session-dependent and affected by sampling effort. This study highlights how SCR modelling in combination with NGS can be used to efficiently monitor red fox populations, and simultaneously incorporate ecological factors and estimate their effects on population density and space use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 4661
Author(s):  
Bismay Ranjan Tripathy ◽  
Xuehua Liu ◽  
Melissa Songer ◽  
Babar Zahoor ◽  
W. M. S. Wickramasinghe ◽  
...  

Land development has impacted natural landforms extensively, causing a decline in resources and negative consequences to elephant populations, habitats, and gene flow. Often, elephants seek to fulfill basic needs by wandering into nearby human communities, which leads to human–elephant conflict (HEC), a serious threat to conserving this endangered species. Understanding elephant space use and connectivity among their habitats can offset barriers to ecological flow among fragmented populations. We focused on the Keonjhar Forest Division in Eastern India, where HEC has resulted in the deaths of ~300 people and several hundred elephants, and damaged ~4100 houses and ~12,700 acres of cropland between 2001 and 2018. Our objectives were to (1) analyze elephant space use based on their occupancy; (2) map connectivity by considering the land structure and HEC occurrences; (3) assess the quality of mapped connectivity and identify potential bottlenecks. We found that (1) the study area has the potential to sustain a significant elephant population by providing safe connectivity; (2) variables like forests, precipitation, rural built-up areas, cropland, and transportation networks were responsible for predicting elephant presence (0.407, SE = 0.098); (3) five habitat cores, interconnected by seven corridors were identified, of which three habitat cores were vital for maintaining connectivity; (4) landscape features, such as cropland, rural built-up, mining, and transportation networks created bottlenecks that could funnel elephant movement. Our findings also indicate that overlooking HEC in connectivity assessments could lead to overestimation of functionality. The study outcomes can be utilized as a preliminary tool for decision making and early planning during development projects.


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