The arrival of a new carnivore can have important effects on local communities. While several effects of introduced alien species have been well documented, few studies have reported the ecological ...consequences of an expanding native species. Golden jackals (Canis aureus) are rapidly expanding their distribution in Europe, far beyond their historic range. While this raises many concerns about their potential impact on native wildlife, actual consequences are rarely recorded. Besides being a predator, the jackal is also an efficient scavenger and could function as a kleptoparasite for other predators living in areas colonized by jackals. Large felids are among the predators most vulnerable to kleptoparasitism and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) are already known to be negatively affected by several scavengers. Here we report on the first confirmed cases of jackals scavenging on lynx kills in the Dinaric Mountains, Slovenia. We used camera traps to monitor scavengers at 65 lynx kills and recorded two cases of groups of jackals feeding on roe deer killed by lynx. To determine the potential for jackal kleptoparasitism on lynx at the continental level, we also calculated trends in the overlap in distribution ranges of both species in Europe. To date, jackals have colonized 13% of lynx range, including parts of two highly threatened populations. Finally, we highlight the potential impact of sympatric grey wolves (Canis lupus) to modulate this newly described jackal-lynx kleptoparasitic interaction.
•First cases of golden jackals scavenging on Eurasian lynx kills are presented.•Overlap between lynx and jackal distribution is rapidly increasing.•Jackals have already colonized 13% of lynx range.•Grey wolves have capacity to importantly modulate jackal-lynx interactions.
Large carnivores and the EU LIFE programme Navarro, Alberto; Köhncke, Arnulf; Oliveira, Teresa ...
Global ecology and conservation,
August 2024, 2024-08-00, 2024-08-01, Letnik:
52
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Most large carnivore populations have increased in recent decades in Europe. Along with the adoption of the EU Habitats Directive in 1992, the EU launched a funding program entirely dedicated to ...environment, nature protection and climate action, the European LIFE programme. Here, we explore the investment of this programme in large carnivore conservation across Europe, from its implementation in 1992 to 2020 (28 years), with respect to budgets, species considered, economic factors and the geographical distribution of the projects. A total of 153 projects have directly or indirectly targeted large carnivores, with a total budget of ca. 338.2 M€ (EU contribution >194.1 M€). Despite the transboundary character of most large carnivore populations, only 5.8 % of projects worked across national borders. Large carnivores did not receive equal attention within the programme, and EU Member States from Southern Europe accumulated 77.7 % of the projects. The region of Abruzzo (Italy) has been granted with the highest number of projects (n= 28), followed by Castilla y León (Spain, 16 projects). At national level, the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) did not correlate with the number of LIFE projects granted, but the proportion of the GDP invested in the protection of biodiversity and landscapes (positively). However, at the level of European regions (NUTS 2), those regions with lower average per capita GDP were more frequently granted with LIFE projects. We discuss several factors affecting the distribution of projects across Europe, and we make recommendations for future investments in maximizing large carnivore conservation under this program.
Governments around the world invest considerable resources to reduce damages caused by large carnivores on human property. To use these investments more efficiently and effectively, we need to ...understand which interventions successfully prevent such damages and which do not. In the European Union, the LIFE program represents by far the largest financial instrument to help EU Member States with the implementation of conservation activities, including mitigation of damages caused by large carnivores. However, we currently lack information about the effectiveness of this funding program in reducing carnivore damages. We reviewed 135 LIFE projects dealing with large carnivores between 1992 and 2019 to provide an overview of the use of damage prevention methods and evaluate their functional and perceived effectiveness. Methods evaluated ranged from non-lethal and lethal interventions, to information dissemination and compensation schemes. The largest number of the projects was focused on grey wolf (Canis lupus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Mediterranean countries and in Romania. Electric fences were reported as the most successful method for reducing damages by large carnivores, and most of the non-lethal methods used showed at least moderate effectiveness. However, standards of measuring and reporting effectiveness were in general relatively low, which limits our ability to measure actual impact. We urge project managers and evaluators to improve these standards, as well as the dissemination of the project results. We provide a list of recommendations for improving measuring and reporting success of implemented interventions for the benefit of future projects aimed to reduce damages caused by wildlife.
•Considerable resources from E.U.’s LIFE program were dedicated to large carnivores.•Most projects targeted brown bears and grey wolf in Southern Europe.•Electric fences were reported as the most effective method to prevent damages.•Standards of measuring and reporting effectiveness need improvements.
The occurrence of carnivore species in wolf diet has been overlooked and poorly studied despite the potential implications for wolf ecology and wildlife management. We conducted an extensive ...literature review, focusing on 120 wolf diet studies worldwide to assess global patterns of carnivore consumption by wolves and their ecological and human-related determinants. We used a total of 143 sampling sites with data on the consumption of carnivores by wolves. In total, 35 carnivore species were reported to be consumed by wolves, comprising members of all taxonomic carnivore families represented within the gray wolf range. The carnivores were mostly limited to occasional consumption (<5% of wolf diet) but could account for as much as 25% in some study areas. The most frequently consumed carnivore species were those with reported scavenging behavior, belonging to medium-sized generalist canids. Generalized linear model (GLM) analysis revealed that higher magnitudes of carnivore consumption were related to nonprotected areas as well as lower occurrences of wild ungulates, domestic ungulates, and small mammals in wolf diet, while higher numbers of consumed carnivore species were related to nonprotected areas with low vegetation productivity and lower occurrences of domestic ungulates and small mammals in wolf diet. Our results suggest that carnivore consumption by wolves is driven by altered ecosystems and human-dominated landscapes, where mesopredator densities are often increased and prey densities decreased, which intensify competition and the need for alternative food sources.
Analysis of global positioning system (GPS) location clusters (GLCs) is becoming increasingly popular in studies of carnivore ecology. While promising, this application of GPS technology is still ...poorly developed for most species. We applied this method to study predation and maternal behavior of the Eurasian lynx (
Lynx lynx
) in the Dinaric Mountains. Low population densities, rugged terrain, dense vegetation, and administrative borders make studies of this endangered population using traditional methods and a limited budget very challenging. We used the geographic information system and linear mixed-effects models to understand the movement of lynx during the consumption process and denning period and estimate lynx kill rates. A total of 99 % of kills were found at GLCs longer than 30 h and with minimum two locations within 300 m. We confirmed 86 % of potential kills and all potential dens that were searched for in the field. High success in predicting kill and den sites showed that the Eurasian lynx is a suitable species for application of the GLC analysis methods. Comparison of field-confirmed kills with model predictions showed the possibility for remote estimation of approximate kill rates in Eurasian lynx. Movements of the lynx were primarily affected by daytime period, time since the last kill/den translocation, lynx category, and their interactions. Based on the empirical data, we programmed simulations of lynx movements and elaborated recommendations for more efficient field procedures and study designs (GPS schedules) for future studies. We believe that our findings and approach will also benefit studies of other species with similar behavior.
Livestock owners traditionally use various non-lethal and lethal methods to protect their domestic animals from wild predators. However, many of these methods are implemented without first ...considering experimental evidence of their effectiveness in mitigating predation-related threats or avoiding ecological degradation. To inform future policy and research on predators, we systematically evaluated evidence for interventions against carnivore (canid, felid, and ursid) predation on livestock in North American and European farms. We also reviewed a selection of tests from other continents to help assess the global generality of our findings. Twelve published tests - representing five non-lethal methods and 7 lethal methods - met the accepted standard of scientific inference (random assignment or quasi-experimental case-control) without bias in sampling, treatment, measurement, or reporting. Of those twelve, prevention of livestock predation was demonstrated in six tests (four non-lethal and two lethal), whereas counterintuitive increases in predation were shown in two tests (zero non-lethal and two lethal); the remaining four (one non-lethal and three lethal) showed no effect on prédation. Only two non-lethal methods (one associated with livestockguarding dogs and the other with a visual deterrent termed "fladry") assigned treatments randomly, provided reliable inference, and demonstrated preventive effects. We recommend that policy makers suspend predator control efforts that lack evidence for functional effectiveness and that scientists focus on stringent standards of evidence in tests of predator control.
The Horvath’s rock lizard
Iberolacerta horvathi
(Méhely, 1904) is an understudied lacertid species, which is geographically isolated from its congeners and currently classified as Near Threatened ...under IUCN red listing criteria. Due to its limited distribution and narrow environmental preferences, we expect that the species had been affected by past climatic oscillations. By combining all available data on species occurrences and our own records, we produced an updated distribution map. We used ecological niche models to identify the current environmental factors underlying the species range and developed a habitat suitability map. We sequenced one mitochondrial and one nuclear marker to characterize the distribution of the genetic variability and infer the historical demography of the species. The habitat suitability map identified areas where targeted field searches should be prioritized, as well as unsuitable habitats coinciding with likely barriers to gene flow. We found considerable genetic variability suggesting that the species probably survived the Pleistocene glaciations in at least two main refugia, one in the South and the other in the central/northern portion of its distribution. While southern populations show a moderate demographic decrease starting at the onset of the Eemian interglacial, the northern populations underwent an expansion during Late Pleistocene. We provide a revised species distribution and a first characterization of its genetic variability across its distribution to guide conservation priorities for this endemic and spatially restricted species.
What would successful deer management look like in Scotland? To some, flourishing populations of native wild deer represent success. But to others, negative impacts such as damage to woodlands and ...peatlands, agricultural and forestry losses, deer-vehicle collisions, and facilitating Lyme disease spread represent failure. Conflicting interests and incentives among people involved in deer management mean a common definition of success, and therefore clear management targets, remain elusive. While some environmental groups urgently call for an increase in the number of deer culled (shot) each year, other stakeholders aim to maximize deer numbers. Overcoming this governance failure will require clearly articulated, scientifically valid, and socially acceptable socio-ecological objectives to be co-produced by a broad range of stakeholders. Systematic monitoring of deer impacts will also be needed to evaluate the ability of specific management interventions to achieve defined objectives. Reintroducing Eurasian lynx (
Lynx lynx
) has been suggested as a means to reduce deer numbers and their negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. However, evidence of lynx impacts on deer numbers, deer impacts, and social conflicts over deer suggest lynx reintroduction alone would not effectively reduce negative impacts of deer in Scotland, though it could be part of a broader solution. In the short-term, achieving sustainable numbers of deer in Scotland will require a substantial increase in the number of deer culled and effective changes to the way deer management is incentivized, regulated, implemented, and monitored.
Harvesting wild animals can affect demographic parameters and life history traits of surviving individuals. Most brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations currently experience low levels of hunting. We ...characterized mortality patterns in a heavily exploited transboundary brown bear population in Slovenia, Central Europe. Overall, 927 brown bears were reported removed from 1998 to 2008. Most (97%) removals were human caused including removals from hunting (59% of removals), management removals of problem individuals (18%), and vehicle collisions (16%). Median age of bears removed in Slovenia was 2.3 years, and 78% of bears removed were <4 years old. Removal was male-biased overall (59%), mainly due to the high percent (49%) of young (<4 years old) males removed during hunting, a possible consequence of sex-related differences in bear behavior and harvest regulations. However, the effect of sex-biased removal was less than expected based on removal data, and it appears a different harvest regimen in neighboring Croatia and sex-biased dispersal of young bears buffered the demographic effects of selective harvest in Slovenia. We also observed that annual proportion of females in harvests increased with harvest intensity. More males were removed among younger classes, whereas females started to dominate above the age of 8 years. About 20% of the brown bear population was removed annually by legal harvest; this is one of the highest harvest rates reported for this species.
The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony have been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioral and ...reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in the face of climate change. However, there has been relatively little research on reproductive phenology in mammalian carnivores. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus, their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronized across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures. Severe and cold weather may affect neonatal survival via hypothermia and avoiding inclement weather early in the season may select against early births, especially at northern latitudes. Overall, only about half of the kittens born survived until onset of winter but whether kittens were born relatively late or early did not affect kitten survival. Lynx are strict seasonal breeders but still show a degree of flexibility to adapt the timing of birth to surrounding environmental conditions. We argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter. This suggests that lynx are well adapted to different environmental conditions, from dry and warm climates to alpine, boreal, and arctic climates. This variation in reproductive timing will be favorable in times of climate change, as organisms with high plasticity are more likely to adjust to new environmental conditions.
The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) covers three of the four main climate regions of the world, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology in a carnivore. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures, and we argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter.
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