Ecosystem services are receiving increasing attention among researchers and managers, due to emerging recognition of their global extent and contribution towards human welfare. Obligatory scavengers ...have been identified as important providers of these services, namely waste management, but their populations are declining worldwide and mesocarnivores are taking on the role of dominant scavengers in many regions. However, mesocarnivores are rarely appreciated for their services of waste removal, and are mostly cited in negative contexts in the literature. Here we explored the widely neglected potential of mesocarnivores as providers of ecosystem services. We used the golden jackal (Canis aureus) as a model species and evaluated its provision of ecosystem services in a developing country in the Balkans, where waste management creates numerous challenges. Based on contents of 606 jackal stomachs, food intake and population size, we estimate that in Serbia jackal population annually removes >3700t of animal waste and 13.2 million crop pest rodents. We estimate the monetary value of animal waste removal at >0.5 million € per year. We scaled this result up to evaluate ecosystem services at the continental-scale, and these results indicate that jackals remove substantial amounts of discarded animal waste (>13,000t) as well as potential crop pests (>158 million crop pest rodents) across human-dominated landscapes of Europe. These results are the first to demonstrate the value of ecosystem services provided by mesocarnivores as facultative scavengers, and show that they are of great value for local communities in the modern world. We emphasize the importance of recognizing ecosystem services provided by species with predominantly negative public images, in consideration of their conservation.
•We evaluated ecosystem services provided by a mesocarnivore in a developing country.•Jackals removed substantial amounts of discarded animal waste and crop pests.•Benefits from mesocarnivores for local communities appear higher than costs.•Re-evaluation of mesocarnivore role in ecosystem services is called for.
Eurasian lynx (
Lynx lynx
) is a crepuscular-nocturnal carnivore and mostly spends daytime resting. Although resting sites represent an important part of the lynx habitat and can be negatively ...affected by human activities, it is still poorly known how lynx select these sites, especially in regions with rugged topography characteristic for much of the species’ range. We analysed microscale habitat selection of lynx resting sites at the home-range level in a karstic landscape of the Dinaric Mountains, Slovenia, using a use-availability study design. We also searched for differences in the selection of resting sites in respect to the presence of ungulate kills, which often limit the available resting sites during the prey-consumption period. Using generalised linear mixed models (GLMM), we tested which environmental features and human infrastructure are important for lynx when choosing resting sites. Lynx selected mountain ridges and hilltops, as well as locations with steeper slopes and lower local visibility. Such locations likely provide concealment from potential danger or prey and, at the same time, offer good overview of the surroundings. There was also a tendency to avoid forest cabins and to select rocky terrain and southern exposures, but support in the data for this was lower. When lynx were not limited by the presence of fresh kill, the selection tended to be stronger, but the differences were not significant, except for visibility, which was lower at resting sites near prey remains. Results likely reflect high availability of suitable resting sites in a rugged terrain of karstic landscape.
Significance statement
Animals are often most vulnerable during sleep, thus the resting site should ideally provide them with cover to reduce exposure and at the same time give them good overview of the surroundings to detect any approaching danger. We used snow tracking and GPS telemetry, for the first time in combination with data from activity sensors, to reliably determine resting sites of Eurasian lynx in a rugged karstic landscape. We showed how lynx face the trade-off of the need to be concealed, yet at the same time attain good view, by selecting structured microhabitats on top of the ridges and on steep slopes. Our results also suggest that in the regions with rugged terrain the influence of human infrastructure might be lower compared to the study areas of previous research.
Due to global environmental changes, species are appearing more frequently in places where they have not previously occurred, and this trend is expected to continue. Such range expansions can create ...considerable challenges and confusion for management and policy, especially for species associated with conflicts and whose management is influenced by international legal frameworks. The golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Europe represents a good case study to address the questions related to management of naturally expanding species. We review the recent expansion of the golden jackal across the continent, and address several ensuing policy and legal questions that also have clear implications for other expanding species. To that end, we analyze the EU Habitats Directive and several other international legal instruments including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Bern Convention on European Wildlife. We also review the status of the golden jackal under national legislation and highlight some of the management confusion due to recent range expansion and inadequate legal interpretation. Specific questions we address include in which cases an expanding species is to be considered an (invasive) alien species in countries where it did not formerly occur; what countries’ conservation obligations are with respect to expanding species; what difference it makes for those obligations whether or not a species historically occurred in a country; what scope exists for lethal control of its populations; what the prospects are for transboundary cooperation at the population level; and what responses are required when colonizing species hybridise with other wildlife or domestic animals.
Scavenging is an important but poorly understood ecological process. Dominant scavengers can impose a selection pressure that alters the predator's fitness, morphology, behavior, and ecology. ...Interactions between ursids, likely the most important dominant scavengers in the Holarctic region, and solitary felids, which are characterized by long feeding times, provide a good opportunity for studying the effects of kleptoparasitism by dominant scavengers. We analyzed the effects of scavenging by brown bears Ursus arctos on Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and predator's response to kleptoparasitism in a European temperate forest ecosystem. Bears found 32 % of lynx prey remains and 15 % of all biomass of large prey killed by lynx was lost to bears. In response, lynx increased their kill rate by 23 % but were able to compensate for only 59 % of the losses. The frequency of bear scavenging was strongly dependent on bear activity patterns and was highest during the lynx pregnancy and lactation period, when up to half of lynx kills were usurped by bears. We suggest that ursid scavenging, by promoting the hunting of smaller prey, may have played an important role in the evolution of the Lynx genus as well as other predators in the Holarctic. Our study indicates that prey loss to dominant scavengers is a widespread phenomenon among felids worldwide, including forest habitats. We highlight several implications of scavenging that could considerably improve our understanding of the ecology of vertebrate communities and the evolution of predators as well as benefit the future management and conservation of endangered predators.
Large carnivore conservation is important for ecosystem integrity and understanding drivers of their abundance is essential to guide conservation efforts. Leopard (
Panthera pardus
) populations are ...in a general state of decline, although local studies demonstrated large variation in their population trends and density estimates vary widely across their range. We used spatially-explicit capture-recapture models for unmarked populations with camera trap data from a citizen science project to estimate previously-unknown leopard population densities in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, and determine potential biological drivers of their abundance and distribution. We estimated leopard densities, at 5.41 (95% CrI = 2.23–9.26) and 5.72 (95% CrI = 2.44–9.55) individuals/100 km
2
, in the dry and wet season, respectively, which confirmed Serengeti National Park as one of the strongholds of this species in Africa. In contrast to abundance estimates, we found that drivers of leopard abundance and distribution varied among the dry and wet seasons, and were primarily affected by interactions with other larger carnivores and cover. The underlying driver of leopard distribution may be the dynamic prey availability which shifts between seasons, leading to an avoidance of dominant carnivores when prey availability is low in the dry season but an association with dominant carnivores when prey availability is high in the wet season. As efforts to conserve large carnivore populations increase worldwide, our results highlight the benefits of using data from citizen science projects, including large camera-trapping surveys, to estimate local carnivore abundances. Using a Bayesian framework allows of estimation of population density, but it is also important to understand the factors that dictate their distribution across the year to inform conservation efforts.
Top predators can suppress mesopredators by killing them, competing for resources and instilling fear, but it is unclear how suppression of mesopredators varies with the distribution and abundance of ...top predators at large spatial scales and among different ecological contexts. We suggest that suppression of mesopredators will be strongest where top predators occur at high densities over large areas. These conditions are more likely to occur in the core than on the margins of top predator ranges. We propose the Enemy Constraint Hypothesis, which predicts weakened top-down effects on mesopredators towards the edge of top predators' ranges. Using bounty data from North America, Europe and Australia we show that the effects of top predators on mesopredators increase from the margin towards the core of their ranges, as predicted. Continuing global contraction of top predator ranges could promote further release of mesopredator populations, altering ecosystem structure and contributing to biodiversity loss.
Carnivore predation on livestock often leads people to retaliate. Persecution by humans has contributed strongly to global endangerment of carnivores. Preventing livestock losses would help to ...achieve three goals common to many human societies: preserve nature, protect animal welfare, and safeguard human livelihoods. Between 2016 and 2018, four independent reviews evaluated >40 years of research on lethal and nonlethal interventions for reducing predation on livestock. From 114 studies, we find a striking conclusion: scarce quantitative comparisons of interventions and scarce comparisons against experimental controls preclude strong inference about the effectiveness of methods. For wise investment of public resources in protecting livestock and carnivores, evidence of effectiveness should be a prerequisite to policy making or large-scale funding of any method or, at a minimum, should be measured during implementation. An appropriate evidence base is needed, and we recommend a coalition of scientists and managers be formed to establish and encourage use of consistent standards in future experimental evaluations.
The snow leopard
Panthera uncia
is an elusive and globally-threatened apex predator occurring in the mountain ranges of central Asia. As with other large carnivores, gaps in data on its distribution ...and abundance still persist. Moreover, available density estimates are often based on inadequate sampling designs or analytical approaches. Here, we used camera trapping across a vast mountainous area (area of the sampling frame 850 km
2
; analysed habitat extent 2600 km
2
) and spatially-explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models to provide, to our knowledge, the first robust snow leopard population density estimate for the Altai Mountains. This region is considered one of the most important conservation areas for snow leopards, representing a vast portion of suitable habitat and a key ecological corridor. We also provide estimates of the scale parameter (
σ
) that reflects ranging behaviour (activity range) and baseline encounter probability, and investigated potential drivers of density and related parameters by assessing their associations with anthropogenic and environmental factors. Sampling yielded 9729 images of snow leopards corresponding to 224 independent detections that belonged to a minimum of 23 identified adult individuals. SECR analysis resulted in an overall density of 1.31 individuals/100 km
2
(1.15%–1.50 95% CI), which was positively correlated with terrain slope. This estimate falls within the mid-values of the range of density estimates for the species globally. We estimated significantly different activity range size for females and males (79 and 329 km
2
, respectively). Baseline encounter probability was negatively associated with anthropogenic activity. Our study contributes to on-going efforts to produce robust global estimates of population abundance for this top carnivore.
The grey wolf (Canis lupus) persists in a variety of human-dominated landscapes and is subjected to various legal management regimes throughout Europe. Our aim was to assess the effects of intrinsic ...and methodological determinants on the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of wolves from four European populations under different legal management. We determined HCC by an enzyme-linked immune assay in 259 hair samples of 133 wolves from the Iberian, Alpine, Dinaric-Balkan, and Scandinavian populations. The HCC showed significant differences between body regions. Mean HCC in lumbar guard hair was 11.6 ± 9.7 pg/mg (range 1.6-108.8 pg/mg). Wolves from the Dinaric-Balkan and Scandinavian populations showed significantly higher HCC than Iberian wolves, suggesting that harvest policies could reflected in the level of chronic stress. A significant negative relationship with body size was found. The seasonal, sex and age patterns are consistent with other studies, supporting HCC as a biomarker of chronic stress in wolves for a retrospective time frame of several weeks. Our results highlight the need for standardization of sampling and analytical techniques to ensure the value of HCC in informing management at a continental scale.
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