Agriculture intensity and landscape configuration influence the spatial use of wildcats across Europe

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Héctor Ruiz-Villar - , University of Oviedo (Autor:in)
  • Matteo Luca Bastianelli - , Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Bavarian Forest National Park (Autor:in)
  • Marco Heurich - , Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Bavarian Forest National Park, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (Autor:in)
  • Stefano Anile - , Southern Illinois University (Autor:in)
  • Francisco Díaz-Ruiz - , University of Málaga (Autor:in)
  • Pablo Ferreras - , Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (Autor:in)
  • Malte Götz - , German Wildlife Foundation (Autor:in)
  • Mathias Herrmann - , OEKO-LOG.COM Field Research (Autor:in)
  • Saskia Jerosch - , Professur für Forstzoologie (Autor:in)
  • Fernando Jubete - , Asociación de Naturalistas Palentinos (Autor:in)
  • José María López-Martín - , Generalitat de Catalunya, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Autor:in)
  • Pedro Monterroso - , Universidade do Porto (Autor:in)
  • Olaf Simon - , Institute of Animal Ecology and Nature Education (Autor:in)
  • Sabrina Streif - , Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Autor:in)
  • Manfred Trinzen - (Autor:in)
  • Fermín Urra - , Navarra Environmental Management (GAN-NIK) (Autor:in)
  • José Vicente López-Bao - , University of Oviedo (Autor:in)
  • Francisco Palomares - , Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC) (Autor:in)

Abstract

Land use intensification is increasing worldwide and affects wildlife movements, particularly of specialist carnivores. Resource availability and anthropogenic activities drive the extent and shape of home range size. Wildlife may respond to decreased resource availability under intensification scenarios by increasing their home ranges; however they may be less affected when inhabiting sustainable agricultural landscapes. We investigate whether agricultural practices and landscape configuration influence the spatial behaviour of wildcats, a medium-sized specialist carnivore inhabiting landscapes with different degrees of agricultural presence across Europe. We focus on the effect of the proportions of high impact and low impact agriculture, forest integrity and forest edge density on wildcat home range size. We found that wildcat home range increased along with the proportion of high impact agriculture and the forest integrity, whereas it decreased when forest edge density increased. Forest edge density buffered the detrimental effects caused by high impact agriculture. To enhance the long term conservation of wildcats in Europe it is crucial to protect the sustainable mosaic-structured landscapes and prevent its conversion to homogenous intensified agricultural landscapes.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer109854
FachzeitschriftBiological conservation
Jahrgang277
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Jan. 2023
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Schlagworte

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Schlagwörter

  • Extensive agriculture, Felis silvestris, Home range, Land use intensification, Landscape heterogeneity, Spatial ecology