Mountainous regions are regarded as significant biodiversity hotspots, offering a diverse range of vital ecosystem services to the communities who reside in them and the surrounding plains. The black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), a galliform species emblematic of the European Alps, is currently threatened by habitat change. The estimation of population dynamics, and in particular the reproductive success of this species, represents a significant challenge for the long-term conservation of the black grouse. In this study, we attempted to map black grouse brood habitat suitability (BHS) at the scale of an Alpine bioregion, coupling a species distribution model (SDM) with multi-source remote sensing data. To extract landscape composition features likely to influence BHS, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were employed to characterise very high spatial resolution (VHSR) SPOT6-7 imagery. Altitude, phenological indices derived from Sentinel-2 time series (NDVImax, NDWI1max), and a texture feature derived from the SPOT6-7 images (Haralick entropy) were used to refine landscape characterisation. An SDM based on a random forest ensemble model was used to map black grouse BHS. Altitude, ericaceous heathland and NDVImax emerged as the three most significant variables, consistent with the ecological needs of black grouse. The proportion of ericaceous heathland was especially representative of the foraging needs of female black grouse; the main ecological determinant of habitat suitability for brood rearing with sufficient vegetation cover. This study highlights the effectiveness of integrating VHSR and multispectral time series, together with the advantages offered by deep learning techniques, in extracting species-specific information tailored to conservation issues. The BHS map, produced on a regional scale, constitutes a significant advances in the monitoring of the current population dynamics of black grouse at the western limit of the species’ geographical distribution.

Abstract Understanding how species survive at their poleward limits of distribution is of interest in species conservation, particularly in light of global warming and predictions of shifting distributions of both predators and prey species. How species adapt to high latitudes and to future climate changes will be impacted both by direct interactions with the environment, such as changing heat tolerances, but also indirectly through biotic interactions with prey and predators. The smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) in Norway provides an interesting case study of biotic interactions at range limits. The number of potential prey species of C. austriaca is lower in Norway than in southern latitudes. To investigate trophic adaptations at its poleward range limit we used metabar-coding sequencing to identify prey species in stomach samples of a museum collection of 17 preserved C. austriaca from Agder in Southern Norway. Eight prey species were detected, four reptiles and four mammals. Field vole (Microtus agrestis) and common shrew (Sorex araneus) were the most common prey species, while bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) were eaten only by a few smooth snakes. A. fragilis was found in five samples and Z. vivipara in only three samples. DNA was also recovered from grass snake (Natrix natrix) in all but one sample, and DNA from European adder (Vipera berus) in one sample, indicating the role of ophiophagy. Visual analysis of 75 faeces from the Oslo region showed that A. fragilis was the most common prey species, followed by shrews. The main conclusion is that C. austriaca in Norway have a higher proportion of mammalian prey in their diet compared to populations in more southern latitudes.

Despite status as a game species in the western United States, rigorous monitoring of dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) populations is limited. Obtaining an adequate number of observations for effective population monitoring of dusky grouse is challenging due to difficult-to-reach montane habitats, cryptic behaviors, and limited personnel, time, and funds at conservation agencies. While habitat accessibility and survey effort constraints may be outside a manager’s control, identifying the most effective protocols to better detect a target species is possible and will improve monitoring programs. Our objectives were to 1) evaluate field-based protocols for maximizing dusky grouse detections and 2) identify survey conditions and timing that maximize the probability of detecting dusky grouse in western Montana. We conducted replicated point-count surveys with and without electronic playback in spring and summer 2019, and spring surveys solely with electronic playback in 2020–2021. We used N-mixture models to compare the probability of detecting dusky grouse in spring verse summer sampling, and evaluate the effects of electronic playback of grouse calls, route type (off-trail, trail, and road), weather, background noise, day, and time on probability of detection. Spring sampling yielded significantly more dusky grouse detections than summer sampling. The use of electronic playback of female calls in the spring increased detection probability but chick distress calls during the summer did not improve detection rates. The probability of detecting a dusky grouse was similar across the different route types (off-trail, trail, and road), and maximized on clear days, with little wind and background noise, with surveys occurring 9–162 minutes post-sunrise during 3–23 May. By examining the effects of different factors on dusky grouse probability of detection, our results provide necessary information for the development of effective protocols for field surveys for population monitoring of dusky grouse.

Investigating resource selection patterns of declining species is critical to developing effective conservation strategies and mitigating negative population trends. We trapped and radio-collared northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and recorded the location of each individual three times per week during the northern bobwhite breeding season (April – September) to infer resource selection by non-brooding adults. We defined 13 vegetation communities with varying fire histories and assessed their relative use via a distance-based logistic regression model within a Bayesian framework. We found reliable evidence that non-brooding northern bobwhite preferred supplemental feed lines, recently burned natural pine stands, one-year rough in shrub/scrub, and one-year rough in hardwood-pine stands. Conversely, we found they avoided one-year rough in natural pine stands, recently burned shrub/scrub, and recently burned hardwood-pine stands. Our data suggest that non-brooding bobwhite’s successional stage preference may vary between vegetation communities within the same study area and adds further evidence to the importance of fire and vegetation interspersion in bobwhite management. Results from our study may be applied to enhance habitat for non-brooding northern bobwhite and potentially increase adult survival, an important metric correlated with bobwhite population growth.

Rehabilitation and release contribute to conservation efforts for threatened species. Ensuring the efficacy of these efforts requires a good understanding of the factors which determine survival and integration of released animals into wild populations. Post-release monitoring using animal-borne devices, including biologging or marking devices attached to or inserted inside animals, offers the opportunity to gain this information. The impacts of such devices on animal welfare are poorly researched. There is a growing consensus that researchers have an ethical obligation to reduce harm to animals. The well-established principal of the four Rs; replacing experimental animals, reducing the number of animals used, refining protocols to reduce suffering, and refusing unnecessary experimentation, aims to achieve this. Here, we suggest a framework for applying the four Rs to ensure the ethical use of animal-borne devices during post-release monitoring. To develop this framework, we consider the impact of the use of animal-borne devices on animal welfare and survival. The framework emphasises: i) clear definition of aims before the study begins, ii) consideration of the benefits of data obtained to conservation, iii) consideration of species and habitat specific needs iv) continued development of protocols based on feedback during the study, and v) transparency among the research and rehabilitation community (the DBSDT framework). The framework is widely applicable. As a case study, we develop a set of guidelines for the ethical use of biologging devices during post-release monitoring of ground pangolins (Smutsia temminckii).

The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wetland specialist threatened felid with limited knowledge base on behavior and ecology. We carried out comprehensive analysis of its diet within a human-dominated landscape in southern Nepal, analyzing scat samples through microscopic analysis and DNA metabarcoding. The microscopic analysis revealed that mammals, primarily rodents, constituted the largest proportion of fishing cat diet (61.73% frequency of occurrence (FO)) followed by birds (43.21% FO) fish (24.69% FO) and reptiles (19.75% FO). However, DNA metabarcoding documented fish as the main diet (70% FO), followed by mammals (63.33% FO) and birds (30% FO). Our findings demonstrate that, fish alone is not a major food source of fishing cats indicate their role to regulate rodents and birds that damages the farm crops. The trophic niche breadth (0.68) shows the fishing cats a diet generalist. We recommend launching awareness programs and programs promoting integrated fish cum paddy farming among fish farmers within the fishing cat range, benefiting both farmers and fishing cat populations. Additionally, targeted conservation measures such as controlling physical and chemical pollution in agricultural and wetland sites are essential to mitigate threats to fishing cat populations. Prioritizing wetland health should be a central strategy in conservation efforts, which will benefit not only fishing cat, but also many co-distributed species.

Trophic interactions are crucial for maintaining ecological balance. In cities, avian predation has been shown to be particularly relevant due to its effects on community structure, pest control, and nutrient cycling. As humanity relies upon ecosystem services for survival and 70% of the human population is projected to live in cities by 2050, understanding the effects of urbanization on avian predation is imperative. This study investigates the effects of urban microclimates, impacted by impervious surface and green/blue infrastructure, and human-induced disturbances, on avian predation in urban areas. Plasticine caterpillars were placed in Quercus robur trees to assess the avian predation rate. The analyses evaluated the impact of artificial lighting at night, human population density, noise pollution, vegetation, and water bodies on predation rates during two months in the city of Amsterdam. Results indicated a substantial increase in predation during the second month, likely caused by an increase in naïve fledglings or elevated ambient temperatures. Noise pollution consistently emerged as the most reliable predictor of predation, consistently leading to a reduction in predation rates, possibly due to avoidance behaviour. Other predictors exhibited substantial temporal and spatial variability. Artificial lighting at night increased predation in the first month, suggesting that insectivorous birds predate near illuminated areas. The diminished effect of artificial lighting in the second month may be attributed to the increased daylength. During the second month, all predictors negatively affected predation, supporting the increasing disturbance hypothesis. These findings underscore the complex relationship between urban factors and avian predation, highlighting the need for mitigation efforts in urban planning.

Geese and swans are focal species in conservation and in management aimed at reducing crop damage. In the former disturbance should be minimized, and in the latter it is important to know how different species react to scaring activities. Previous research about trade-offs between predation risk and foraging in birds often use ‘Flight Initiation Distance’ (FID) as a proxy to compare fearfulness under different circumstances and among species. We studied variation in FID in geese and swans by species, flock size and composition, time of day, and body size (408 scaring trials on agricultural land in the winters 2018—2021). In single-species flocks mean FID decreased in the order: bean goose (171 m) > greylag goose (104 m) > whooper swan (102 m) > Canada goose (92 m) > barnacle goose (77 m). In line with predictions based on body mass, the lightest species (barnacle goose) was the least fearful, but contrary to prediction neither of the two heaviest species (whooper swan, Canada goose) was the most fearful. FID was negatively correlated with flock size in bean goose. Flock size and FID did not correlate in greylag, Canada, and barnacle geese. FID did not differ between morning and afternoon in the 4 species with a sample of >20 single-species trials. When in multi-species flocks, FID differed less among species, converging in the 108—138 m range. Accordingly, bean goose FID decreased significantly whereas it increased significantly in barnacle and greylag geese. Barnacle goose (protected from hunting by the EU bird directive) was less fearful than species with an open hunting season in the EU, implying that exposure to hunting affect species-specific FID. We show that the level of fearfulness varied among swan and goose species, making it necessary to adopt diverse strategies in conservation as well as crop protection.

Indirect effects of hunting can lead to changes in population dynamics, which can be caused by trait-mediated effects such as, but not limited to, changes in behavior, reproduction, and physiological responses. Our understanding of the effects of activities associated with hunting such as dog training may incur trait-mediated effects and ultimately indirect effects to wildlife populations are underrepresented. We conducted a two-year study on a high-density wild bobwhite population to identify potential impacts of disturbance caused by spring dog training on survival and reproduction. We recorded 40 total encounters with radio-collared bobwhite, where the lowest seasonal encounter rate was 16.7% of available coveys and the highest was 50%. In 2021, mean survival for the control and treatment groups were 0.41 (95% CrI: 0.33, 0.49) and 0.38 (95% CrI: 0.31, 0.46), respectively. In 2022, mean survival for the control group was 0.45 (95% CrI: 0.38, 0.52) and 0.42 (95% CrI: 0.34, 0.50) for the treatment group. We also found no effect of treatment on fecundity and nest survival was similar for both years for both treatments. The neutral results of our study are likely attributed to low encounter rates. Future studies should focus on public land scenarios where disturbances are more frequent and food resources are likely more limited.

As human-modified landscape and climate changes proliferate, maintaining biodiversity and understanding the function and quality of available habitat is imperative. As Anurans (frogs/toads) can be indicator species of habitat quality and ecosystem productivity, studying the Anuran community in a mixed-land use region provides an opportunity to better understand the relationship between species and landscape modification. Certain species, such as Pseudacris crucifer, can also be utilized as indicator species. We explored this relationship by assessing the effects of spatial and temporal heterogeneity on the presence of Anurans across an urbanization gradient. Within the Toledo Metropolitan Area, including the biodiversity hotspot Oak Openings Region, we surveyed 67 different wetlands (N=1800) over three years. There was a difference in community assemblage between rural and suburban/urban habitats driven by human-modification (impervious surface), composition (landcover type) and productivity (e.g., NDVI). The differences in spatial structure but lack of differences in temporal variables among sites suggest spatial factors explain these discrepancies. Areas with more impervious surface, lower amounts of swamp forest, and lower NDVI had fewer species, lower average species per survey, and lower relative abundance of Anuran species. Utilizing Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling, we found that P. crucifer relative abundance and greater richness were the best predictors of ecosystem productivity. Our research demonstrates the value of non-invasive Anuran call surveys to assess ecosystem productivity and species richness on a large scale, while also offering a method to evaluate conservation efforts internationally. This scalable approach can be applied anywhere with sufficient environmental data, and we recommend utilizing Anurans as indicator taxa for understanding ecosystem function, especially in human-modified landscapes.

We compared times series for rock ptarmigan densities (20032019) derived from walked transects and road transects in Mosfellsheiði and Slétta in southwest and northeast Iceland, respectively. The walked transects were laid out according to a random rule, but the road transects were not. Data from both survey types were analysed according to the distance sampling methodology. The purpose was to compare results derived from the two survey types. Road transects are easier to conduct than walked transects, but they break a fundamental rule of distance sampling, namely random placement of transects. Our results show that road transects are more than five times faster to conduct than walked transects. There were no indications that ptarmigan avoided roads. Population indices were similar for the two survey methods in both study areas. Density estimates in Mosfellsheiði were identical for the two survey methods but not in Slétta, where density estimates for road transects were lower. The Slétta road transects were biased low because parts of the road transect intersected habitat that ptarmigan do not occupy. This bias can be remedied at least partially by considering non-habitats by applying multipliers in the distance analysis.

Capercaillie in Scotland have declined in number and contracted in range since the 1970s, most remaining in Strathspey on the northwest flank of the Cairngorm mountains. Strathspey, however, is popular for recreation and suffers anthropogenic disturbance from visitors and their use of new forest tracks and remote, off-track areas. Disturbance reduces the area of forest available to Capercaillie. Refuge areas wherein the creation of new tracks is not allowed, and in which recreation is not encouraged, are a management option that might mitigate such effects. We simulate this possibility for the area covered by Forest and Land Scotland’s Strathspey Land Management Plan. Spatially explicit, stage-based matrix models assessed the potential of protecting this population with refuges under ‘optimistic’, ‘central’ and ‘pessimistic’ scenarios based on observed demographic data. Fifteen potential refuges comprised less-disturbed areas of forest still used by Capercaillie. We simulated population growth using combinations of 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12 and the full complement of 15 refuge areas. An increasing Capercaillie population could be sustained by a network of refuges, but refuges could not arrest a wider population decline due to causes other than disturbance. This suggests that refuges could play a role in mitigating the increasingly damaging effects of disturbance on Capercaillie in the Strathspey LMP but that the birds’ long-term prospects will depend upon improving their performance more widely.

Wolves and other wildlife species that share habitats with humans with minor options for spatial avoidance must either tolerate frequent human encounters, which may be lethal, or allocate their activity to those periods of the day when the risk of encountering humans is smallest and the consequences least severe. This may force wolves in densely human-populated and cultivated landscapes to either become highly nocturnally active or habituate to human stimuli. Based on 6,220 camera trap images of adult wolves from eight territories in Denmark, we analyzed the extent to which diel activity patterns in a wolf population in a highly cultivated landscape with fragmented forests and extensive public access could be explained from diel variation in darkness, human activity, and prey (deer) activity. We found that diel activity correlated with all three factors simultaneously with human activity (negative) having the strongest total as well as partial effect, followed by darkness (positive) and deer activity (positive). Relative to a model that smoothed activity as a function of time of the day, the three factors accounted for 94% of the explainable diel variation in wolf activity. As most of the apparent selection for darkness could be explained by temporal human avoidance, we suggest that nocturnality (proportion of observations registered at night vs. day at equinox) is a useful proxy for investment in temporal human avoidance. In this study, wolf packs were 7.0 (95% CI: 5.0-9.7) times more active at night than at daytime, which makes Danish wolves amongst the most nocturnally active wolves reported so far. This result confirms the initial prediction that wolves with few options for spatial avoidance, invest heavily in temporal human avoidance.

Decades of persecution resulted in the long-term absence of Grey wolves (Canis lupus) from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves have eased the pressure and, over the last 20 years, wolves have begun rapidly re-establishing territories in their previous Central European habitats. Unfortunately, those habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped twelve wolves (from eight packs) in five Central European areas with GPS collars and calculated their monthly home ranges using Autocorrelated Kernel Density Estimation. In addition, we used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats within each home range. Home range size for most wolves (84.6%) ranged from 56.4 to 259.7 km2. Our data confirmed the general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase and non-breeders showing no specific pattern. Somewhat predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests. Some animals within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grasslands, which could be influenced by the specific land use of this habitat type and the high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re-colonisation of Central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively rapidly across Central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicting concerns with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify the management implications.

Predators can affect ecosystems through non-consumptive effects on their prey, which can lead to cascading effects on the vegetation. In mammalian communities, such cascading effects on whole ecosystems have mainly been demonstrated in protected areas, but the extent to which such effects may occur in more human-dominated landscapes remains disputable. With the recolonisation of wolves (Canis lupus) in Europe, understanding the potential for such cascading processes becomes crucial for understanding the ecological consequences of wolf recovery and making appropriate management recommendations. Here, we investigate the evidence for non-consumptive effects of wolves on their wild ungulate prey and cascading effects on the vegetation in European landscapes. We reviewed empirical studies reporting wild ungulate responses to wolves involving spatio-temporal behaviour at large and fine spatial scales, activity patterns, vigilance, grouping, physiological effects, and effects on the vegetation. We reveal that non-consumptive effects of wolves in Europe have been studied in few regions and with focus on regions with low human impact and are highly context-dependent and might often be overruled by human-related factors. Further, we highlight the need for a description of human influence in NCE studies. We discuss challenges in NCE research and the potential for advances in future research on NCE of wolves in a human dominated landscape. Further, we emphasise the need for wildlife management to restore ecosystem complexity and processes, to allow non-consumptive predator effects to occur.

The loss of wildlife species due to habitat deterioration and pollution represents the major threats to biodiversity conservation. This is compounded by the rapid development of infrastructure i.e., the expansion of roads, railways, harbours; construction of industries, human settlements and agricultural infrastructure. A few studies have explored the significant effects of emerging infrastructure development on wildlife species and habitats particularly in developing countries like Tanzania. We reviewed 58 research articles and reports, to highlight the significant impacts of emerging infrastructure on both aquatic and terrestrial species and habitats in Tanzania. We show that despite the role it plays to the development, the infrastructure contributes significantly to the loss of wildlife species. For instance, avoidance, habitat loss, edge effects incursion, population, isolation, road mortality, and increased human access are among the effects of highway across the Serengeti, Mikumi, and Katavi National parks in Tanzania. Effect of on health of aquatic species, pollution and loss of habitat have been pointed out as impacts due to construction of hotels and industries upstream and along the coasts, expansion of harbours and agricultural activities. Environment effects i.e., reduction of forest, ecosystem services, and riverine habitat, loss of species are anticipated due to the construction of Stiegler’s Gorge Hydroelectric Dam, across the Rufiji River in eastern Tanzania. Though infrastructure development undoubtedly offers opportunities to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in developing nations, it should be planned to have the least possible negative effects on biodiversity. Well–planned infrastructure development could lessen human pressure on wildlife species and habitats. This paper would be useful to policymakers and politicians in developing nations to avoid implementing infrastructure in biodiversity–rich or protected areas as their decision may jeopardize the integrity of wildlife species and future generations.

Wildlife populations can be unmarked, meaning individuals lack visually distinguishing features for identification; populations may also exhibit non-independent movements, meaning individuals move together. For either unmarked or non-independent individuals, models based on spatial capture-recapture (SCR) approaches estimate abundance, density, and other population parameters critical for monitoring, management, and conservation. However, when individuals are both unmarked and non-independent, few model options exist. One approach has been to apply unmarked models and not address the non-independence despite unquantified impacts of overdispersion on bias, precision, and the ability to make robust ecological inferences. We conducted a simulation study to quantify the impact of non-independence on the performance of spatial count (SC) and spatial partial identity models (SPIM), two SCR-based unmarked modeling approaches, and used the performance of fully marked and independent SCR as a reference. We varied the levels of non-independence (aggregation and cohesion), detection probability, and the number of partial identity covariates used to resolve identities in SPIM estimation. We expected estimates of abundance and sigma (the spatial scale of individual movement) to be increasingly biased and less precise as aggregation and cohesion increased. Results showed that models indeed became less robust to increasing non-independence, especially for abundance, but importantly suggested that only SPIM could be reliably applied under low levels of cohesion when sufficient partial identity covariates are available. SC yielded consistently biased estimates with inflated precision that could not be corrected to nominal levels of coverage. SCR was the most robust across all combinations of aggregation and cohesion, as expected. We therefore advise against the use of SC models for estimating population parameters when individuals are known to be non-independent, caution that SPIM may be used under narrow ecological conditions, and encourage continued investigations into sampling design and methods development for populations of unmarked and non-independent individuals.

Reptiles and amphibians have been recognised as being some of the world’s most at-risk species from the impacts of human development. In particular, roads have been identified as having a significant impact on herpetofauna due to roadkill and fragmentation. Despite road mortality affecting herpetofauna greater than other species, the topic of wildlife vehicle collision (WVC) studies, which influence mitigation, is biased towards larger species due to higher human costs from WVCs. In addition to mitigation research, government funding for species protection and recovery has also been found to be highly disproportionate among species groups. This bias has resulted in a lack of research on effectiveness and clear and consistent guidance on mitigation for smaller animals such as reptiles and amphibians. Wildlife fencing is one method of mitigation that has proven to help reduce WVCs and can help maintain connectivity when combined with wildlife crossings. There have been more studies in recent years that have focused on herpetofauna mitigation and these have helped inform best practice guidance. In this article we review current freely available best practice guidance for fencing designed to manage conflict of herpetofauna around transport networks from across the world. We have summarised findings that compare and highlight key factors that include the following: Material type, Fence height, and Fence features. Combining factors from existing guidance, recent research and our practical observations on mitigation projects, we provide a summary of recommendations along with diagrams and descriptions that reflect the analysed guidance. We also identify and highlight any areas that may need further research and investigation to help build upon the status quo and enable us to better utilise fencing as a conflict management tool for herpetofauna.