Survival and cause-specific mortality of European wildcat (Felis silvestris) across Europe

Humans have transformed most landscapes across the globe, forcing other species to adapt in order to persist in increasingly anthropogenic landscapes. Wide-ranging solitary species, such as wild felids, struggle particularly in such landscapes. Conservation planning and management for their long-term persistence critically depends on understanding what determine survival and what are the main mortality risks. We carried out the first study on annual survival and cause-specific mortality of the European wildcat with a large and unique dataset of 211 tracked individuals from 22 study areas across Europe. Furthermore, we tested the effect of environmental and human disturbance variables on the survival probability. Our results show that mortalities were mainly human-caused, with roadkill and poaching representing 57% and 22% of the total annual mortality, respectively. The annual survival probability of wildcat was 0.92 (95% CI = 0.87–0.98) for females and 0.84 (95% CI = 0.75–0.94) for males. Road density strongly impacted wildcat annual survival, whereby an increase in the road density of motorways and primary roads by 1 km/km2 in wildcat home-ranges increased mortality risk ninefold. Low-traffic roads, such as secondary and tertiary roads, did not significantly affect wildcat's annual survival. Our results deliver key input parameters for population viability analyses, provide planning-relevant information to maintain subcritical road densities in key wildcat habitats, and identify conditions under which wildcat-proof fences and wildlife crossing structures should be installed to decrease wildcat mortality.This research was funded by: the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as part of the mFund project “WilDa—Dynamic Wildlife–Vehicle Collision warning, using heterogeneous traffic, accident and environmental data as well as big data concepts” grant number 19F2014B; the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) Research Grants, Short-Term Grants, 2020 (57507441); the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (DeWiSt). The data from Cabañeros National Park were collected in the frame of the project OAPN 352/2011 funded by Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales. MM was supported by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231). FDR was supported by a postdoctoral contract funded by the University of Málaga through the grants program “Ayudas para la Incorporación de Doctores del I Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Málaga (Call 2019)”. PM was supported by UIDB/50027/2020 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds.Peer reviewe

Large-scale genetic census of an elusive carnivore, the European wildcat (Felis s. silvestris)

The European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris, serves as a prominent target species for the reconnection of central European forest habitats. Monitoring of this species, however, appears difficult due to its elusive behaviour and the ease of confusion with domestic cats. Recently, evidence for multiple wildcat occurrences outside its known distribution has accumulated in several areas across Central Europe, questioning the validity of available distribution data for this species. Our aim was to assess the fine-scale distribution and genetic status of the wildcat in its central European distribution range. We compiled and analysed genetic samples from roadkills and hundreds of recent hair-trapping surveys and applied phylogenetic and genetic clustering methods to discriminate wild and domestic cats and identify population subdivision. 2220 individuals were confirmed as either wildcat (n = 1792) or domestic cat (n = 342), and the remaining 86 (3.9 %) were identified as hybrids between the two. Remarkably, genetic distinction of domestic cats, wildcats and their hybrids was only possible when taking into account the presence of two highly distinct genetic lineages of wildcats, with a suture zone in central Germany. 44 % of the individual wildcats where sampled outside the previously published distribution. Our analyses confirm a relatively continuous spatial presence of wildcats across large parts of the study area in contrast to previous analyses indicating a highly fragmented distribution. Our results suggest that wildcat conservation and management should take advantage of the higher than previously assumed dispersal potential of wildcats, which may use wildlife corridors very efficiently.publishe

Ionisierende Strahlung in der Medizin (Auszug aus: PTB-Mitteilungen 2013, Band 123, Heft 2. ISSN 0030-834X)

PTB-Mitteilungen. Band 123 (2013), Heft 2, Seite 1 - 81. ISSN 0030-834X1.: Janßen, Herbert: Vorwort 2.: Ankerhold, Ulrike: Ionisierende Strahlung in Diagnostik und Therapie 3.: Büermann, Ludwig: Metrologische Aspekte der Dosimetrie in der Röntgendiagnostik 4.: Kossert, Karsten: Aktivitätsbestimmung von Radionukliden für Diagnostik und Therapie 5.: Ankerhold, Ulrike und Thorsten Schneider: Dosimetrie für die Brachytherapie 6.: Krauss, Achim: Kalorimetrische Bestimmung der Wasser-Energiedosis 7.: Kapsch, Ralf-Peter: Dosimetrie mit Ionisationskammern in der externen Strahlentherapie 8.: Anton, Mathias: Dosimetrie für die externe Strahlentherapie: Dosimetrie mit Alanin 9.: Ambrosi, Peter: Strahlenschutz in der Medizin 10.: Hupe, Oliver: Messgeräte und Herausforderungen in der Strahlenschutzmesstechnik 11.: Ambrosi,Peter, Oliver Hupe und H.-M. Kramer: Messgrößen im Strahlenschutz 12.: Hupe, Oliver: Amtliche Personendosimetrie für Medizin-Personal 13.: Hupe, Oliver: Dosis für helfende Personen in der Human-, Zahn- und Tiermedizin 14: Behrens, Rolf: Teilkörperdosimetrie für Photonen und Betastrahlung 15.: Hupe, Oliver, Hayo Zutz und Peter Ambrosi: Elektronische Dosimeter für gepulste Strahlung 16.: Zutz, Hayo: Messung der Strahlung im Beschleuniger-Therapieraum 17.: Hans Rabus: Strahlenwirkung 18.: Arndt, Alexander und Woon Yong Baek: Strahlenwirkung auf Biomoleküle 19.: Bug, Marion und Heidi Nettelbeck: Simulation der Strahlenwirkung auf biologische Objekte 20.: Hilgers, Gerhard: Messung der Spurstruktur ionisierender Strahlung 21.: Giesen, Ulrich: Strahlenwirkung auf zellulärer Eben

Large-scale genetic census of an elusive carnivore, the European wildcat (Felis s. silvestris)

The European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris, serves as a prominent target species for the reconnection of central European forest habitats. Monitoring of this species, however, appears difficult due to its elusive behaviour and the ease of confusion with domestic cats. Recently, evidence for multiple wildcat occurrences outside its known distribution has accumulated in several areas across Central Europe, questioning the validity of available distribution data for this species. Our aim was to assess the fine-scale distribution and genetic status of the wildcat in its central European distribution range. We compiled and analysed genetic samples from roadkills and hundreds of recent hair-trapping surveys and applied phylogenetic and genetic clustering methods to discriminate wild and domestic cats and identify population subdivision. 2220 individuals were confirmed as either wildcat (n = 1792) or domestic cat (n = 342), and the remaining 86 (3.9 %) were identified as hybrids between the two. Remarkably, genetic distinction of domestic cats, wildcats and their hybrids was only possible when taking into account the presence of two highly distinct genetic lineages of wildcats, with a suture zone in central Germany. 44 % of the individual wildcats where sampled outside the previously published distribution. Our analyses confirm a relatively continuous spatial presence of wildcats across large parts of the study area in contrast to previous analyses indicating a highly fragmented distribution. Our results suggest that wildcat conservation and management should take advantage of the higher than previously assumed dispersal potential of wildcats, which may use wildlife corridors very efficiently