Habitat preference of red deer and sika deer in the Doupov Mts.

The bachelor thesis is focused on habitat preferences of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon nippon). The objective of study was to determine, which types of landscape the red deer (Cervus elaphus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon nippon) prefer during the year. Study area is located in northwest Bohemia in Doupov mountains. Data were collected by GPS telemetry from 13 stags and 13 hinds of red deer, and 6 stags and 2 hinds of sika deer during the days between 19th September 2010 and 8th February 2015. From GPS telemetry we received a total of 176982 red deer pozitions and other 38932 sika deer pozitions. Analyzed home ranges have shown main preferences of male and female red deer to shrubbery and natural grasses. Males of sika had main preferences to shrubbery and mixed forest during the year. Sika females have preferred shrubbery and natural grasses. The bachelor thesis results provided very interesting information of red and sika deer ecology and could be used in future game management or when creating a new emerging legislation, especially in the area of minimum hunting grounds quantities

Habitat selection of semi-free ranging European bison: Do bison preferred natural open habitats?

European bison (Bison bonasus) were successfully reintroduced in many free or semi-free areas across Europe during the last decades. Due to the increased numbers, the conflicts between human activities and bison are more frequent. Therefore the knowledge about spatial activity and habitat preference in new regions is the need for management decision making. We studied daily and seasonal habitat use of the semi-free European bison herd in the Czech Republic from 2014 to 2019. The lead cows of the herd were collared with the GPS devices with a 30-minutes GPS fixes interval. The bison herd strongly preferred the managed open areas and supplementary feeding stations during the seasons (Jacob´s index from 0.49 to 0.99). On the contrary, they avoided the forest type and unmanaged open habitats (Jacob´s index from −0.23 to −0.69). The managed meadows and feeding places they used almost exclusively during the night while the forest during the day-light

Worse sleep and increased energy expenditure yet no movement changes in sub-urban wild boar experiencing an influx of human visitors (anthropulse) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Expansion of urban areas, landscape transformation and increasing human outdoor activities strongly affect wildlife behaviour. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular led to drastic changes in human behaviour, exposing wildlife around the world to either reduced or increased human presence, potentially altering animal behaviour. Here, we investigate behavioural responses of wild boar (Sus scrofa) to changing numbers of human visitors to a suburban forest near Prague, Czech Republic, during the first 2.5 years of the COVID-19 epidemic (April 2019–November 2021). We used bio-logging and movement data of 63 GPS-collared wild boar and human visitation data based on an automatic counter installed in the field. We hypothesised that higher levels of human leisure activity will have a disturbing effect on wild boar behaviour manifested in increased movements and ranging, energy spent, and disrupted sleep patterns. Interestingly, whilst the number of people visiting the forest varied by two orders of magnitude (from 36 to 3431 people weekly), even high levels of human presence (&gt;2000 visitors per week) did not affect weekly distance travelled, home range size, and maximum displacement of wild boar. Instead, individuals spent 41 % more energy at high levels of human presence (&gt;2000 visitors per week), with more erratic sleep patterns, characterised by shorter and more frequent sleeping bouts. Our results highlight multifaceted effects of increased human activities (‘anthropulses’), such as those related to COVID-19 countermeasures, on animal behaviour. High human pressure may not affect animal movements or habitat use, especially in highly adaptable species such as wild boar, but may disrupt animal activity rhythms, with potentially detrimental fitness consequences. Such subtle behavioural responses can be overlooked if using only standard tracking technology.<br/

Sleep in the wild: the importance of individual effects and environmental conditions on sleep behaviour in wild boar

Sleep serves vital physiological functions, yet how sleep in wild animals is influenced by environmental conditions is poorly understood. Here we use high-resolution biologgers to investigate sleep in wild animals over ecologically relevant time scales and quantify variability between individuals under changing conditions. We developed a robust classification for accelerometer data and measured multiple dimensions of sleep in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) over an annual cycle. In support of the hypothesis that environmental conditions determine thermoregulatory challenges, which regulate sleep, we show that sleep quantity, efficiency and quality are reduced on warmer days, sleep is less fragmented in longer and more humid days, while greater snow cover and rainfall promote sleep quality. Importantly, this longest and most detailed analysis of sleep in wild animals to date reveals large inter- and intra-individual variation. Specifically, short-sleepers sleep up to 46% less than long-sleepers but do not compensate for their short sleep through greater plasticity or quality, suggesting they may pay higher costs of sleep deprivation. Given the major role of sleep in health, our results suggest that global warming and the associated increase in extreme climatic events are likely to negatively impact sleep, and consequently health, in wildlife, particularly in nocturnal animals

Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns

Funding: This article is a contribution of the COVID-19 Bio-Logging Initiative, which is funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF9881) and the National Geographic Society (NGS-82515R-20) (both grants to C.R.).COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals’ 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.PostprintPeer reviewe

Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns (code)

COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable, with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns, 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals' 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12%, and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide

Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns

COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable, with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns, 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals' 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12%, and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide