Habitat selection can be considered as a hierarchical process in which animals satisfy their habitat requirements at different ecological scales. Theory predicts that spatial and temporal scales should co‐vary in most ecological processes and that the most limiting factors should drive habitat selection at coarse ecological scales, but be less influential at finer scales. Using detailed location data on roe deer Capreolus capreolus inhabiting the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany, we investigated habitat selection at several spatial and temporal scales. We tested 1) whether time‐varying patterns were governed by factors reported as having the largest effects on fitness, 2) whether the trade‐off between forage and predation risks differed among spatial and temporal scales and 3) if spatial and temporal scales are positively associated. We analysed the variation in habitat selection within the landscape and within home ranges at monthly intervals, with respect to land‐cover type and proxys of food and cover over seasonal and diurnal temporal scales. The fine‐scale temporal variation follows a nycthemeral cycle linked to diurnal variation in human disturbance. The large‐scale variation matches seasonal plant phenology, suggesting food resources being a greater limiting factor than lynx predation risk. The trade‐off between selection for food and cover was similar on seasonal and diurnal scale. Habitat selection at the different scales may be the consequence of the temporal variation and predictability of the limiting factors as much as its association with fitness. The landscape of fear might have less importance at the studied scale of habitat selection than generally accepted because of the predator hunting strategy. Finally, seasonal variation in habitat selection was similar at the large and small spatial scales, which may arise because of the marked philopatry of roe deer. The difference is supposed to be greater for wider ranging herbivores.

Aim: To propose a species distribution modelling framework and its companion "iSDM" R package for predicting the potential and realized distributions of invasive species within the invaded range.Location: Northern France. Methods:The non-equilibrium distribution of invasive species with the environment within the invaded range affects the environmental representativeness of species presenceabsence data collected from the field and introduces uncertainty in observed absences as these may either reflect unsuitable sites or be incidental. To address these issues, we here propose an environmental systematic sampling design to collect presence-absence data from the field and a probability index to sort and subsequently separate environmental absences (EAs: reflecting environmentally unsuitable sites) from dispersal-limited absences (DLAs: reflecting sites out of dispersal reach). We first conducted a comprehensive test based on a virtual species to evaluate the performance of our framework. Then, we applied it on different life stages of a non-native tree species (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) invasive in Europe. Results:Regarding the potential distribution, we found higher model performances for both the virtual species (true skill statistics (TSS) > 0.75) and P. serotina (TSS ≥ 0.68) after carefully selecting absences with a low probability to be DLAs compared with classical models that incorporate both EAs and DLAs (e.g. TSS = 0.11 for P. serotina with 80% of DLAs). On the contrary, both EAs and DLAs as well as dispersal-related covariates were needed to capture the realized distribution of both the virtual species and P. serotina. Main Conclusions:Our framework helps overcoming the conceptual and methodological limitations of the disequilibrium in species' distribution models inherent to invasive species and enables managers to robustly estimate both the realized and potential distributions of invasive species. Although more relevant for modelling the distribution of non-native species, this framework can also be applied to native species. K E Y W O R D Salien species, biological invasions, dispersal limitations, potential niche, realized niche, species distribution modelling, virtual species

Alien invasive species can affect large areas, often with wide-ranging impacts on ecosystem structure, function, and services. Prunus serotina is a widespread invader of European temperate forests, where it tends to form homogeneous stands and limits recruitment of indigenous trees. We hypotesized that invasion by P. serotina would be reflected in the nutrient contents of the native species' leaves and in the respiration of invaded plots as efficient resource uptake and changes in nutrient cycling by P. serotina probably underly its aggressive invasiveness. We combined data from 48 field plots in the forest of Compiègne, France, and data from an experiment using 96 microcosms derived from those field plots. We used general linear models to separate effects of invasion by P. serotina on heterotrophic soil and litter respiration rates and on canopy foliar nutrient content from effects of soil chemical properties, litter quantity, litter species composition, and tree species composition. In invaded stands, average respiration rates were 5.6% higher for soil (without litter) and 32% higher for soil and litter combined. Compared to indigenous tree species, P. serotina exhibited higher foliar N (+24.0%), foliar P (+50.7%), and lower foliar C:N (−22.4%) and N:P (−10.1%) ratios. P. serotina affected foliar nutrient contents of co-occuring indigenous tree species leading to decreased foliar N (−8.7 %) and increased C:N ratio (+9.5%) in Fagus sylvatica, decreased foliar N:P ratio in Carpinus betulus (−13.5%) and F. sylvatica (−11.8%), and increased foliar P in Pinus sylvestris (+12.3%) in invaded vs. uninvaded stands. Our results suggest that P. serotina is changing nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycles to its own advantage, hereby increasing carbon turnover via labile litter, affecting the relative nutrient contents in the overstory leaves, and potentially altering the photosynthetic capacity of the long-lived indigenous broadleaved species. Uncontrolled invasion of European temperate forests by P. serotina may affect the climate change mitigation potential of these forests in the long term, through additive effects on local nutrient cycles.

Abstract:The combination of GPS-Telemetry and resource selection functions is widely used to analyze animal habitat selection. Rapid large-scale assessment of vegetation structure allows bridging the requirements of habitat selection studies on grain size and extent, particularly in forest habitats. For roe deer, the cold period in winter forces individuals to optimize their trade off in searching for food and shelter. We analyzed the winter habitat selection of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a montane forest landscape combining estimates of vegetation cover in three different height strata, derived from high resolution airborne Laser-scanning (LiDAR, Light detection and ranging), and activity data from GPS telemetry. Specifically, we tested the influence of temperature, snow height, and wind speed on site selection, differentiating between active and resting animals using mixed-effects conditional logistic regression models in a case-control design. Site selection was best explained by temperature deviations from hourly means, snow height, and activity status of the animals. Roe deer tended to use forests of high canopy cover more frequently with decreasing temperature, and when snow height exceeded 0.6 m. Active animals preferred lower canopy cover, but higher understory cover. Our approach demonstrates the OPEN ACCESSForests 2014, 5 1375 potential of LiDAR measures for studying fine scale habitat selection in complex three-dimensional habitats, such as forests.

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