Data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in wildlife species is limited. The high prevalences found in mustelid species such as freeranging American minks (Neovison vison) and domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) justify the study of this virus in the closely related autochthonous free-ranging European polecat (Mustela putorius). We analysed lung samples from 48 roadkilled polecats collected when the human infection reached its highest levels in Spain (2020-2021). We did not detect infections by SARS-CoV-2; however, surveillance in wild carnivores and particularly in mustelids is still warranted, due to their susceptibility to this virus.

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Applying the most appropriate sampling method is essential for estimating population size. Sampling methods and techniques to estimate abundance may be limited by environmental characteristics, species traits, specific requirements of the techniques, or the economic resources to carry out the sampling. Thus, evaluating multiple sampling methods in monitoring populations is essential for establishing effective conservation strategies. In this study, we compare two of the most commonly used sampling methods with the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as the type species. On the one hand, we compared the minimum number of individuals (NI) detected by camera trapping, identifying individuals by morphological characteristics with the minimum number of individuals detected by DNA faeces and a set of 16 microsatellites. On the other hand, we estimated abundance by performing an N-mixture model using information from camera-traps to study the relationship between abundance and the minimum number of individuals detected. Results showed that the minimum NI provided by camera trapping was slightly higher than that of DNA faecal genotyping, with 23.66 and 19 individuals, respectively. In addition, abundance and NI detected by camera trapping showed a positive relationship. In contrast, there was a non-significant negative relationship between NI detected by faecal DNA and abundance estimates. Our results suggest using the minimum number of photo-identified individuals as a reliable index to study variation in red fox abundance when other advanced methods cannot be implemented in the study of population size. However, it is necessary to improve the methods of faecal sampling to study the relationship with camera-trap data.

Considerable amounts of farmland in Mediterranean European landscapes have been abandoned and undergone natural regeneration or planted with trees in the last few decades, resulting in mixed forest and farmland mosaics. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of forest restoration on the composition and relative abundance of a carnivore community in the mixed farmland-forest landscape of Campo de Montiel (central Spain). We predicted that forest restoration, either natural regeneration following land abandonment or by tree planting, resulted in a new heterogenous landscape that supports a diverse carnivore community; consequently, we used two reference sites with non-planted Mediterranean trees. We assessed (1) the structure of woody vegetation, (2) the occurrence and relative abundance of carnivores, and (3) the environmental factors that explain carnivore occupancy patterns controlling for differences in detectability. Tree planting led to lower diversity of woody species than that found in the naturally regenerated forests. Woody vegetation cover in the reforested plots and in the natural vegetation plots did not differ significantly. The carnivores detected were, in decreasing order of abundance, red fox, Egyptian mongoose, badger, stone marten, and wildcat, which were also present at the reference sites except the mongoose. We did not detect differences in community composition and relative abundance between the reforested site and the two reference sites. We also found similar patterns of species detectability among sites. Overall, the results revealed that reforestation can provide new habitats for carnivores in previous agricultural land and can be a useful tool for rewilding initiatives.

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