The challenges and opportunities of coexisting with wild ungulates in the human-dominated landscapes of Europe's Anthropocene

Linnell, John D. C.; Cretois, Benjamin; Nilsen, Erlend B.; Rolandsen, Christer Moe; Solberg, Erling Johan; Veiberg, Vebjørn; Kaczensky, Petra; Moorter, Bram Van; Panzacchi, Manuela; Rauset, Geir Rune; Kaltenborn, Bjørn P.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108500

Cited by 200 publications

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“…They display large differences, though, when it comes to the prevalent sheep husbandry practices and to the characteristics of their damage compensation systems. Sheep in Norway are traditionally free-ranging and unguarded on summer pastures and do not gather in flocks, whereas in Sweden the vast majority of them are raised in fenced fields all year round (Linnell & Cretois, 2020). Also, in Sweden the vast majority of compensation claims are based on a field inspection by state inspectors and only verified depredations are compensated, whereas in Norway only about 5-10% of damage compensations stem from a field inspection of a carcass, whereas the remaining 90-95% refers to payments made for missing animals which are assumed to be killed by large carnivores (Swenson & Andrén, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there may well be more challenges with restoring traditional grazing practices with their associated protection measures in areas where they have been lost, as compared to maintaining them in areas where their use has been continuous. Moreover, the entire livestock industry is slowly changing due to social and economic drivers, which are causing the gradual abandonment of pastoral lifestyles (Linnell & Cretois, 2020). Without the appropriate management of the issues related to large carnivore impact on livestock husbandry, time may actually correspond to a progressive disappearance of small livestock breeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To account for the large-scale spatial variation in climate and habitat productivity, we included the latitude of each NUTS3 region in the model as a predictor. As large carnivore home range size is also influenced by prey availability, we used presence/absence distribution maps for the main wild ungulate species in Europe (roe deer, red deer, wild boar, moose, chamois, wild reindeer; Linnell & Cretois, 2020) and calculated the number of wild ungulate prey species available in each NUTS3 unit. We used this factor variable as an additional predictor for large carnivore abundance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Then, we ran a hierarchical Simultaneous Autoregressive model (SAR), to assess the influence of some ecological and anthropogenic factors on the emerging spatial and temporal patterns in depredation levels across the continent. We focused on sheep depredation, as sheep alone represent more than 60% of all the compensation payments in Europe (Linnell & Cretois, 2020), thus being the most relevant form of material impact of large carnivores on human interests, from an economic point of view.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the different forms of impact that large carnivore presence generates on human interests, depredation on livestock is by far the most widespread and relevant in economic terms (Linnell & Cretois, 2020). Livestock depredation is a very complex process, in which a large number of ecological and socio-economic factors interact at different spatial scales to determine the number of individuals encountered, killed, documented and compensated as large carnivore kills by the management authorities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of large carnivore depredation on sheep in Europe

Gervasi

Linnell

Berce

et al. 2020

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88 89 90 Tõnu Talvi 91 Environmental Board of the Estonian Ministry of Environment, Viidumäe, 93343 Saaremaa, 92 Estonia 93 94 Manuela von Arx 95 KORA -Carnivore Ecology and Wildlife Management, Thunstrasse 31, 3074 Muri b. Bern, 96 Switzerland 97 98 Figure legends: 160. 105 N. of tables: 1 106 N. of figures: 4 107 N. of references: 30 108 109 SUMMARY 110 • Sharing space with large carnivores on a human-dominated continent like Europe results 111 in multiple conflictful interactions with human interests, of which depredation on 112 livestock is the most widespread. Wildlife management agencies maintain compensation 113 programs for the damage caused by large carnivores, but the long-term effectiveness of 114 such programs is often contested. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms driving large 115 carnivore impact on human activities is necessary to identify key management actions to 116 reduce it. 117 • We conducted an analysis of the impact by all four European large carnivores on sheep 118 husbandry in 10 European countries, during the period 2010-2015. We ran a hierarchical 119 Simultaneous Autoregressive model, to assess the influence of ecological and 120 anthropogenic factors on the spatial and temporal patterns in the reported depredation 121 levels across the continent. 122 • On average, about 35,000 sheep were compensated in the ten countries as killed by large 123 carnivores annually, representing about 0.5% of the total sheep stock. Of them, 45% were 124 recognized as killed by wolves, 24% by wolverines, 19% by lynx and 12% by bears. At 125 the continental level, we found a positive relationship between wolf distribution and the 126 number of compensated sheep, but not for the other three species. Impact levels were 127 lower in the areas where large carnivore presence has been continuous compared to areas 128 where they disappeared and recently returned. The model explained 62% of the variation 129 in the number of compensated sheep per year in each administrative unit. Only 13% of 130 the variation was related to the ecological components of the process. 131 • Synthesis and Applications: Large carnivore distribution and local abundance alone are 132 poor predictors of large carnivore impact on livestock at the continental level. A few 133 individuals can produce high damage, when the contribution of environmental, social and 134 economic systems predisposes for it, whereas large populations can produce a limited 135 impact when the same components of the system reduce the probability that depredations 136 occur. Time seems to play in favour of a progressive reduction in the costs associated 137 with coexistence, provided that the responsible agencies focus their attention both on 138 compensation and co-adaptation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of large carnivore depredation on sheep in Europe

Gervasi

Linnell

Berce

et al. 2020

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Stakeholders engagement as an important step for the long‐term monitoring of wild ungulate populations

Carvalho

Leite

Valente

et al. 2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Monitoring trends in animal populations is essential for the development of appropriate wildlife management strategies. However, long-term studies are difficult to maintain mainly due to the lack of continuous funding. In this scenario, the collaboration between local stakeholders and researchers can be a fruitful partnership to monitor game species for long periods and vast territories.2. We present an experimental framework with the involvement of researchers, local hunters and game managers for the continuous monitoring of wild ungulate populations. By combining vehicle-based counts with distance sampling techniques, we implemented and validated a sampling scheme able to provide demographic information for the effective management of wild ungulate populations. Here, we used an Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus) population as a model.3. The project implementation involved 30 participants including 24 stakeholders and 6 field technicians/data analysts with experience in monitoring wild ungulates. A total of eight teams covered 29 itineraries, synchronously, in two periods of ecological relevance for red deer, early summer and early autumn. Density estimates were consistent among sampling periods and characterized by acceptable coefficients of variation (approximately 20%). Our results prove that the application of the proposed framework is feasible (three to four itineraries per team), cost-and time-effective (one week per sampling period) and produce population estimates fit for management. Being based on direct observations, the method would provide important demographic indicators (e.g. population density, age structure and fawn recruitment, and group size) about wild ungulate populations. 4. Apart from engaging interested stakeholders, the success of our proposal relies on three key actions including the theoretical and field instruction of participants, the definition of timely and unbiased survey designs and the maintenance of participants' motivation. The implementation of rigorous and standardized sampling protocols is pivotal for data integration through time and space. In the absence ofThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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The proximity of rapeseed fields influences levels of forest damage by red deer

Jarnemo

Widén

Månsson

2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Deer can show transitional use between agricultural fields and forests for foraging and shelter. Such transitional use may affect forest damage as nutrient balancing theory suggests that if deer ingest large amounts of nutrient-rich food, complementary browse, such as bark, may be required to balance the diet.2. We investigated the relationship between the level of red deer Cervus elaphus bark-stripping damage in 68 Norway spruce Picea abies stands and the presence of rapeseed Brassica napus fields -an energy-rich crop preferred by red deer -in the surroundings, hypothesizing that damage increases with decreasing distance to rapeseed fields. We also considered other potentially influencing factors, such as supplemental feeding, alternative forage availability, and deer use of spruce stands as indexed by a pellet group count.3. Spruce stands closer to rapeseed had a significantly higher proportion of damaged stems. The increased level of bark-stripping damage was not explained by a higher stand use of deer closer to rapeseed fields, indicating that deer increase their consumption of bark in order to balance their diet. Similarly, spruce stands closer to supplemental feeding stations had significantly higher damage levels. 4. In line with earlier findings, damage levels were negatively related to the amount of available browse in the forest. This emphasizes the importance of alternative forage for reducing the damage risk in forest plantations. 5. Our study shows that the availability of fields with nutrient-rich food, such as rapeseed, as well as supplemental feeding needs to be considered when predicting the level of forest damage. With a high availability of nutrient-rich food in the vicinity of forest stands, a higher damage level can be expected and counteractions could be taken such as increased disturbance, harvest or changed choice of both crop and supplemental feed types. These actions may also be combined with a push-pull strategy where the deer are steered to disturbance-free zones insensitive to damage and with alternative forage. The importance of alternative forage availability onThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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The challenges and opportunities of coexisting with wild ungulates in the human-dominated landscapes of Europe's Anthropocene

Cited by 200 publications

References 88 publications

Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of large carnivore depredation on sheep in Europe

Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of large carnivore depredation on sheep in Europe

Stakeholders engagement as an important step for the long‐term monitoring of wild ungulate populations

The proximity of rapeseed fields influences levels of forest damage by red deer

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