Use of space and homesite attendance by Iberian wolves during the breeding season

Rio-Maior, Helena; Beja, Pedro; Nakamura, Mónia; Álvares, Francisco

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2018.03.014

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Between May and October the HCC progressively increases which could be related to the growing effort to supply pups. The peak in HCC in October coincides with juveniles leaving their homesites and start travelling with the pack 36 , 39 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

Pereira

Esteruelas

Nakamura

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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The grey wolf (Canis lupus) persists in a variety of human-dominated landscapes and is subjected to various legal management regimes throughout Europe. Our aim was to assess the effects of intrinsic and methodological determinants on the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of wolves from four European populations under different legal management. We determined HCC by an enzyme-linked immune assay in 259 hair samples of 133 wolves from the Iberian, Alpine, Dinaric-Balkan, and Scandinavian populations. The HCC showed significant differences between body regions. Mean HCC in lumbar guard hair was 11.6 ± 9.7 pg/mg (range 1.6–108.8 pg/mg). Wolves from the Dinaric-Balkan and Scandinavian populations showed significantly higher HCC than Iberian wolves, suggesting that harvest policies could reflected in the level of chronic stress. A significant negative relationship with body size was found. The seasonal, sex and age patterns are consistent with other studies, supporting HCC as a biomarker of chronic stress in wolves for a retrospective time frame of several weeks. Our results highlight the need for standardization of sampling and analytical techniques to ensure the value of HCC in informing management at a continental scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

Pereira

Esteruelas

Nakamura

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Scent-marking sites of carnivores, such as Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) ( 32 ), Sunda clouded leopard ( Neofelis diardi ) ( 33 ), leopard ( Panthera pardus ) ( 34 ), snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ) ( 35 ), gray wolf ( 36 , 37 ), spotted hyena ( 38 ), and European badger ( Meles meles ) ( 39 ), are often frequently visited, can include conspicuous locations such as latrines, and are distributed unevenly across the landscape, particularly when linked to key habitat features ( 32 ), and can include conspicuous locations such as latrines. Even more pronounced causes for concentrated space use, ubiquitous among carnivores, are dens and other breeding sites during the period when juveniles are immobile ( 38 , 40 – 43 ). As these sites are visited disproportionally more frequently than other sites, they could represent areas with an increased conflict risk for a farmer, as has been demonstrated for denning sites of wolves ( 44 , 45 ) and wolverines ( Gulo gulo ) ( 43 ) and for habitat features that attract brown bears ( 31 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human–carnivore conflict and key to its solution

Melzheimer

Heinrich

Wasiolka

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Human–wildlife conflicts occur worldwide. Although many nonlethal mitigation solutions are available, they rarely use the behavioral ecology of the conflict species to derive effective and long-lasting solutions. Here, we use a long-term study with 106 GPS-collared free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) to demonstrate how new insights into the socio-spatial organization of this species provide the key for such a solution. GPS-collared territory holders marked and defended communication hubs (CHs) in the core area of their territories. The CHs/territories were distributed in a regular pattern across the landscape such that they were not contiguous with each other but separated by a surrounding matrix. They were kept in this way by successive territory holders, thus maintaining this overdispersed distribution. The CHs were also visited by nonterritorial cheetah males and females for information exchange, thus forming hotspots of cheetah activity and presence. We hypothesized that the CHs pose an increased predation risk to young calves for cattle farmers in Namibia. In an experimental approach, farmers shifted cattle herds away from the CHs during the calving season. This drastically reduced their calf losses by cheetahs because cheetahs did not follow the herds but instead preyed on naturally occurring local wildlife prey in the CHs. This implies that in the cheetah system, there are “problem areas,” the CHs, rather than “problem individuals.” The incorporation of the behavioral ecology of conflict species opens promising areas to search for solutions in other conflict species with nonhomogenous space use.

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“…The wolf diet in the region is based primarily on livestock, mostly free-ranging horses and cattle, which often leads to conflicts and high levels of illegal persecution (Pimenta et al 2018 ). These conflicts and the increasing human influence on the landscape result in a high risk of human-caused mortality for Alto Minho wolves (Rio-Maior et al 2018 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We selected these genetic profiles based on data quality criteria, focusing on samples with less than 25% missing data. This data was generated from 470 non-invasive genetic samples (gNIS; Nakamura et al 2017 ; Nakamura et al 2021 ), 21 individuals captured for GPS-collaring purposes (Rio-Maior et al 2018 , 2019 ), and six individuals found dead (Fig. 1 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transects were defined along unpaved roads and paths throughout the landscape and were conducted monthly, seasonally or during autumn-summer, with an average sampling effort of 95.2 km per pack per year (Nakamura et al 2017 , 2021 ). Homesites were estimated by combining information from GPS telemetry with visual or acoustic detection of pups from late July to September (Rio-Maior et al 2018 ). When detected, the homesites were sampled by a 2-person crew in one session, during which all detected samples were collected.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relatedness-based mate choice and female philopatry: inbreeding trends of wolf packs in a human-dominated landscape

Pacheco,

Rio-Maior,

Nakamura

et al. 2024

Heredity

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Inbreeding can reduce offspring fitness and has substantial implications for the genetic diversity and long-term viability of populations. In social cooperative canids, inbreeding is conditioned by the geographic proximity between opposite-sex kin outside natal groups and the presence of related individuals in neighbouring groups. Consequently, challenges in moving into other regions where the species is present can also affect inbreeding rates. These can be particularly problematic in areas of high human density, where movement can be restricted, even for highly vagile species. In this study, we investigate the socio-ecological dynamics of Iberian wolf packs in the human-dominated landscape of Alto Minho, in northwest Portugal, where wolves exhibit a high prevalence of short-distance dispersal and limited gene flow with neighbouring regions. We hypothesise that mating occurs regardless of relatedness, resulting in recurrent inbreeding due to high kin encounter rates. Using data from a 10-year non-invasive genetic monitoring programme and a combination of relatedness estimates and genealogical reconstructions, we describe genetic diversity, mate choice, and dispersal strategies among Alto Minho packs. In contrast with expectations, our findings reveal relatedness-based mate choice, low kin encounter rates, and a reduced number of inbreeding events. We observed a high prevalence of philopatry, particularly among female breeders, with the most common breeding strategy involving the pairing of a philopatric female with an unrelated immigrant male. Overall, wolves were not inbred, and temporal changes in genetic diversity were not significant. Our findings are discussed, considering the demographic trend of wolves in Alto Minho and its human-dominated landscape.

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Use of space and homesite attendance by Iberian wolves during the breeding season

Cited by 17 publications

References 57 publications

Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human–carnivore conflict and key to its solution

Relatedness-based mate choice and female philopatry: inbreeding trends of wolf packs in a human-dominated landscape

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