TY  - JOUR
A1  - Noonan, Michael J.
A1  - Tucker, Marlee A.
A1  - Fleming, Christen H.
A1  - Akre, Thomas S.
A1  - Alberts, Susan C.
A1  - Ali, Abdullahi H.
A1  - Altmann, Jeanne
A1  - Antunes, Pamela Castro
A1  - Belant, Jerrold L.
A1  - Beyer, Dean
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Boehning-Gaese, Katrin
A1  - Cullen Jr, Laury
A1  - de Paula, Rogerio Cunha
A1  - Dekker, Jasja
A1  - Drescher-Lehman, Jonathan
A1  - Farwig, Nina
A1  - Fichtel, Claudia
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Ford, Adam T.
A1  - Goheen, Jacob R.
A1  - Janssen, Rene
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
A1  - Kauffman, Matthew
A1  - Kappeler, Peter M.
A1  - Koch, Flavia
A1  - LaPoint, Scott
A1  - Markham, A. Catherine
A1  - Medici, Emilia Patricia
A1  - Morato, Ronaldo G.
A1  - Nathan, Ran
A1  - Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo R.
A1  - Olson, Kirk A.
A1  - Patterson, Bruce D.
A1  - Paviolo, Agustin
A1  - Ramalho, Emiliano Estero
A1  - Rosner, Sascha
A1  - Schabo, Dana G.
A1  - Selva, Nuria
A1  - Sergiel, Agnieszka
A1  - da Silva, Marina Xavier
A1  - Spiegel, Orr
A1  - Thompson, Peter
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Zieba, Filip
A1  - Zwijacz-Kozica, Tomasz
A1  - Fagan, William F.
A1  - Mueller, Thomas
A1  - Calabrese, Justin M.
T1  - A comprehensive analysis of autocorrelation and bias in home range estimation
JF  - Ecological monographs : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.
N2  - Home range estimation is routine practice in ecological research. While advances in animal tracking technology have increased our capacity to collect data to support home range analysis, these same advances have also resulted in increasingly autocorrelated data. Consequently, the question of which home range estimator to use on modern, highly autocorrelated tracking data remains open. This question is particularly relevant given that most estimators assume independently sampled data. Here, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of autocorrelation on home range estimation. We base our study on an extensive data set of GPS locations from 369 individuals representing 27 species distributed across five continents. We first assemble a broad array of home range estimators, including Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) with four bandwidth optimizers (Gaussian reference function, autocorrelated‐Gaussian reference function [AKDE], Silverman's rule of thumb, and least squares cross‐validation), Minimum Convex Polygon, and Local Convex Hull methods. Notably, all of these estimators except AKDE assume independent and identically distributed (IID) data. We then employ half‐sample cross‐validation to objectively quantify estimator performance, and the recently introduced effective sample size for home range area estimation ( N̂ area
) to quantify the information content of each data set. We found that AKDE 95% area estimates were larger than conventional IID‐based estimates by a mean factor of 2. The median number of cross‐validated locations included in the hold‐out sets by AKDE 95% (or 50%) estimates was 95.3% (or 50.1%), confirming the larger AKDE ranges were appropriately selective at the specified quantile. Conversely, conventional estimates exhibited negative bias that increased with decreasing N̂ area. To contextualize our empirical results, we performed a detailed simulation study to tease apart how sampling frequency, sampling duration, and the focal animal's movement conspire to affect range estimates. Paralleling our empirical results, the simulation study demonstrated that AKDE was generally more accurate than conventional methods, particularly for small N̂ area. While 72% of the 369 empirical data sets had >1,000 total observations, only 4% had an N̂ area >1,000, where 30% had an N̂ area <30. In this frequently encountered scenario of small N̂ area, AKDE was the only estimator capable of producing an accurate home range estimate on autocorrelated data.
KW  - animal movement
KW  - kernel density estimation
KW  - local convex hull
KW  - minimum convex polygon
KW  - range distribution
KW  - space use
KW  - telemetry
KW  - tracking data
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1344
SN  - 0012-9615
SN  - 1557-7015
VL  - 89
IS  - 2
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mayer, Martin
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Sunde, Peter
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Blaum, Niels
T1  - Habitat selection by the European hare in arable landscapes
BT  - The importance of small-scale habitat structure for conservation
JF  - Ecology and Evolution
N2  - Agricultural land-use practices have intensified over the last decades, leading to population declines of various farmland species, including the European hare (Lepus europaeus). In many European countries, arable fields dominate agricultural landscapes. Compared to pastures, arable land is highly variable, resulting in a large spatial variation of food and cover for wildlife over the course of the year, which potentially affects habitat selection by hares. Here, we investigated within-home-range habitat selection by hares in arable areas in Denmark and Germany to identify habitat requirements for their conservation. We hypothesized that hare habitat selection would depend on local habitat structure, that is, vegetation height, but also on agricultural field size, vegetation type, and proximity to field edges. Active hares generally selected for short vegetation (1-25 cm) and avoided higher vegetation and bare ground, especially when fields were comparatively larger. Vegetation >50 cm potentially restricts hares from entering parts of their home range and does not provide good forage, the latter also being the case on bare ground. The vegetation type was important for habitat selection by inactive hares, with fabaceae, fallow, and maize being selected for, potentially providing both cover and forage. Our results indicate that patches of shorter vegetation could improve the forage quality and habitat accessibility for hares, especially in areas with large monocultures. Thus, policymakers should aim to increase areas with short vegetation throughout the year. Further, permanent set-asides, like fallow and wildflower areas, would provide year-round cover for inactive hares. Finally, the reduction in field sizes would increase the density of field margins, and farming different crop types within small areas could improve the habitat for hares and other farmland species.
KW  - agriculture
KW  - arable land
KW  - conservation
KW  - GPS
KW  - habitat selection
KW  - Lepus europaeus
KW  - vegetation height
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4613
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 8
IS  - 23
SP  - 11619
EP  - 11633
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tucker, Marlee A.
A1  - Boehning-Gaese, Katrin
A1  - Fagan, William F.
A1  - Fryxell, John M.
A1  - Van Moorter, Bram
A1  - Alberts, Susan C.
A1  - Ali, Abdullahi H.
A1  - Allen, Andrew M.
A1  - Attias, Nina
A1  - Avgar, Tal
A1  - Bartlam-Brooks, Hattie
A1  - Bayarbaatar, Buuveibaatar
A1  - Belant, Jerrold L.
A1  - Bertassoni, Alessandra
A1  - Beyer, Dean
A1  - Bidner, Laura
A1  - van Beest, Floris M.
A1  - Blake, Stephen
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Bracis, Chloe
A1  - Brown, Danielle
A1  - de Bruyn, P. J. Nico
A1  - Cagnacci, Francesca
A1  - Calabrese, Justin M.
A1  - Camilo-Alves, Constanca
A1  - Chamaille-Jammes, Simon
A1  - Chiaradia, Andre
A1  - Davidson, Sarah C.
A1  - Dennis, Todd
A1  - DeStefano, Stephen
A1  - Diefenbach, Duane
A1  - Douglas-Hamilton, Iain
A1  - Fennessy, Julian
A1  - Fichtel, Claudia
A1  - Fiedler, Wolfgang
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Fischhoff, Ilya
A1  - Fleming, Christen H.
A1  - Ford, Adam T.
A1  - Fritz, Susanne A.
A1  - Gehr, Benedikt
A1  - Goheen, Jacob R.
A1  - Gurarie, Eliezer
A1  - Hebblewhite, Mark
A1  - Heurich, Marco
A1  - Hewison, A. J. Mark
A1  - Hof, Christian
A1  - Hurme, Edward
A1  - Isbell, Lynne A.
A1  - Janssen, Rene
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
A1  - Kaczensky, Petra
A1  - Kane, Adam
A1  - Kappeler, Peter M.
A1  - Kauffman, Matthew
A1  - Kays, Roland
A1  - Kimuyu, Duncan
A1  - Koch, Flavia
A1  - Kranstauber, Bart
A1  - LaPoint, Scott
A1  - Leimgruber, Peter
A1  - Linnell, John D. C.
A1  - Lopez-Lopez, Pascual
A1  - Markham, A. Catherine
A1  - Mattisson, Jenny
A1  - Medici, Emilia Patricia
A1  - Mellone, Ugo
A1  - Merrill, Evelyn
A1  - Mourao, Guilherme de Miranda
A1  - Morato, Ronaldo G.
A1  - Morellet, Nicolas
A1  - Morrison, Thomas A.
A1  - Diaz-Munoz, Samuel L.
A1  - Mysterud, Atle
A1  - Nandintsetseg, Dejid
A1  - Nathan, Ran
A1  - Niamir, Aidin
A1  - Odden, John
A1  - Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo R.
A1  - Olson, Kirk A.
A1  - Patterson, Bruce D.
A1  - de Paula, Rogerio Cunha
A1  - Pedrotti, Luca
A1  - Reineking, Bjorn
A1  - Rimmler, Martin
A1  - Rogers, Tracey L.
A1  - Rolandsen, Christer Moe
A1  - Rosenberry, Christopher S.
A1  - Rubenstein, Daniel I.
A1  - Safi, Kamran
A1  - Said, Sonia
A1  - Sapir, Nir
A1  - Sawyer, Hall
A1  - Schmidt, Niels Martin
A1  - Selva, Nuria
A1  - Sergiel, Agnieszka
A1  - Shiilegdamba, Enkhtuvshin
A1  - Silva, Joao Paulo
A1  - Singh, Navinder
A1  - Solberg, Erling J.
A1  - Spiegel, Orr
A1  - Strand, Olav
A1  - Sundaresan, Siva
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Voigt, Ulrich
A1  - Wall, Jake
A1  - Wattles, David
A1  - Wikelski, Martin
A1  - Wilmers, Christopher C.
A1  - Wilson, John W.
A1  - Wittemyer, George
A1  - Zieba, Filip
A1  - Zwijacz-Kozica, Tomasz
A1  - Mueller, Thomas
T1  - Moving in the Anthropocene
BT  - global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements
JF  - Science
N2  - Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9712
SN  - 0036-8075
SN  - 1095-9203
VL  - 359
IS  - 6374
SP  - 466
EP  - 469
PB  - American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ziege, Madlen
A1  - Hermann, Bernd Timo
A1  - Kriesten, Stefanie
A1  - Merker, Stefan
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Streit, Bruno
A1  - Wenninger, Sandra
A1  - Plath, Martin
T1  - Ranging behavior of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in urban and suburban landscapes
JF  - Mammal research / Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences
N2  - Various mammals, particularly carnivores, reportedly establish smaller home ranges in urban compared with rural areas. This may be because urban environments provide optimal resources within a small area, negating the requirement to range further, or because habitat fragmentation constrains ranging behavior. Comparable information on urban populations of herbivorous mammalian species (such as European rabbits) is scarce. To fill this knowledge gap, we radio-tracked 13 individuals (seven females and six males) equipped with radio collars in a suburban and an urban study site in the city of Frankfurt am Main in Germany during the reproductive season (March to September) of 2012. The study sites differed in levels of habitat fragmentation. We report the smallest home ranges ever described for this species, with mean 95% minimum convex polygons (MCPs) covering 0.50 ha, while no consistent differences between sites were uncovered. We occasionally tracked individuals crossing streets underground (in burrows), suggesting that streets may restrict the ranging behavior of rabbits-and possibly other burrowing species-to a much lesser extent than previously thought. We conclude that heterogeneous landscape structures, made up of a diverse mosaic of buildings, parks, and gardens, provide sufficient food and shelter in close proximity to burrows at both study sites. Therefore, our data support the hypothesis that optimal resources constrain ranges in this case rather than habitat fragmentation.
KW  - Habitat fragmentation
KW  - Home range
KW  - Urbanization
KW  - Urban ecology
KW  - Minimum convex polygons (MCPs)
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-020-00490-2
SN  - 2199-2401
SN  - 2199-241X
VL  - 65
IS  - 3
SP  - 607
EP  - 614
PB  - Springer
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hofman, Maarten P. G.
A1  - Hayward, M. W.
A1  - Heim, M.
A1  - Marchand, P.
A1  - Rolandsen, C. M.
A1  - Mattisson, Jenny
A1  - Urbano, F.
A1  - Heurich, M.
A1  - Mysterud, A.
A1  - Melzheimer, J.
A1  - Morellet, N.
A1  - Voigt, Ulrich
A1  - Allen, B. L.
A1  - Gehr, Benedikt
A1  - Rouco Zufiaurre, Carlos
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Holand, O.
A1  - Jorgensen, n H.
A1  - Steinheim, G.
A1  - Cagnacci, F.
A1  - Kroeschel, M.
A1  - Kaczensky, P.
A1  - Buuveibaatar, B.
A1  - Payne, J. C.
A1  - Palmegiani, I
A1  - Jerina, K.
A1  - Kjellander, P.
A1  - Johansson, O.
A1  - LaPoint, S.
A1  - Bayrakcismith, R.
A1  - Linnell, J. D. C.
A1  - Zaccaroni, M.
A1  - Jorge, M. L. S.
A1  - Oshima, J. E. F.
A1  - Songhurst, A.
A1  - Fischer, C.
A1  - Mc Bride, R. T.
A1  - Thompson, J. J.
A1  - Streif, S.
A1  - Sandfort, R.
A1  - Bonenfant, Christophe
A1  - Drouilly, M.
A1  - Klapproth, M.
A1  - Zinner, Dietmar
A1  - Yarnell, Richard
A1  - Stronza, A.
A1  - Wilmott, L.
A1  - Meisingset, E.
A1  - Thaker, Maria
A1  - Vanak, A. T.
A1  - Nicoloso, S.
A1  - Graeber, R.
A1  - Said, S.
A1  - Boudreau, M. R.
A1  - Devlin, A.
A1  - Hoogesteijn, R.
A1  - May-Junior, J. A.
A1  - Nifong, J. C.
A1  - Odden, J.
A1  - Quigley, H. B.
A1  - Tortato, F.
A1  - Parker, D. M.
A1  - Caso, A.
A1  - Perrine, J.
A1  - Tellaeche, C.
A1  - Zieba, F.
A1  - Zwijacz-Kozica, T.
A1  - Appel, C. L.
A1  - Axsom, I
A1  - Bean, W. T.
A1  - Cristescu, B.
A1  - Periquet, S.
A1  - Teichman, K. J.
A1  - Karpanty, S.
A1  - Licoppe, A.
A1  - Menges, V
A1  - Black, K.
A1  - Scheppers, Thomas L.
A1  - Schai-Braun, S. C.
A1  - Azevedo, F. C.
A1  - Lemos, F. G.
A1  - Payne, A.
A1  - Swanepoel, L. H.
A1  - Weckworth, B.
A1  - Berger, A.
A1  - Bertassoni, Alessandra
A1  - McCulloch, G.
A1  - Sustr, P.
A1  - Athreya, V
A1  - Bockmuhl, D.
A1  - Casaer, J.
A1  - Ekori, A.
A1  - Melovski, D.
A1  - Richard-Hansen, C.
A1  - van de Vyver, D.
A1  - Reyna-Hurtado, R.
A1  - Robardet, E.
A1  - Selva, N.
A1  - Sergiel, A.
A1  - Farhadinia, M. S.
A1  - Sunde, P.
A1  - Portas, R.
A1  - Ambarli, Hüseyin
A1  - Berzins, R.
A1  - Kappeler, P. M.
A1  - Mann, G. K.
A1  - Pyritz, L.
A1  - Bissett, C.
A1  - Grant, T.
A1  - Steinmetz, R.
A1  - Swedell, Larissa
A1  - Welch, R. J.
A1  - Armenteras, D.
A1  - Bidder, O. R.
A1  - Gonzalez, T. M.
A1  - Rosenblatt, A.
A1  - Kachel, S.
A1  - Balkenhol, N.
T1  - Right on track?
BT  - Performance of satellite telemetry in terrestrial wildlife research
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental factors that determine the success and failure of satellite tracking devices across species and habitats. Here, we assess the relative influence of such factors on the ability of satellite telemetry units to provide the expected amount and quality of data by analyzing data from over 3,000 devices deployed on 62 terrestrial species in 167 projects worldwide. We evaluate the success rate in obtaining GPS fixes as well as in transferring these fixes to the user and we evaluate failure rates. Average fix success and data transfer rates were high and were generally better predicted by species and unit characteristics, while environmental characteristics influenced the variability of performance. However, 48% of the unit deployments ended prematurely, half of them due to technical failure. Nonetheless, this study shows that the performance of satellite telemetry applications has shown improvements over time, and based on our findings, we provide further recommendations for both users and manufacturers.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216223
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 14
IS  - 5
PB  - PLoS
CY  - San Fransisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mayer, Martin
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Heinrich, Rebecca
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Sunde, Peter
T1  - Seasonal effects of habitat structure and weather on the habitat selection and home range size of a mammal in agricultural landscapes
JF  - Landscape ecology
N2  - Context Human land use intensified over the last century and simultaneously, extreme weather events have become more frequent. However, little is known about the interplay between habitat structure, direct short-term weather effects and indirect seasonal effects on animal space use and behavior. Objectives We used the European hare (Lepus europaeus) as model to investigate how habitat structure and weather conditions affect habitat selection and home range size, predictors for habitat quality and energetic requirements. Methods Using > 100,000 GPS positions of 60 hares in three areas in Denmark and Germany, we analyzed habitat selection and home range size in response to seasonally changing habitat structure, measured as vegetation height and agricultural field size, and weather. We compared daily and monthly home ranges to disentangle between direct short-term weather effects and indirect seasonal effects of climate. Results Habitat selection and home range size varied seasonally as a response to changing habitat structure, potentially affecting the availability of food and shelter. Overall, habitat structure and seasonality were more important in explaining hare habitat selection and home range size compared to direct weather conditions. Nevertheless, hares adjusted habitat selection and daily home range size in response to temperature, wind speed and humidity, possibly in response to thermal constrains and predation risk. Conclusions For effective conservation, habitat heterogeneity should be increased, e.g. by reducing agricultural field sizes and the implementation of set-asides that provide both forage and shelter, especially during the colder months of the year.
KW  - European hare
KW  - GPS
KW  - Habitat selection
KW  - Home range
KW  - Lepus europaeus
KW  - Weather
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00878-9
SN  - 0921-2973
SN  - 1572-9761
VL  - 34
IS  - 10
SP  - 2279
EP  - 2294
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stiegler, Jonas
A1  - Kiemel, Katrin
A1  - Eccard, Jana
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Hering, Robert
A1  - Ortmann, Sylvia
A1  - Strigl, Lea
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Blaum, Niels
T1  - Seed traits matter
BT  - endozoochoric dispersal through a pervasive mobile linker
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - Although many plants are dispersed by wind and seeds can travel long distances across unsuitable matrix areas, a large proportion relies on co-evolved zoochorous seed dispersal to connect populations in isolated habitat islands. Particularly in agricultural landscapes, where remaining habitat patches are often very small and highly isolated, mobile linkers as zoochorous seed dispersers are critical for the population dynamics of numerous plant species. However, knowledge about the quali- or quantification of such mobile link processes, especially in agricultural landscapes, is still limited. In a controlled feeding experiment, we recorded the seed intake and germination success after complete digestion by the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) and explored its mobile link potential as an endozoochoric seed disperser. Utilizing a suite of common, rare, and potentially invasive plant species, we disentangled the effects of seed morphological traits on germination success while controlling for phylogenetic relatedness. Further, we measured the landscape connectivity via hares in two contrasting agricultural landscapes (simple: few natural and semi-natural structures, large fields; complex: high amount of natural and semi-natural structures, small fields) using GPS-based movement data. With 34,710 seeds of 44 plant species fed, one of 200 seeds (0.51%) with seedlings of 33 species germinated from feces. Germination after complete digestion was positively related to denser seeds with comparatively small surface area and a relatively slender and elongated shape, suggesting that, for hares, the most critical seed characteristics for successful endozoochorous seed dispersal minimize exposure of the seed to the stomach and the associated digestive system. Furthermore, we could show that a hare's retention time is long enough to interconnect different habitats, especially grasslands and fields. Thus, besides other seed dispersal mechanisms, this most likely allows hares to act as effective mobile linkers contributing to ecosystem stability in times of agricultural intensification, not only in complex but also in simple landscapes.
KW  - agricultural landscapes
KW  - endozoochory
KW  - Lepus europaeus
KW  - mobile links
KW  - seed dispersal
KW  - seed dispersal syndrome
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8440
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 11
IS  - 24
SP  - 18477
EP  - 18491
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Pirhofer-Walzl, Karin
A1  - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie
A1  - Blaum, Niels
T1  - Spatiotemporal variability in resources affects herbivore home range formation in structurally contrasting and unpredictable agricultural landscapes
JF  - Landscape ecology
N2  - We investigated whether a given landscape structure affects the level of home range size adaptation in response to resource variability. We tested whether increasing resource variability forces herbivorous mammals to increase their home ranges. In 2014 and 2015 we collared 40 European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) with GPS-tags to record hare movements in two regions in Germany with differing landscape structures. We examined hare home range sizes in relation to resource availability and variability by using the normalized difference vegetation index as a proxy. Hares in simple landscapes showed increasing home range sizes with increasing resource variability, whereas hares in complex landscapes did not enlarge their home range. Animals in complex landscapes have the possibility to include various landscape elements within their home ranges and are more resilient against resource variability. But animals in simple landscapes with few elements experience shortcomings when resource variability becomes high. The increase in home range size, the movement related increase in energy expenditure, and a decrease in hare abundances can have severe implications for conservation of mammals in anthropogenic landscapes. Hence, conservation management could benefit from a better knowledge about fine-scaled effects of resource variability on movement behaviour.
KW  - Resource variability
KW  - Resource availability
KW  - Home range size
KW  - European brown hare
KW  - GPS tracking
KW  - Telemetry
KW  - Lepus europaeus
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0676-2
SN  - 0921-2973
SN  - 1572-9761
VL  - 33
IS  - 9
SP  - 1505
EP  - 1517
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stiegler, Jonas
A1  - Pahl, Janice
A1  - Guillen, Rafael Arce
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Blaum, Niels
T1  - The heat is on
BT  - impacts of rising temperature on the activity of a common European mammal
JF  - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
N2  - Climate conditions severely impact the activity and, consequently, the fitness of wildlife species across the globe. Wildlife can respond to new climatic conditions, but the pace of human-induced change limits opportunities for adaptation or migration. Thus, how these changes affect behavior, movement patterns, and activity levels remains unclear. In this study, we investigate how extreme weather conditions affect the activity of European hares (Lepus europaeus) during their peak reproduction period. When hares must additionally invest energy in mating, prevailing against competitors, or lactating, we investigated their sensitivities to rising temperatures, wind speed, and humidity. To quantify their activity, we used the overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) calculated from tri-axial acceleration measurements of 33 GPS-collared hares. Our analysis revealed that temperature, humidity, and wind speed are important in explaining changes in activity, with a strong response for high temperatures above 25 & DEG;C and the highest change in activity during temperature extremes of over 35 & DEG;C during their inactive period. Further, we found a non-linear relationship between temperature and activity and an interaction of activity changes between day and night. Activity increased at higher temperatures during the inactive period (day) and decreased during the active period (night). This decrease was strongest during hot tropical nights. At a stage of life when mammals such as hares must substantially invest in reproduction, the sensitivity of females to extreme temperatures was particularly pronounced. Similarly, both sexes increased their activity at high humidity levels during the day and low wind speeds, irrespective of the time of day, while the effect of humidity was stronger for males. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the complex relationships between extreme weather conditions and mammal behavior, critical for conservation and management. With ongoing climate change, extreme weather events such as heat waves and heavy rainfall are predicted to occur more often and last longer. These events will directly impact the fitness of hares and other wildlife species and hence the population dynamics of already declining populations across Europe.
KW  - activity
KW  - ODBA
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - European hare
KW  - extreme weather events
KW  - climate change
Y1  - 2023
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1193861
SN  - 2296-701X
VL  - 11
PB  - Frontiers Media
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -