Ecology and Conservation of Large Carnivores in a Human-Dominated Landscape in Eastern Anatolia

Abstract

Conservation of biodiversity is rapidly changing as a result of increased impact of human activity on the natural world. At the beginning of a new epoch - the Anthropocene - the cumulative effect of population growth and natural resource consumption has left no corner of the planet unaffected by humans. Impacts can be observed on a global scale, such as climate change, ocean acidification, and nitrification and also on a local scale including habitat destruction, community composition, and pollution. These impacts are restructuring ecosystems into novel systems that require creative approaches to conserve ecosystem processes and maintain biodiversity. Large mammalian carnivores represent a clade of organisms that has a varied ability to survive in human dominated landscapes. For my dissertation, I examined community structure, movement, and abundance of brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos), gray wolves (Canis lupus), and Caucasian lynx (Lynx lynx dinniki) in a human dominated landscape in eastern Turkey. From 2013-2016, I surveyed for all medium-large mammal species using remote cameras deployed in a fragmented forest patch near Sarikamis, Turkey. Occupancy estimates reveal a mammal community dominated by large carnivores, humans and livestock, and lacking a natural prey base. During 2011-2016, I collared 28 bears, 11 wolves and 2 lynx and used species-specific seasonal resource selection functions to assess habitat selection patterns. I found that all three species use of habitat varies between seasons and is strongly linked to elevation and slope. By identifying critical habitat for all three species, I have prioritized a specific area for conservation efforts in the future. To estimate the minimum population size of brown bears in my main study area, during 2013-2015, I used scat detection dogs to collect 1,520 bear scat samples for genetic analysis, and using 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci, I identified 27 unique multilocus genotypes and expected heterozygosity of 0.70 as a proxy of genetic diversity. I also conducted opinion surveys in 2014 and combined results with surveys conducted 2006 and 2010 to understand the perspective of the local community about large carnivores. Lastly, I propose a prioritized list of future conservation plans for large carnivore conservation in the human-dominated landscape of Sarikamis Forest, eastern Anatolia.