Abstract
Preliminary research conducted in Warsaw in the 1970s and 2000s showed that roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) stayed in forest habitat and avoided anthropogenic areas. Activity and exploration patterns of animals are shaped by indices of anthropogenic disturbances, elevated in large cities. The aims of the study were (1) to compare the presence of roe deer in natural and anthropogenic habitats of Warsaw during three periods: 1976–1978, 2005–2008 and 2017–2021, based on snow tracking on transect routes (681.2 km in total), and (2) to describe the presence and activity of roe deer in relation to human disturbances in selected urban forests in its reproductive period (March–August), based on camera trap survey (2019–2020, 859 observations, 5317 trap-days in total). The number of tracks was higher in natural habitat during all three periods, with the highest value in 2017–2021 (9.85/km/24h). The peak of roe deer activity was recorded at dusk, and it changed with moon phases between spring and summer. Landscape connectivity and level of light pollution did not affect the activity pattern of roe deer. Our research showed that roe deer inhabiting urban areas avoided human presence by using well-covered habitats and being active in periods when the level of human disturbance was lower.
Highlights
Urbanization is considered a global threat to biodiversity [1]
The highest density of roe deer tracks (9.85/km/24 h) was recorded in natural habitats in the third period of research (2017–2021), while no roe deer were observed in anthropogenic habitat in the first period (1976–1978) (Figure 2)
Various periods were characterized by significantly different roe deer abundance (H = 32.39, p < 0.001)
Summary
Urbanization is considered a global threat to biodiversity [1]. Urban areas are characterized by high human density, large areas of impervious surfaces and built infrastructure [1,3,4,5,6]. That causes profound and ongoing changes in environment, i.e., abiotic environmental conditions (e.g., pollution) and to landscape structure [7]. Urban-associated landscape changes result mainly in habitat loss, fragmentation and reduced size and connectivity of landscape patches [8,9,10,11,12]. By limiting the movement of most species, the richness of biodiversity declines in the dense core of built-up urban areas [13]
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