Abstract
Simple SummaryThe European wildcat is a species of conservation concern protected across its range in Europe, where it occurs in five discontinuous populations. The Balkan population has received little attention, making it difficult to assess whether the ecological traits reported for other populations apply also to this population. This hampers the development of targeted conservation measures. The present study reports the first findings on the spatial ecology and daily activity pattern of wildcats in a human modified landscape in Greece, using cutting edge data loggers attached to wildcat collars. In Greece, wildcat home range sizes are within the range of those reported for other populations. Male wildcats are active primarily at night and near dawn and dusk, as is typical for the species. However, the activity of some females varied from this pattern in late spring, in ways expected for wildcats, caring for offspring at a den. Overall, our findings help fill the ecological knowledge gap of the species in Greece and suggest that lowland agricultural areas with patches of natural habitats may have a significant role in the future conservation of the species.The Balkan populations of the European wildcat are among the least studied. This study reports the first findings on the spatial ecology and activity pattern of the wildcat in Greece and compares them to those of better studied northern populations. We fitted five wildcats (two males, three females) with collars containing GPS and accelerometer loggers (E-obs 1A) and collected data from fall to early summer. All animals moved within a mosaic of lowland agricultural fields, woodland patches, riparian forests and wetlands near the banks of a lake. The trapping rate was the highest reported for the species. The home range sizes, estimated using Brownian bridge movement models, ranged from 0.94 to 3.08 km2 for females and from 1.22 to 4.43 km2 for males. Based on overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) values estimated from the accelerometer data, the diel activity of male wildcats followed the species’ typical nocturnal pattern with crepuscular peaks. Female activity varied seasonally, at times being cathemeral. We found only weak effects of environmental variables on wildcat activity, and no significant difference in the activity in open versus forested areas. Our findings suggest that human modified landscapes can play a significant role in the conservation of this typically forest-associated species.
Highlights
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris), “wildcat”, is a small carnivore with a wide but discontinuous distribution (Figure 1) [1,2]
We report the first ever findings on the spatial ecology and activity pattern of the wildcat in Greece using GPS
Our study further investigates the importance of open-closed mosaic environments, where both hiding and hunting sites are available, for the species’ survival [8,25]
Summary
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris), “wildcat”, is a small carnivore with a wide but discontinuous distribution (Figure 1) [1,2]. While IUCN classifies the species as one of of “Least Concern”. Hybridisation with the domestic habitat fragmentation, [4,5,6] human-induced mortality [7,8,9] and hybridisation with the cat (Felis catus) [10,11]. In Europe, main biogeographic wildcat groupswildcat have been idendomestic cat (Felis catus). Bing Satellite overlayed by green layer de- layer depicting forests and hedges]. (b) Temporal variation of brownian range of the four picting forests and hedges]. (b) Temporal variation of brownian bridgebridge home home range size of size the four wildcats (Apollo is excluded as available datadata covered onlyonly Oct–Dec). The male wildcats were on average and across the study period more active than females, both when measured at the level of mean hourly ODBA
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