Home range analysis and habitat preferences of wolves recolonising
Central European human-dominated landscapes
Abstract
Decades of persecution resulted in the long-term absence of Grey wolves
(Canis lupus) from most European countries. However, recent changes in
both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves have eased the
pressure and, over the last 20 years, wolves have begun rapidly
re-establishing territories in their previous Central European habitats.
Unfortunately, those habitats are now heavily altered by humans.
Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified
environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the
need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped
twelve wolves (from eight packs) in five Central European areas with GPS
collars and calculated their monthly home ranges using Autocorrelated
Kernel Density Estimation. In addition, we used ESA WorldCover data to
assess the mosaic of available habitats within each home range. Home
range size for most wolves (84.6%) ranged from 56.4 to 259.7 km2. Our
data confirmed the general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals,
with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase and
non-breeders showing no specific pattern. Somewhat predictably, our
wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially
forests. Some animals within military training areas also showed a
broader preference for grasslands, which could be influenced by the
specific land use of this habitat type and the high availability of
prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of
wolves during their re-colonisation of Central Europe. Though wolves are
spreading relatively rapidly across Central European landscapes, their
permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicting concerns
with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf
populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial
ecology, will be needed to clearly identify the management implications.