Landscape composition influences roe deer habitat selection at both home range and landscape scales |
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Authors: | Nicolas Morellet Bram Van Moorter Bruno Cargnelutti Jean-Marc Angibault Bruno Lourtet Joël Merlet Sylvie Ladet A J Mark Hewison |
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Institution: | 1.Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage,Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique,Castanet-Tolosan Cedex,France;2.INRA,Castanet-Tolosan,France;3.Université de Toulouse,Castanet-Tolosan,France;4.Centre for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology,NTNU, Realfagbygget,Trondheim,Norway |
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Abstract: | Understanding how patterns of habitat selection vary in relation to landscape structure is essential to predict ecological
responses of species to global change and inform management. We investigated behavioural plasticity in habitat selection of
roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in relation to variable habitat availability across a heterogeneous agricultural landscape at the home range and landscape
scales. As expected, woodland was heavily selected, but we found no functional response for this habitat, i.e. no shift in
habitat selection with changing habitat availability, possibly due to the presence of hedgerows which were increasingly selected
as woodlands were less abundant. Hedgerows may thus function as a substitutable habitat for woodlands by providing roe deer
with similar resources. We observed a functional response in the use of hedgerows, implying some degree of landscape complementation
between hedgerows and open habitats, which may in part compensate for lower woodland availability. We also expected selection
for woodland to be highest at the wider spatial scale, especially when this habitat was limiting. However, our results did
not support this hypothesis, but rather indicated a marked influence of habitat composition, as both the availability and
distribution of resources conditioned habitat selection. There was no marked between-sex difference in the pattern of habitat
selection at either scale or between seasons at the landscape scale, however, within the home range, selection did differ
between seasons. We conclude that landscape structure has a marked impact on roe deer habitat selection in agricultural landscapes
through processes such as landscape complementation and supplementation. |
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