At the site-specific scale, den sites were associated with steep, rugged terrain with bare rock. At the home-range and landscape scales, den sites were placed in rugged terrain at 1100 m a.s.l. and away from infrastructure (private roads and public roads). These features provide snowdrifts into which wolverines can excavate dry, safe cavities. Den sites were learn more also placed
away from infrastructure, indicating that den-site distribution, and possibly successful reproduction, may be partly influenced by human activities. Recurrent use of specific topographic features may provide valuable information for guiding geographically differentiated management and monitoring efforts, and augmenting recovery of endangered wolverine populations. “
“The ‘dear enemy phenomenon’ (DEP) is a form of neighbour–stranger discrimination in which resident territorial individuals respond less agonistically to
intrusions by known neighbouring conspecifics than they do to strangers. We tested philopatric female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) for the presence of DEP. We hypothesized that dominant females discriminated between the anal gland secretion (AGS) from female OTX015 cost neighbours and strangers, and predicted that they would respond more agonistically (as reflected by the duration of both sniffing and physical behaviour) towards AGS from strangers than neighbours. We also hypothesized that female marmots would respond differently to kin and non-kin female neighbours, and predicted a reduced agonistic response to related individuals. Direct observations of resident marmot’s responses to the olfactory trials showed that marmots spent significantly longer durations sniffing the AGS of both neighbours and strangers than a neutral scent-free control. However, there was no significant difference in the sniffing response duration towards AGS from a neighbour or a stranger. In addition, kinship
was not found to influence the responses of residents to neighbours or strangers. We conclude that, although female yellow-bellied marmots detect AGS, they do not seem to discriminate between neighbours and strangers via AGS scent marks. Other Acetophenone secretions may be used in territorial identification. “
“Land conversion in Mediterranean Europe has substantially altered the biotic interactions and patterns of resource availability in many ecosystems with serious environmental consequences on some species. Habitat changes are thought to be the main cause of the decline in numbers of European hares, Lepus europaeus, throughout Europe. In contrast, the Iberian hare L. granatensis, in Spain has significantly increased in numbers since the early 1990s. We aimed to investigate changes in habitat favourability of the Iberian hare within municipalities in southern Spain from 1960s to the 1990s.