Spatial Ecology and Diel Activity of European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) in a Protected Lowland Area in Northern Greece
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
- (a)
- estimate the home range of two male and three female wildcats in Koronia and Volvi Lakes National Park (NPKV) in northern Greece,
- (b)
- describe the diel activity of both sexes,
- (c)
- identify potential environmental variables (e.g., weather, day length, moon phase) significantly affecting wildcat activity,
- (d)
- evaluate whether non-resting wildcat activity differs in open vs. forested areas, and
- (e)
- ascertain resting wildcat site fidelity across seasons.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Trapping and Handling
2.3. GPS Collaring
2.4. Home Range Estimation
2.5. Activity Pattern Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Home Range
3.2. Activity Pattern
3.3. Resting Sites
3.4. Activity Differences in Open and Forested Areas
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Animal | Sex | Age (Years) | Weight (kg) | Capture Date | Last Relocation Date | Days Tracked | GPS Fixes | 2-min Acc/Meter Logs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apollo | M | 2–3 | 2.9 | 29 September 2020 | 5 January 2021 | 99 | 3976 | 70,190 |
Aphrodite | F | 2–3 | 3.6 | 1 October 2020 | 18 June 2021 | 261 | 11,951 | 170,893 |
Ares | M | 2–3 | 2.6 | 2 October 2020 | 1 June 2021 | 243 | 11,845 | 167,349 |
Artemis | F | 1–2 | 2.7 | 30 October 2020 | 23 June 2021 | 237 | 11,278 | - |
Ira | F | 3–4 | 3.7 | 4 November 2020 | 30 June 2021 | 239 | 11,875 | 171,679 |
Aphrodite | Artemis | Ira | Apollo | Ares | Mean | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TOTAL | BB | 0.94 | 3.08 | 0.97 | 1.22 | 4.43 | 2.13 ± 1.40 |
MCP | 1.69 | 4.79 | 1.77 | 2.35 | 58.37 | 13.79 ± 22.32 | |
October–December | BB | 1.17 | 1.10 | 1.13 | 1.54 | 1.64 | 1.32 ± 0.23 |
MCP | 2.10 | 1.12 | 1.43 | 2.07 | 3.73 | 2.09 ± 0.90 | |
January–March | BB | 0.50 | 2.01 | 0.87 | 0.51 1 | 3.08 | 1.62 ± 1.012 |
MCP | 0.44 | 5.01 | 0.96 | 0.83 1 | 37.87 | 11.07 ± 15.572 | |
April–June | BB | 0.84 | 1.90 | 0.67 | - | 2.07 | 1.37 ± 0.622 |
MCP | 1.20 | 3.31 | 0.88 | - | 8.15 | 3.39 ± 2.912 |
Variables | Estimate | SE | z-Value | Pr(>|z|) |
---|---|---|---|---|
intercept (βο) | 3963.3 | 207.0 | 19.122 | <0.0001 |
day length | −2086.8 | 321.4 | 6.484 | <0.0001 |
moon phase | 89.6 | 58.8 | 1.522 | 0.128 |
min. temperature | 20.2 | 4.5 | 4.463 | <0.0001 |
Variables | Estimate | SE | df | t-Value | Pr(>|z|) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
intercept (βο) | 4582.1 | 395.1 | 22.918 | 11.598 | <0.0001 |
day length | −2814.1 | 690.9 | 797.93 | −4.073 | <0.0001 |
min. temperature | 81.2 | 9.7 | 796.819 | 8.333 | <0.0001 |
Individual | Sex | Unique Sites | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | June |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aphrodite | F | 23 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | - |
Ira | F | 19 | - | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Apollo | M | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Ares | M | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | - |
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Migli, D.; Astaras, C.; Boutsis, G.; Diakou, A.; Karantanis, N.-E.; Youlatos, D. Spatial Ecology and Diel Activity of European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) in a Protected Lowland Area in Northern Greece. Animals 2021, 11, 3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113030
Migli D, Astaras C, Boutsis G, Diakou A, Karantanis N-E, Youlatos D. Spatial Ecology and Diel Activity of European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) in a Protected Lowland Area in Northern Greece. Animals. 2021; 11(11):3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113030
Chicago/Turabian StyleMigli, Despina, Christos Astaras, George Boutsis, Anastasia Diakou, Nikolaos-Evangelos Karantanis, and Dionisios Youlatos. 2021. "Spatial Ecology and Diel Activity of European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) in a Protected Lowland Area in Northern Greece" Animals 11, no. 11: 3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113030
APA StyleMigli, D., Astaras, C., Boutsis, G., Diakou, A., Karantanis, N.-E., & Youlatos, D. (2021). Spatial Ecology and Diel Activity of European Wildcat (Felis silvestris) in a Protected Lowland Area in Northern Greece. Animals, 11(11), 3030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113030