Klaassen Britt, Broekhuis Femke
Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands.
Kenya Wildlife Trust Nairobi Kenya.
Ecol Evol. 2018 Jul 9;8(15):7611-7623. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4269. eCollection 2018 Aug.
Animals select habitats that will ultimately optimize their fitness through access to favorable resources, such as food, mates, and breeding sites. However, access to these resources may be limited by bottom-up effects, such as availability, and top-down effects, such as risk avoidance and competition, including that with humans. Competition between wildlife and people over resources, specifically over space, has played a significant role in the worldwide decrease in large carnivores. The goal of this study was to determine the habitat selection of cheetahs () in a human-wildlife landscape at multiple spatial scales. Cheetahs are a wide-ranging, large carnivore, whose significant decline is largely attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation. It is believed that 77% of the global cheetah population ranges outside protected areas, yet little is known about cheetahs' resource use in areas where they co-occur with people. The selection, or avoidance, of three anthropogenic variables (human footprint density, distance to main roads and wildlife areas) and five environmental variables (open habitat, semiclosed habitat, edge density, patch density and slope), at multiple spatial scales, was determined by analyzing collar data from six cheetahs. Cheetahs selected variables at different scales; anthropogenic variables were selected at broader scales (720-1440 m) than environmental variables (90-180 m), suggesting that anthropogenic pressures affect habitat selection at a home-range level, whilst environmental variables influence site-level habitat selection. Cheetah presence was best explained by human presence, wildlife areas, semiclosed habitat, edge density and slope. Cheetahs showed avoidance for humans and steep slopes and selected for wildlife areas and areas with high proportions of semiclosed habitat and edge density. Understanding a species' resource requirements, and how these might be affected by humans, is crucial for conservation. Using a multiscale approach, we provide new insights into the habitat selection of a large carnivore living in a human-wildlife landscape.
动物会选择那些最终能通过获取有利资源（如食物、配偶和繁殖地）来优化自身适应性的栖息地。然而，获取这些资源可能会受到自下而上的影响（如资源可利用性）和自上而下的影响（如风险规避和竞争，包括与人类的竞争）的限制。野生动物和人类在资源，特别是空间资源上的竞争，在全球大型食肉动物数量减少中起到了重要作用。本研究的目的是确定在多空间尺度的人类与野生动物景观中猎豹（ ）的栖息地选择。猎豹是一种分布广泛的大型食肉动物，其数量的显著下降主要归因于栖息地丧失和破碎化。据信，全球77%的猎豹种群分布在保护区之外，但对于猎豹在与人类共存地区的资源利用情况却知之甚少。通过分析六只猎豹的项圈数据，确定了在多空间尺度下对三个人为变量（人类足迹密度、到主要道路和野生动物区域的距离）和五个环境变量（开阔栖息地、半封闭栖息地、边缘密度、斑块密度和坡度）的选择或回避情况。猎豹在不同尺度上选择变量；人为变量的选择尺度（720 - 1440米）比环境变量（90 - 180米）更宽泛，这表明人为压力在家庭范围水平上影响栖息地选择，而环境变量影响地点水平的栖息地选择。猎豹的出现情况最好由人类存在、野生动物区域、半封闭栖息地、边缘密度和坡度来解释。猎豹表现出对人类和陡坡的回避，而选择野生动物区域以及半封闭栖息地和边缘密度比例高的区域。了解一个物种的资源需求以及这些需求可能如何受到人类影响，对于保护工作至关重要。通过采用多尺度方法，我们为生活在人类与野生动物景观中的大型食肉动物的栖息地选择提供了新的见解。
