Serieys Laurel E K, Bishop Jacqueline M, Rogan Matthew S, Smith Justine A, Suraci Justin P, O'Riain M Justin, Wilmers Christopher C
Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South Africa.
Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
iScience. 2023 Jun 7;26(7):107050. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107050. eCollection 2023 Jul 21.
Human activities increasingly challenge wild animal populations by disrupting ecological connectivity and population persistence. Yet, human-modified habitats can provide resources, resulting in selection of disturbed areas by generalist species. To investigate spatial and temporal responses of a generalist carnivore to human disturbance, we investigated habitat selection and diel activity patterns in caracals (). We GPS-collared 25 adults and subadults in urban and wildland-dominated subregions in Cape Town, South Africa. Selection responses for landscape variables were dependent on subregion, animal age class, and diel period. Contrary to expectations, caracals did not become more nocturnal in urban areas. Caracals increased their selection for proximity to urban areas as the proportion of urban area increased. Differences in habitat selection between urban and wildland caracals suggest that individuals of this generalist species exhibit high behavioral flexibility in response to anthropogenic disturbances that emerge as a function of habitat context.
人类活动通过破坏生态连通性和种群持久性，对野生动物种群构成了越来越大的挑战。然而，人类改造后的栖息地可以提供资源，导致通才物种选择受干扰的区域。为了研究一种通才食肉动物对人类干扰的时空反应，我们调查了狞猫的栖息地选择和昼夜活动模式。我们在南非开普敦的城市和以荒地为主的次区域，给25只成年和亚成年狞猫佩戴了GPS项圈。对景观变量的选择反应取决于次区域、动物年龄组和昼夜时段。与预期相反，狞猫在城市地区并没有变得更夜行性。随着城市面积比例的增加，狞猫增加了对靠近城市地区的选择。城市和荒地狞猫在栖息地选择上的差异表明，这种通才物种的个体在应对因栖息地背景而出现的人为干扰时，表现出高度的行为灵活性。
