Widén Anna, Cromsigt Joris P G M, Felton Annika M, Widemo Fredrik, Graf Lukas, Ericsson Göran, Singh Navinder J
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Zoology, Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Gqeberha, 6031, South Africa.
Mov Ecol. 2025 Jul 22;13(1):52. doi: 10.1186/s40462-025-00581-2.
Knowledge about habitat selection is crucial for ungulate management and conservation to handle competing land use. Thermal tolerance and access to food are two important drivers of habitat selection. Thus, moving into thermal shelter when temperatures increase may result in reduced energy intake e.g. mature forests providing thermal shelters through high canopy cover, but lower amounts of forage than more open habitats. Body size affects heat sensitivity, with larger animals being more sensitive. In this study, we investigated ambient temperature mediated habitat selection in three differently-sized, sympatric, deer species (moose, red deer and roe deer) during spring and summer in Sweden. We also assessed the trade-off between thermal shelter and forage availability. We used data from GPS-collared animals with a combination of land cover and airborne LIDAR data to quantify canopy cover as a proxy for thermal refuge and shrub cover as a proxy for forage availability. We found that temperature influenced habitat selection in all three deer species however with divergent patterns. During warmer daily temperatures, moose and red deer selected areas with more canopy cover for thermal shelter, however showing opposite patterns during warmer nights, suggesting patterns of thermoregulatory behaviour. Roe deer showed no influence of high temperatures on canopy cover selection however,, selected more strongly for areas with high canopy cover during colder temperatures i.e. showing contrasting patterns compared to moose and red deer, suggesting that canopy cover may be relatively less important for roe deer as temperature increase. All three species selected for shrub cover during warmer temperatures, which can provide both high forage availability and shade over bed sites for smaller deer species. Our findings indicate that canopy cover and shrub cover habitats appear to be important as temperatures increase, but their significance varies among species. Furthermore, our study highlights the complexity behind habitat selection in sympatric ungulate species, food intake and predation risk.
了解栖息地选择对于有蹄类动物的管理和保护以应对土地利用竞争至关重要。耐热性和食物获取是栖息地选择的两个重要驱动因素。因此，当温度升高时进入热庇护所可能会导致能量摄入减少，例如成熟森林通过高树冠覆盖率提供热庇护所，但与更开阔的栖息地相比，草料数量较少。体型会影响热敏感性，体型较大的动物更敏感。在本研究中，我们调查了瑞典春季和夏季三种不同体型、同域分布的鹿种（驼鹿、马鹿和狍）中环境温度介导的栖息地选择。我们还评估了热庇护所和草料可用性之间的权衡。我们使用来自佩戴GPS项圈动物的数据，并结合土地覆盖和机载激光雷达数据，将树冠覆盖率量化为热避难所的指标，将灌木覆盖率量化为草料可用性的指标。我们发现温度影响了所有三种鹿种的栖息地选择，但模式不同。在白天温度较高时，驼鹿和马鹿选择树冠覆盖率更高的区域作为热庇护所，然而在夜间温度较高时则表现出相反的模式，这表明了体温调节行为模式。狍对高温对树冠覆盖率选择没有影响，然而，在温度较低时，狍更强烈地选择树冠覆盖率高的区域，即与驼鹿和马鹿表现出相反的模式，这表明随着温度升高，树冠覆盖率对狍可能相对不那么重要。在温度较高时，所有三个物种都选择了灌木覆盖区域，这可以为较小的鹿种提供高草料可用性和卧息地的遮荫。我们的研究结果表明，随着温度升高，树冠覆盖和灌木覆盖的栖息地似乎很重要，但它们的重要性因物种而异。此外，我们的研究突出了同域有蹄类物种栖息地选择、食物摄入和捕食风险背后的复杂性。
