phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:3753 DOI 10.1002/wlb3.01245 Home range and habitat selection of wolves recolonising central European human-dominated landscapes Decades of persecution has resulted in the long-term absence of grey wolves Canis lupus from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves has eased the pressure, allowing wolves to rapidly re-establish territories in their previous central European habitats over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, these habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped 20 wolves, originating from seven packs in six central European regions, with GPS collars, allowing us to calculate monthly average home range sizes for 14 of the animals of 213.3 km2 using autocorrelated kernel density estimation. We then used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats used within each home range. Our data confirmed a general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase, and no specific pattern for non-breeders. Predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests, though some wolves within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grassland, possibly influenced by local land use and high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re-colonisation of central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively quickly across central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicts with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify any management implications. eng Bialowieza Primeval Forest Canis-Lupus Population-Dynamics Large Carnivores Wolf Population Territory Size Dispersal Patterns Poland Apennines 2024-12-19T09:55:42.251Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Vorel;Aleš; FN:Aleš Vorel X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5716-3711 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Kadlec;Ivo; FN:Ivo Kadlec X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3419-5989 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Toulec;Tadeáš; FN:Tadeáš Toulec END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Selimovic;Aldin; FN:Aldin Selimovic X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3947-402X END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Horníček;Jan; FN:Jan Horníček END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Vojtěch;Oldřich; FN:Oldřich Vojtěch END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Mokrý;Jan; FN:Jan Mokrý END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Pavlačík;Lukáš; FN:Lukáš Pavlačík END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Arnold;Walter; FN:Walter Arnold X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6785-5685 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Cornils;Jessica; FN:Jessica Cornils END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Kutal;Miroslav; FN:Miroslav Kutal X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3857-5419 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Duľa;Martin; FN:Martin Duľa X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2675-4575 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Žák;Lukáš; FN:Lukáš Žák END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Barták;Vojtěch; FN:Vojtěch Barták X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9887-1290 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 5202006 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3753 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:3753/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline