Plastic behavioral adaptation to human activities can result in the enhancement and establishment of distinct behavioral types within a population. Such inter-individual behavioral variations, if unaccounted for, can lead to biases in our understanding of species' feeding habits, movement pattern, and habitat selection. We tracked the movements of 16 adult brown bears in a small and isolated population in northeast Turkey to i) identify inter-individual behavioral variations associated with the use of a garbage dump and ii) to examine how these variations influenced ranging patterns, movements behavior and habitat selection. We identified two remarkably distinct behavioral types: bears that regularly visited the dump and remained sedentary year-round, and bears that never visited the dump and migrated 165.7 ± 20.1 km (round-trip mean cumulative distance ± SE) prior to hibernation to search for food. We demonstrated that during migratory trips, bears moved more rapidly and were less selective in habitat choice than during the sedentary phase; during the migration phase forest cover was the only important environmental characteristic. Our results thus reinforce the growing evidence that animals' use of the landscape largely changes according to movement phase. Our study shows that anthropogenic food resources can influence food habits, which can have cascading effects on movement patterns and hence habitat selection, ultimately resulting in the establishment of distinct behavioral types within a population. Identification and consideration of these behavioral types is thus fundamental for the correct implementation of evidence-based conservation strategies at the population level. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12365Other titles: Bear migration and movements in a human-dominated landscape Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-124337 Accepted Version Originally published at: Cozzi, Gabriele; Chynoweth, Mark; Kusak, Josip; Coban, Emrah; Coban, Aysegül; Ozgul, Arpat; Sekercioglu, Cagan H (2016). Anthropogenic food resources foster the coexistence of distinct life history strategies: year-round sedentary and migratory brown bears. Journal of Zoology, 300 (2) ABSTRACT: 15Plastic behavioral adaptation to human activities can result in the enhancement and 16 establishment of distinct behavioral types within a population. Such inter-individual 17 behavioral variations, if unaccounted for, can lead to biases in our understanding of species' 18 feeding habits, movement pattern, and habitat selection. We tracked the movements of 16 19 adult brown bears in a small and isolated population in northeast Turkey to i) identify inter-20 individual behavioral variations associated with the use of a garbage dump and ii) to examine 21 how these variations influenced ranging patterns, movements behavior and habitat selection. 22We identified two remarkably distinct behavioral types: bears that regularly visited the dump 23and remained sedentary year-rou...

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In this study, we investigated wolf feeding ecology in Kars province, north-eastern Turkey, by analysing 72 scat samples collected in spring 2013. Ongoing camera trap surveys suggest that large wild ungulates are exceptionally rare in the region. On the contrary, livestock is abundant. Accordingly, scats analysis revealed that livestock constituted most of the biomass intake for wolves, although small mammals were the most frequent prey items. Wild ungulates were occasional prey, and although wolves make use of the main village garbage dump as a food source, garbage remains were scarce in scat samples. Wolf dependence on anthropogenic resources, primarily livestock, generates human-wildlife conflicts in the study area. Uncontrolled carcass disposal seems to boost this wolf behaviour. Synanthropy enhances the probability of wolf-human encounters and thus increases the risk of direct persecution, vehicle collisions, and hybridisation with dogs. When livestock is not available, small mammals are an important alternative prey for wolves. This may increase interspecific competition, particularly with lynx, which is also lacking natural prey in the area. Our preliminary results contribute to wolf ecology and conservation in the Anatolian-Caucasian range, where further studies are urgently needed to generate baseline data.

Wetland-dependent migratory songbirds represent one of the most vulnerable groups of birds on the planet, with .67% of wetland-obligate species threatened with extinction. One of the major hurdles for conservation efforts is determining the migration routes, stopover sites, and wintering sites of these species. We describe an annual migration cycle revealed by geolocator tracking of Great Reed-Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) breeding in the Aras River wetlands of eastern Turkey. Because of its relatively large size and breeding ground fidelity, the Great Reed-Warbler is an excellent candidate for geolocator studies and can serve as an indicator species for other wetland songbirds, many of which are particularly threatened in the Middle East. All birds made use of at least 2 wintering grounds in South Sudan, on the Indian Ocean coast and on the western shores of Lake Malawi, as well as several important stopover sites. We also identified a counterclockwise migration path into and out of Africa. Throughout the year, these birds encountered 277 Important Bird Areas, .40% of which had little or no protection. Many species of wetland songbird, particularly threatened species, may be too rare or too small to be the focus of similar studies. Our results not only allow for comparisons with other Great Reed-Warbler populations, but also reveal previously unknown stopover and wintering locations to target conservation efforts that will help wetland-dependent bird species in the Middle East and East Africa.

COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals’ 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.