The impact of human disturbance on habitat selection and social behaviour in Manitoba elk

人类干扰对马尼托巴麋鹿栖息地选择和社会行为的影响

• 批准号: NE/V010034/1
• 负责人: Alexander Georgiev
• 金额: $ 1.16万
• 依托单位: Bangor University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FV010034%2F1
• 关键词: impact; human; disturbance; habitat; selection

NERC : Zoe Melvin : NE/L002604/1Global wildlife is increasingly subject to human-induced disturbance, such as habitat loss and land-use changes. Some species are able to cope with these changes while others are not, leading to species declines and extinctions. One of the most important ways that animals cope with human disturbance is by using flexible coping strategies in new situations created by disturbance. Social grouping is one strategy that animals adapt according to the situation that they are in. The goal for any animal is to maximise the amount of food you eat while reducing your risk of death so that you can pass on your genes to the next generation. Group-living animals can reduce their risk of death by sharing the time spent looking for danger, but they also need to share food with other group members. Being flexible in the size of your group would allow you to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of group-living given your situation. For example, animals could group together in areas with many predators to allow them to eat while sharing the time spent looking for danger and split apart in areas of low risk to reduce competition for food with other group members. Similarly, animals could group together more at times of the day or the year when their chances of encountering a predator is higher. As more and more habitat is lost or degraded, animals are forced to feed in areas that present a higher risk of encountering human predators, such a farmland. Being able to group together flexibly in risky habitats and split up in low-risk habitats may allow species to cope better with human induced-change. In this project, we aim to investigate the effect that grouping together has on where and when animals choose to feed. I will address this question using 18 female elk in one herd in Manitoba that lives in a mostly agricultural landscape. These elk wear Global Positioning System (GPS) collars that have been collecting data on their locations at regular intervals for two years. I will use a combination of tests to investigate what is driving elk to choose certain habitats and whether the distance between each animal and its closest neighbour changes in more in risky areas (i.e. agricultural land) and more risky times of day (i.e. hunting season and daytime when humans are more active). This research will give us a better understanding of how animals cope with habitat disturbance and the potential for social grouping to be used as a coping strategy. Elk populations in Manitoba are generally in decline which could have negative impacts on livelihoods of people that depend on the hunting industry. The information gained in this study will help local stakeholders to make decisions about land-use changes and hunting quotas in their area to promote the sustainable population growth of elk and support local livelihoods.

NERC：Zoe Melvin：NE/L002604/1全球野生动物越来越多地受到人类引起的干扰，如栖息地丧失和土地使用变化。一些物种能够科普这些变化，而另一些则不能，导致物种减少和灭绝。动物科普人类干扰的最重要方式之一是在干扰造成的新情况下使用灵活的应对策略。社会分组是动物根据它们所处的环境而适应的一种策略。任何动物的目标都是最大限度地增加你的食物量，同时降低你的死亡风险，这样你就可以把你的基因传给下一代。群居动物可以通过分享寻找危险的时间来降低死亡风险，但它们也需要与其他群体成员分享食物。灵活的团体规模将使您能够最大限度地提高收益，并根据您的情况最大限度地减少团体生活的成本。例如，动物可以在有许多捕食者的区域聚集在一起，让他们在寻找危险的同时分享时间，并在低风险区域分开，以减少与其他群体成员争夺食物。同样，动物们在一天或一年中遇到捕食者的机会更高的时候也会聚集在一起。随着越来越多的栖息地丧失或退化，动物被迫在遭遇人类捕食者风险较高的地区觅食，例如农田。能够在风险栖息地灵活地聚集在一起，在低风险栖息地分散，可能使物种能够更好地科普人类引起的变化。在这个项目中，我们的目标是研究分组在一起对动物选择何时何地进食的影响。我将使用马尼托巴一个主要生活在农业景观中的鹿群中的18只雌性麋鹿来解决这个问题。这些麋鹿戴着全球定位系统（GPS）项圈，两年来一直定期收集它们所在位置的数据。我将使用测试的组合来调查是什么驱使麋鹿选择某些栖息地，以及每只动物与其最近邻居之间的距离是否在风险区域（即农业用地）和一天中更危险的时间（即狩猎季节和人类更活跃的白天）变化更大。这项研究将使我们更好地了解动物如何科普栖息地的干扰和潜在的社会群体作为一种应对策略。马尼托巴的麋鹿数量普遍下降，这可能对依赖狩猎业的人们的生计产生负面影响。本研究获得的信息将有助于当地利益相关者就其所在地区的土地使用变化和狩猎配额做出决策，以促进麋鹿的可持续人口增长并支持当地生计。