Effect of habitat characteristics on mesocarnivore occurrence in urban environment in the Central Europe

Although urbanization is generally considered a major threat to local and global biodiversity, some recent studies have shown that urban environments provide suitable habitat for some wildlife species, including carnivores, yet little is known about the factors that determinate their occurrence and habitat preferences. The main aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of habitat characteristics in relation to carnivore occurrence along an urban-rural gradient in the Central Europe. Carnivore occurrence was monitored using scent stations (summer period) and snow tracking (winter period) in the regional city which was divided into the network of 154 quadrates (25 ha/quadrate) for the purposes of this study. From a total of six recorded native carnivore species, the stone marten Martes foina and the least weasel Mustela nivalis were the most dominant and widespread species in both study periods. PCA analysis revealed the existence of two informative axes corresponding to (A) urban vs. non-urban habitat and (B) residential vs. industrial areas. Surprisingly, the only species exhibiting marked habitat selectivity and avoidance of highly urbanized areas was the red fox (i.e. negative correlation with the first PCA axis). The stone marten tends to avoid industrial areas and prefers residential areas; however its presence/absence was not associated with the first PCA axis. On the other hand, the ermine stoat and the least weasel were relatively unselective according to our results. In conclusion, our results demonstrate high adaptability of various species of carnivore mesopredators to urban environment; however their response to the level of urbanization and habitat characteristics exhibits interspecific variation.