Rita Tinoco Torres and Dário Hipólito, researchers from CESAM/DBIO at the University of Aveiro, are coauthors of the article “Increasing forest disturbance enhances habitat suitability for Europe’s large herbivores”, recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
The study utilised one of the most extensive GPS collar datasets for large herbivores in Europe, tracking 3,069 animals across 19.3 million locations, to analyse how the European bison, moose, red deer, and roe deer respond to forest disturbances. The findings demonstrate that disturbances such as wildfires, commercial harvesting, and habitat fragmentation can attract these ungulates, and that the recent increase in these disturbances has, in general, contributed to improved habitat suitability.
Regarding the contribution from the University of Aveiro/CESAM, this included GPS data on roe deer from the Roe Deer Reintroduction Project in Central Portugal, which has been conducted since 2012 as an ongoing service to the Iberian Wolf Conservation Association (ACHLI). The team also contributed to the study’s design, field data analysis, and the applied interpretation of the results, reinforcing the relevance of the work for local and regional land managers.
These results underscore the importance of integrating long-term disturbance dynamics into forest planning and wildlife management. Strategies such as the mitigation of disturbance sources, the restoration of ecological corridors, and adaptive management may assist in reducing local habitat losses and maintaining functional connectivity.
Article available here.
News by Rita Tinoco Torres, researcher at CESAM/DBIO and Vice-Coordinator of Research Cluster 4 – Ecosystem Management and Conservation