Influence of human disturbance on the activity patterns and spatiotemporal interactions of wolves and their prey in an Italian stronghold

The intensification of human activities exerts an influence on animal behaviour, resulting in noticeable shifts in species distributions, movements and activity patterns. Differential responses among sympatric species, influenced by human disturbance, have the potential to alter species interactions, such as predator-prey relationships. This study investigated the impact of human disturbance on the activity patterns of wolves and their potential prey, as well as their spatiotemporal interactions, in one of the historical strongholds of wolves in Italy, where both large predator and human presence have long been established. Data were collected between October and April to provide a focused snapshot of cold season dynamics, when environmental conditions and human activities show limited temporal variability. Local human disturbances (considering both urbanization and outdoor recreation) were found to have a negligible impact on the temporal and spatial niche use of wolves and, overall, had a modest effect on the mammal community studied, both in terms of individual species' activity patterns and their spatiotemporal interactions with the large predator. Wild boar was the only ungulate species that increased its nocturnality in more urbanized landscapes, resulting in increased temporal overlap with wolves. On the contrary, fallow deer was found to have more diurnal activity in more urbanized areas, which suggests habituation to humans. Interestingly, our results showed that human disturbance might indirectly benefit wolves by increasing their temporal overlap with their primary prey, the wild boar. Overall, our findings indicate substantial tolerance to human disturbance in a long-established coexistence system, with limited behavioural change and preserved predator-prey temporal coupling.

Università degli Studi di Sassari
National Biodiversity Future Center
University of Padua