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The colonization of suitable yet unoccupied habitat due to natural dispersal or human introduction can benefit recovery of threatened species. Predicting habitat suitability and conflict potential of colonization areas can facilitate conservation planning.Planning for reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus) to the US state of Colorado is underway. Assessing which occupancy sites minimize the likelihood of human–wolf conflict during dispersal events and seasonal movements is critical to the success of this initiative.We used a spatial absorbing Markov chain (SAMC) framework, which extends random walk theory and probabilistically accounts for both movement behaviour and mortality risk, to compare the viability of potential occupancy sites (public lands >500 km2 to minimally meet wolf pack range area). The SAMC framework produced spatially explicit predictions of wolf dispersal, philopatry and conflict risk ahead of recolonization prior to reintroduction efforts. Our SAMC model included: (1) movement resistance based on terrain, roads and housing density; (2) mortality risk and potential conflict (absorption) based on livestock presence, social tolerance, land ownership and state boundaries; and (3) site fidelity based on habitat quality. Using this model, we compared 21 public land units by deriving predictions of: (A) relative survival time outside each site, (B) intensity of use and retention time within each site and (C) the probability of use on adjacent public lands. We also predicted and mapped potential conflict hotspots associated with each site.Among the units assessed, a complex of USFS Wilderness areas near Aspen, chiefly the Hunter‐Fryingpan and Collegiate Peaks Wilderness areas, had the best overall rankings when comparing predictions of each metric. The area balances high‐quality, well‐connected habitat with relatively low livestock density and high social tolerance.Synthesis and applications. Our findings highlight the utility of the SAMC framework for assessing colonization areas and the capacity to identify locations for effective proactive management, especially of conflict prone species. The flexibility of the SAMC framework enables predicting likely areas of philopatry and human–wildlife conflict using spatially explicit metrics which can improve the success of conservation translocations and management of species with changing geographic extents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have placed significant pressure on the terrestrial biosphere, leading to ecosystem degradation and carbon losses. However, the full impact of these activities on terrestrial biomass carbon remains unexplored. In this study, we examined changes in global human footprint (HFP) and human‐induced aboveground biomass carbon (AGBC) losses from 2000 to 2018. Our findings show an increasing trend in HFP globally, resulting in the conversion of wilderness areas to highly modified regions. These changes have altered global biomes' habitats, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. We also found accelerated AGBC loss driven by HFP expansion, with a total loss of 19.99 ± 0.196 PgC from 2000 to 2018, especially in tropical regions. Additionally, AGBC is more vulnerable in the Global South than in the Global North. Human activities threaten natural habitats, resulting in increasing AGBC loss even in strictly protected areas. Therefore, scientifically guided planning of future human activities is crucial to protect half of Earth through mitigation and adaptation under future risks of climate change and global urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: How much stronger would the effects of herbivorous mammals be in natural ecosystems if human‐linked extinctions and extirpations had not occurred? Many mammal species have experienced range contractions, and numerous species have gone extinct in the late Quaternary, completely or in large part linked to human pressures. Therefore, herbivore consumption rates in seemingly natural ecosystems will deviate from their pre‐anthropogenic state. Here, we estimate the size of this deviation. Location: Terrestrial systems, globally. Time period: Current. Major taxa studied: All late‐Quaternary terrestrial mammals. Methods: We estimated and mapped vegetation consumption rate by all late‐Quaternary terrestrial mammals. We did this through the estimation of natural densities and dietary needs. We mapped their consumption rate in both current ranges and present‐natural ranges, that is estimated ranges in the absence of human‐linked range contractions and extinctions. We compared these estimated consumption rates to current net primary productivity (NPP). We summarized the results across ecosystem types everywhere as well as for only the last remaining wilderness areas. Results: We estimate that wild mammals consume a median of 11% of NPP (at the scale of 96.5 km × 96.5 km grid cells) in current natural areas and that this would have been much higher in the absence of extinctions and extirpations, namely 21%. Looking at the change per grid cell, the mammal losses result in a median 42% reduction in consumption rate. Importantly, we estimate very similar declines in herbivory in what are considered the last remaining wilderness areas. Main conclusions: Our results suggest that the natural interaction of mammalian herbivores with vegetation in ecosystems across the world is strongly reduced by prehistoric and historic to recent species losses, even in the last remaining wilderness areas, likely with major effects on ecosystem structure and functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intraspecific interactions between mesocarnivores are not commonly observed and consequentially not well understood, particularly for species inhabiting wilderness regions. Using a remote camera, we captured interactions between a Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and wolverine (Gulo gulo) scavenging on the remains of a bison (Bison bison). Over a 23‐min period representing nine photographic sequences (1–3 photographs per sequence), we observed (1) a wolverine approach the remains that were being fed on by a lynx, (2) the two animals feeding on the remains at the same time for about 19 min, (3) the wolverine chasing the lynx off of the carcass and, thereafter, (4) the wolverine excluding the lynx from the carcass. Our observation is of potential scientific value because it sheds light on behavioral interactions between these two species, particularly at a rich food source. Intraguild interactions between these species appear to include tolerance toward one another, as well as interference competition, with the wolverine being the dominant species. Our observation highlights the new information on interactions between mesocarnivores that are becoming illuminated with the use of remote cameras, revealing that these interactions may be more complex than once thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Canadian North, close to the Arctic and the embodiment of the exotic faraway realm of ice and enigmatic inhabitants, is explored through the perspective of a Canadian writer of Romanian origin, Felicia Mihali, as depicted in her very recent novel Pineapple Kisses in Iqaluit (2021). Summarisable as the initiatic journey of a disabused French teacher in her thirties towards the happiness that she eventually finds in the least expected, most hostile environment imaginable, Iqaluit, the seat of the most northern French school in Nunavut, the case of this novel is quite interesting, as it was written in English and subsequently translated into French by its Romanian author. Thus, the issue of the multiplicity of perspectives and the culturally filtered perception of an exotic, unfamiliar, unrelenting landscape bearing upon the evolution of the female protagonist becomes the centre of attention, providing the opportunity to assess the symbolic meaning of the descriptive passages and their role in shaping the character's evolution. These landscapes making up the corpus under study take the most varied forms, from the wilderness to the urban area, the school environment, or the inserts referring to the polar expeditions in search of the Northern Passage, and last but not least, the Inuit folk tales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a working definition for the term 'lost wilderness tourist' and uses this definition to examine lost wilderness tourist events through the lenses of tourism literature, lost person behaviour literature, search and rescue literature and wilderness tourists in Australia. A tool was developed using existing literature to recruit self-identifying lost wilderness tourists. Firstperson stories were collected through open ended, one-on-one qualitative interviews. Interview data were analysed using 3-step coding. The findings propose a definition for the term 'lost wilderness tourist', establish that lost wilderness tourist events can be categorised as 'disorientated' or 'stuck' and that these 2 meta categories can be further divided into subcategories. The findings offer insights into the lived experiences of lost wilderness tourists. These insights are useful for anyone with an interest in lost wilderness events and the safety of people in Australia's wilderness areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One free-ranging adult male Indian gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) entered into a tea garden in Tarfat village, near Farkating of Jorhat district of Assam, India in May, 2020. Two villagers were injured during theirattempt to drive away the animal into the nearby wilderness areas. When this failed, the gaur necessitated chemical immobilization and translocation to a safer habitat.A combination of narcotic (etorphine HCl 9.8mg/ml) and neurleptic(butyrophenone) (azaparone 40mg/ml) wereselected as chemical anaesthetics. The immobilization cocktail of 6.86 (0.013 mg/Kg) of etorphine HCl + 80 (0.16 mg/kg) mg azaparone was taken in an air-pressurized 3 ml plastic dart. A single dart usingthe syringe projector Dan inject (CO2 powered) pressurized at 7 psi was fired at thegluteus maximus muscle from 15 metres distance. Induction was observed after five minutes of dartingand the down time was at 8 min 36 seconds showing effective narcolepsies. Though the animal was approachable in 10 minutes, it had to be physically restrained. Data for various physiological parameters were obtained at 15th, 35th and 50th minute of induction. The gaur was carried on a makeshift stretcher prepared with bamboo and wood and loaded in a transport vehicle. Antidote diprenorphine HCl (1.5 ml) was administered intramuscularly, whichrevived the animal in 5 minutes. It was then transported from the site of capture (N 260 29' 58.2" E 94001' 24.2") to the site of release (N 26030' 13.0" E 93056'28.0"), a distance of 15 km by road of the choice of theanaesthetics and reversalandthedose administered, appeared to be apt as no untowardafter-affect was noticed during the procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Land use is the most pervasive driver of biodiversity loss. Predicting its impact on species richness (SR) is often based on indicators of habitat loss. However, the degradation of habitats, especially through land‐use intensification, also affects species. Here, we evaluate whether an integrative metric of land‐use intensity, the human appropriation of net primary production, is correlated with the decline of SR in used landscapes across the globe. Location: Global. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Birds, mammals and amphibians. Methods: Based on species range maps (spatial resolution: 20 km × 20 km) and an area‐of‐habitat approach, we calibrated a "species–energy model" by correlating the SR of three groups of vertebrates with net primary production and biogeographical covariables in "wilderness" areas (i.e., those where available energy is assumed to be still at pristine levels). We used this model to project the difference between pristine SR and the SR corresponding to the energy remaining in used landscapes (i.e., SR loss expected owing to human energy extraction outside wilderness areas). We validated the projected species loss by comparison with the realized and impending loss reconstructed from habitat conversion and documented by national Red Lists. Results: Species–energy models largely explained landscape‐scale variation of mapped SR in wilderness areas (adjusted R2‐values: 0.79–0.93). Model‐based projections of SR loss were lower, on average, than reconstructed and documented ones, but the spatial patterns were correlated significantly, with stronger correlation in mammals (Pearson's r = 0.68) than in amphibians (r = 0.60) and birds (r = 0.57). Main conclusions: Our results suggest that the human appropriation of net primary production is a useful indicator of heterotrophic species loss in used landscapes, hence we recommend its inclusion in models based on species–area relationships to improve predictions of land‐use‐driven biodiversity loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]