A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests
Abstract Domestic cats (Felis catus), both feral animals and pets, are a major threat to biodiversity. While domestic cats are closely associated with human residences and activity, they also range into and impact natural areas. We still know little about how free‐ranging cats use natural and semi‐n...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Conservation Science and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13270 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849772800657588224 |
|---|---|
| author | Øyvind Skarsgard Nyheim Asunción Semper‐Pascual John Odden Neri Horntvedt Thorsen Richard Bischof |
| author_facet | Øyvind Skarsgard Nyheim Asunción Semper‐Pascual John Odden Neri Horntvedt Thorsen Richard Bischof |
| author_sort | Øyvind Skarsgard Nyheim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Domestic cats (Felis catus), both feral animals and pets, are a major threat to biodiversity. While domestic cats are closely associated with human residences and activity, they also range into and impact natural areas. We still know little about how free‐ranging cats use natural and semi‐natural areas. We quantified cat occurrence at 405 forest sites in Norway over 3 years using occupancy modeling, and tested how occurrence patterns were influenced by relevant landscape variables. Cat occupancy decreased with increasing distance from residential houses, being >60% within 50 m of the nearest house, but even at 1000 m distance, occupancy still exceeded 10%. When cats were present in forests, they were more likely to be detected close to forest edges. Detection probability was lowest and declined more steeply with increased distance from the forest edge during winter, when temperature, vegetation cover, and prey availability are at their lowest. We conclude that cats may pose a threat in natural areas like forests even at considerable distances from residences. We encourage further studies that investigate the role of landscape characteristics and environmental conditions on habitat penetration by both feral and pet domestic cats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1647a2fe71cf4df397f6df2edda539de |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2578-4854 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Science and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-1647a2fe71cf4df397f6df2edda539de2025-08-20T03:02:14ZengWileyConservation Science and Practice2578-48542025-03-0173n/an/a10.1111/csp2.13270A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forestsØyvind Skarsgard Nyheim0Asunción Semper‐Pascual1John Odden2Neri Horntvedt Thorsen3Richard Bischof4Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) Trondheim NorwayNorwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) Ås NorwayNorwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) Trondheim NorwayNorwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) Trondheim NorwayNorwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) Ås NorwayAbstract Domestic cats (Felis catus), both feral animals and pets, are a major threat to biodiversity. While domestic cats are closely associated with human residences and activity, they also range into and impact natural areas. We still know little about how free‐ranging cats use natural and semi‐natural areas. We quantified cat occurrence at 405 forest sites in Norway over 3 years using occupancy modeling, and tested how occurrence patterns were influenced by relevant landscape variables. Cat occupancy decreased with increasing distance from residential houses, being >60% within 50 m of the nearest house, but even at 1000 m distance, occupancy still exceeded 10%. When cats were present in forests, they were more likely to be detected close to forest edges. Detection probability was lowest and declined more steeply with increased distance from the forest edge during winter, when temperature, vegetation cover, and prey availability are at their lowest. We conclude that cats may pose a threat in natural areas like forests even at considerable distances from residences. We encourage further studies that investigate the role of landscape characteristics and environmental conditions on habitat penetration by both feral and pet domestic cats.https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13270camera trapFelis catusoccupancy analysispredationspace use |
| spellingShingle | Øyvind Skarsgard Nyheim Asunción Semper‐Pascual John Odden Neri Horntvedt Thorsen Richard Bischof A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests Conservation Science and Practice camera trap Felis catus occupancy analysis predation space use |
| title | A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| title_full | A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| title_fullStr | A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| title_short | A landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| title_sort | landscape scale assessment of domestic cat occurrence in boreal forests |
| topic | camera trap Felis catus occupancy analysis predation space use |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13270 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT øyvindskarsgardnyheim alandscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT asuncionsemperpascual alandscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT johnodden alandscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT nerihorntvedtthorsen alandscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT richardbischof alandscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT øyvindskarsgardnyheim landscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT asuncionsemperpascual landscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT johnodden landscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT nerihorntvedtthorsen landscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests AT richardbischof landscapescaleassessmentofdomesticcatoccurrenceinborealforests |