PhD in Sustainable development and cooperation

Contacts

Supervisor

Phd thesis

Ecology of urban and peri-urban wolves in Europe: habitat selection, food habits and movement patterns.

My PhD is part of a European project called LIFE WILD WOLF (LIFE21-NAT-IT-LIFE WILD WOLF/101074417)(https://lifewildwolf.com/), which aims to improve the coexistence between wolves and people in urban areas without compromising the ecological roles of wild wolves. My project focuses on investigating the ecology of the European wolf population by examining their behavior in relation to habitat selection, movement patterns, and food ecology in anthropized environments.

Specifically, my work aims to answer three key questions:

1. How does habitat selection in wolves living in urban areas differ from that of wolves in natural environments? Do wolves in urbanized areas tend to select or avoid anthropogenic structures?
2. What are the movement patterns of wolves that live in urban areas? Which factors influence these movements in a human-dominated landscape?
3. What are the dietary strategies and kill site characteristics of wolves in a human-dominated Europe? Do wolves adapt their food ecology in response to urban environments?

Understanding the behavioral adaptations that allow wolves to persist in human-dominated ecosystems is crucial for developing appropriate strategies to improve coexistence not only with wolves but with all urban wildlife.