Home Range and Habitat Selection of Feral Horses (<i>Equus ferus</i> f. <i>caballus</i>) in a Mountainous Environment: A Case Study from Northern Greece

oleh: Dimitrios E. Bakaloudis, Charalambos T. Thoma, Konstantina N. Makridou, Evangelos G. Kotsonas, Georgios Arsenos, Alexandros Theodoridis, Vasileios Kontsiotis

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-07-01

Deskripsi

The spatial ecology of feral horses (<i>Equus ferus</i> f. <i>caballus</i>) in Greece has never been studied before, including home range size and habitat selection. We tracked two mares fitted with global positioning system collars between September 2020 and August 2021 in a portion of Mount Menoikio in Central Macedonia, Northern Greece. We used K-select analysis to assess habitat selection for the study period by combining location data with several environmental variables. The mean home ranges for horses varied from 26.72 km<sup>2</sup> (95% Minimum Convex Polygon; SE = 0.442) to 27.84 km<sup>2</sup> (95% Kernel Density; SE = 1.83). Both horses selected areas with flat and smooth topography near natural grasslands with high green productivity. Conversely, they avoided areas near broadleaved forests and pastures, as well as at north-facing aspects. Overall, suitable habitats corresponded to a small portion (15.1%) of the available habitat. Our findings could assist land managers in mapping primary horses’ habitat in the wider region and implement management regimes that will aid in preserving natural grasslands.