Alexandros A. Karamanlidis

In long‐lived species with extended maternal care, early‐life experiences can have lasting effects on spatial behaviour and risk perception, with direct implications for wildlife conservation in human‐dominated landscapes. Rehabilitation and reintroduction are increasingly used as conservation tools for large carnivores, yet the influence of rehabilitation conditions on post‐release behaviour remains poorly known. We evaluated how diversity in rehabilitation characteristics influenced habitat selection and movements in 27 orphaned brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) cubs released across six European countries between 2007 and 2022. Using telemetry data, we examined how individual traits, behavioural drivers and rehabilitation variables (age at release, duration of rehabilitation and social versus solitary rearing) interacted with landscape features to shape habitat selection and relate to post‐release movement speed. Habitat selection and movement speed varied with individual traits. Females tended to move less and select areas closer to forested habitats. At the same time, bears were increasingly found near roads and farther from settlements as they aged. Rehabilitation characteristics were associated with post‐release habitat use and movement. Bears released at younger ages moved less. Individuals that spent less time in rehabilitation showed stronger selection for forested areas. In contrast, socially rehabilitated bears moved more and tended to range farther from forested areas and closer to roads, consistent with a greater use of heterogeneous or human‐influenced landscapes. Synthesis and applications . Our results demonstrate that rehabilitation conditions are not behaviourally neutral and that variability in rehabilitation practices can shape how young bears navigate human‐modified landscapes after release. Evaluating rehabilitation success solely based on survival or conflict records may overlook meaningful behavioural differences that emerge during rehabilitation and influence exposure to anthropogenic risk. Incorporating behavioural and spatial indicators into rehabilitation assessment frameworks, and harmonising protocols around key practices such as determining release timing based on age, body condition, behavioural development and wariness toward human‐associated environments, can improve the effectiveness of reintroduction programmes and support long‐term coexistence between large carnivores and humans.

Once nearly eradicated from Europe, grey wolves ( Canis lupus ) have recently undergone a remarkable demographic recovery, but their long-term survival remains precarious. By analyzing 1,001 genomes, we uncover a mosaic of distinct evolutionary lineages, not a single recovering population. Northern populations exhibit Asian wolf ancestry, while southern populations preserve ancient Holocene lineages, with dog introgression varying by region. Isolated wolves from the Scandinavian, Italian, and Iberian peninsulas harbored particularly high levels of inbreeding and fixed deleterious mutations. Signatures of genome erosion were widespread across Europe, with many populations falling well short of the minimum size recommended for long-term survival. Our study reveals the complex tapestry of wolf ancestry and variation across Europe, which calls for nuanced, regional conservation plans founded in genetic monitoring.

Large carnivore recoveries have often been linked to increased conflicts with humans. Using brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) in Greece as a recovering population model, we analysed 22 years (1999–2020) of compensation claims to describe, quantify and identify seasonal, inter‐annual and spatial patterns in bear damage to property. A total of 7067 claims for damage by bears, amounting to €4.01 million, were recorded, primarily related to livestock (59.4%), followed by apiculture (23%) and agriculture (17.6%). Compensation claims for agriculture and livestock peaked in September, and for apiculture in June. Initially, total claims increased until 2009, then declined until 2012, and finally remained stable through the end of the study at levels similar to those in 1999. Hotspots of agricultural and apicultural damage were concentrated in the western bear subpopulation in Greece, primarily along the edge of the core distribution; hotspots of livestock damage were located mainly within the core distribution. Emergence hotspot analyses integrating spatial and temporal patterns revealed decreasing or stable trends in the number of annual claims across all damage categories within or at the edge of the species' core distribution, where conservation measures have long been in place. Conversely, increasing trends were recorded towards the edge of the current permanent distribution of the species, where bears have recently re‐established themselves, and there is little or no experience in mitigating human‐bear conflicts. Contrary to public perception, the recovery of bears in Greece has not been associated with a significant overall increase in damage to human property. Instead, the recovery has been accompanied by apparent spatial shifts in the location of damage hotspots, with increases concentrated mainly at the expanding edges of the population. These findings are relevant to revisiting conservation strategies to mitigate negative human‐bear interactions and promote a more harmonious coexistence of people and large carnivores.

Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species’ vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at‐sea threats. The threats we considered included individual fishing gear types, climate‐change‐related subthreats not previously assessed, and threats associated with coastal impacts and maritime disturbances. Our ratings resulted in 70 species having high vulnerability ( v > 0.778 out of 1) to at least 1 threat, primarily drifting longlines, temperature extremes, or fixed gear. These 3 threats were also considered to have the most severe effects (i.e., steepest population declines). Overall, temperature extremes and plastics and other solid waste were rated as affecting the largest proportion of populations. Penguins, pinnipeds, and polar bears had the highest vulnerability to temperature extremes. Bony fishes had the highest vulnerability to drifting longlines and plastics and other solid waste; pelagic cetaceans to 4 maritime disturbance threats; elasmobranchs to 5 fishing threats; and flying birds to drifting longlines and 2 maritime disturbance threats. Sirenians and turtles had the highest vulnerability to at least one threat from all 4 categories. Despite not necessarily having severe effects for most taxonomic groups, temperature extremes were rated among the top threats for all taxa except bony fishes. The vulnerability scores we provide are an important first step in estimating the risk of threats to marine megafauna. Importantly, they help differentiate scope from severity, which is key to identifying threats that should be prioritized for mitigation.

Biotic interactions are expected to influence species' responses to global changes, but they are rarely considered across broad spatial extents. Abiotic factors are thought to operate at larger spatial scales, while biotic factors, such as species interactions, are considered more important at local scales within communities, in part because of the knowledge gap on species interactions at large spatial scales (i.e., the Eltonian shortfall). We assessed, at a continental scale, (i) the importance of biotic interactions, through food webs, on species distributions, and (ii) how biotic interactions under scenarios of climate and land‐use change may affect the distribution of the brown bear (Ursus arctos). We built a highly detailed, spatially dynamic, and empirically sampled food web based on the energy contribution of 276 brown bear food species from different taxa (plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates) and their ensemble habitat models at high resolution across Europe. Then, combining energy contribution and predicted habitat of food species, we modelled energy contribution across space and included these layers within Bayesian‐based models of the brown bear distribution in Europe. The inclusion of biotic interactions considerably improved our understanding of brown bear distribution at large (continental) scales compared with Bayesian models including only abiotic factors (climate and land use). Predicted future range shifts, which included changes in the distribution of food species, varied greatly when considering various scenarios of change in biotic factors, providing a warning that future indirect climate and land‐use change are likely to have strong but highly uncertain impacts on species biogeography. Our study confirmed that advancing our understanding of ecological networks of species interactions will improve future projections of biodiversity change, especially for modelling species distributions and their functional role under climate and land‐use change scenarios, which is key for effective conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

In Europe, various conservation programs adopted to maintain or restore biodiversity have experienced differing levels of success. However, a synthesis about major factors for success of biodiversity-related conservation programs across ecosystems and national boundaries, such as incentives, subsidies, enforcement, participation, or spatial context, is missing. Using a balanced scorecard survey among experts, we analyzed and compared factors contributing to success or failure of three different conservation programs: two government programs (Natura 2000 and the ecological measures of the Water Framework Directive) and one conservation program of a non-governmental organization (NGO; Rewilding Europe), all focusing on habitat and species conservation. The experts perceived the NGO program as more successful in achieving biodiversity-related aims than governmental conservation legislation. Among the factors perceived to influence the success of biodiversity conservation, several stood out: Biodiversity-damaging subsidies, external economic interests competing with conservation goals or policies conflicting with biodiversity conservation were recognized as major factors for the lack of conservation success. Outreach to raise societal interest and awareness as well as stakeholder involvement were perceived as closely related to the success of programs. Our expert survey demonstrated that external factors from economy and policy often hinder success of conservation programs, while societal and environmental factors rather contribute to it. This study implies that conservation programs should be designed to be as inclusive as possible and provides a basis for developing a standardized methodology that explicitly considers indirect drivers from areas such as economy, policy and society.

Three-quarters of the planet’s land surface has been altered by humans, with consequences for animal ecology, movements and related ecosystem functioning. Species often occupy wide geographical ranges with contrasting human disturbance and environmental conditions, yet, limited data availability across species’ ranges has constrained our understanding of how human impact and resource availability jointly shape intraspecific variation of animal space use. Leveraging a unique dataset of 752 annual GPS movement trajectories from 370 brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) across the species’ range in Europe, we investigated the effects of human impact (i.e., human footprint index), resource availability, forest cover and disturbance, and area-based conservation measures on brown bear space use. We quantified space use at different spatio-temporal scales during the growing season (May - September): home range size; representing general space requirements, 10-day long-distance displacement distances, and routine 1-day displacement distances. We found large intraspecific variation in brown bear space use across all scales, which was profoundly affected by human footprint index, vegetation productivity, and recent forest disturbances creating opportunity for resource pulses. Bears occupied smaller home ranges and moved less in more anthropized landscapes and in areas of higher resource availability. Forest disturbances reduced space use while contiguous forest cover promoted longer daily movements. The amount of strictly protected and roadless areas within bear home ranges were too small to affect space use. Anthropized landscapes may hinder the expansion of small and isolated populations, such as the Apennine and Pyrenean, and obstruct population connectivity, for example between the Alpine or Carpathian with the Dinaric Pindos populations. Our findings call for actions to maintain bear movements across landscapes with high human footprint, for example by maintaining forest integrity, to support viable bear populations and their ecosystem functions.

The Mediterranean monk sealMonachusmonachusis one of the most endangered marine mammals on Earth. The species has made a notable recovery during the past 10 yr and is now considered Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Its global population comprises 3 subpopulations: 2 in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and one in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Global estimated abundance is 815-997 individuals, including 443-599 mature individuals; annual pup production averages 170.5. Over the past decade, increased research efforts have shed new light on various aspects of the species’ biology and life history, including habitat and habitat use, vital rates, communication and genetics. The main threats to the species are (1) terrestrial and marine habitat loss and degradation that has or is resulting in the occupation of unsuitable habitat and limited prey availability, (2) negative interactions with fisheries that result in accidental entanglement or deliberate killings in response to damages to catches and/or fishing gear, (3) unpredictable threats, including cave collapses and mass mortality events and (4) pollution. Priority conservation actions for the species include (1) strengthening the legal framework for the protection of the terrestrial and marine habitat of the species, (2) effective protection of the species and its terrestrial and marine habitat, (3) scientific population and habitat monitoring, (4) rescue and rehabilitation of injured, orphaned and sick pups to increase neonatal survival rates, (5) public awareness and education, (6) monitoring and mitigating negative seal-fishery interactions and (7) expansion of the species’ current geographic range in the Atlantic Ocean.