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Additional file 1. Results of non-genetic model selection.

In 1988 and 1989, we captured 74 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the Chizé National Reserve in France and transferred them to the Monts de Vaucluse. Thirteen individuals were followed by radio-tracking during two years. The study area, a supramediterranean habitat dominated by Quercus humilis and Quercus ilex covered 40,000 ha. The instrumented deer were located daily during the three first months, the longest time required to settle on a home range, and once a week thereafter. These data allowed us to calculate survival rates and size of home ranges. The mean survival rate during the first year after the introduction was 85 %. Except for one adult male and one adult female, all radio-equipped deer established their home range within 3 km of the release site. The time required for definitive establishment on a home range varied from 45 to 85 days after release. The mean area prospected before settling on a home range was greater for adults (n = 5) than for juveniles (n = 6) (2,240 ha vs. 478 ha). Conversely, the mean home range size after the period of prospection was greater for juveniles (n = 6) than for adults (n = 4) (823 ha vs. 342 ha). If capture, transport and release are carried out under good conditions, the roe deer can adapt to the Mediterranean climate and habitat., Soixante-quatorze chevreuils (Capreolus capreolus) originaires de la Réserve nationale de chasse et de faune sauvage de Chizé (département des Deux-Sèvres, France) ont été lâchés dans les monts de Vaucluse (département de Vaucluse, France) en 1988 et 1989. Treize d’entre eux ont été suivis par radiopistage au cours de deux années consécutives. La zone d’étude, d’une superficie de 40 000 hectares est caractérisée par un milieu supraméditerranéen (Quercus humilis et Quercus ilex). Le radiopistage des chevreuils, quotidien au cours des 3 premiers mois puis hebdomadaire par la suite, a permis de contrôler leur survie et leur stratégie d’installation. Le taux de survie pendant la première année suivant le lâcher a été de 85 %. A part un mâle et une femelle adultes, le rayon d’installation est inférieur à 3 km. La période de stabilisation est intervenue entre le 45e et le 85e jour après le lâcher. La surface moyenne des domaines de prospection des adultes avec 2 240 ha (n = 5) est supérieure à celle des jeunes avec 478 ha (n = 6). Inversement la surface moyenne des domaines vitaux annuels stabilisés est plus grande pour les jeunes avec 823 ha (n = 6) que pour les adultes 342 ha (n = 4). Lorsque la capture, le transport et le lâcher ont lieu dans de bonnes conditions, le milieu et le climat méditerranéens ne semblent pas être un frein à l’adaptation du chevreuil., Maillard Daniel,Gaudin Jean-Charles,Reudet Denis,Boutin Jean-Marie. Acclimatation du Chevreuil (Capreolus Capreolus L.) introduit en milieu supraméditerranéen et son occupation de l’espace. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 54, n°3, 1999. pp. 253-267.

A first regional survey of the occurrence of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) in mediterranean habitat was performed in 1987 in 12 french departments. These departments have been selected for according to vegetation maps. The aim of this survey was to identify the geographic distribution of roe in these areas and to describe the habitat used. According to the high heterogeneity of ecological conditions at the regional scale, the municipality level has been retained as sample units. To date, first results have indicated that about one third of the municipalities were occupied by roe deer and that a negative relationship occurred between a mediterranean index (IM) and the percentage of occurrence by roe at the department level. In 1994, a similar survey was performed again. We found that two thirds of municipalities were now colonized, leading to a 28 % of increase within 7 years. The colonization process was evident for half the departments despite the negative effect of mediterranean index remained marked. In the other half of the departments, only municipalities characterized by a low mediterranean index were colonized, the situation being stationary for municipalities with marked mediterranean context. This study suggests that the colonization of areas with marked mediterranean characteristics will not be possible for roe deer in the future. Despite the high ecological plasticity of roe deer, limiting factors like summer droughts would act too strongly to allow roe deer to colonize the most mediterranean areas., Une première enquête régionale, basée sur l’absence ou la présence du chevreuil (Capreolus capreolus L.), a été réalisée en 1987 sur 12 départements méditerranéens français. Ces derniers ont été sélectionnés en fonction de l’existence de séries de végétation méditerranéennes. Les objectifs étaient de caractériser la répartition géographique de l’espèce et de décrire les milieux fréquentés. Compte tenu de la forte variabilité régionale des conditions écologiques rencontrées à l’échelle de ces zones, la «commune administrative » a été retenue comme unité d’échantillonnage. Par ailleurs et pour des raisons d’homogénéité, la végétation a été choisie comme indicateur biologique. A cette date, les résultats ont permis de constater qu’un tiers des communes étaient colonisées et qu’une corrélation négative entre l’indice de méditerranéité (I.M.) de chaque département et le taux d’occupation départemental par l’espèce était significative. En 1994, une enquête similaire a été renouvelée, laissant apparaître que 2/3 des communes sont dès lors colonisées, représentant une augmentation de 28 % en sept années. Le processus de colonisation est effectif pour la moitié des départements malgré l’effet négatif de l’indice de méditerranéité qui reste marqué. Par contre, dans l’autre moitié des départements, seules les communes à faible degré de méditerranéité ont été colonisées depuis 1987. Pour les autres, la situation est restée stationnaire (pas de chevreuil). Cette étude suggère que la colonisation par le chevreuil des zones fortement méditerranéennes restera impossible dans le futur. Malgré la grande plasticité écologique de cette espèce, l’impact des facteurs limitants comme la sécheresse estivale devrait être trop fort pour permettre au chevreuil de coloniser les zones les plus méditerranéennes., Gaudin Jean-Charles,Maillard Daniel,Gaillard Jean-michel. Colonisation par le chevreuil (Capreolus capreolus L.) de la zone méditerranéenne française. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 52, n°2, 1997. pp. 113-122.

The aim of this study was to describe the diet habitat of a mountain ungulate species: Capra i. ibex through the vegetation characteristics. The sub-alpine vegetation is composed by a great number of species that forms a heterogeneous cover. This cover constitutes a great variable diet resource for ibex. An analysis for all species forming the plant cover was impossible, as there are 91 determined species. Moreover there is only a relative knowledge of the diet selection of the ibex in the study site, so the approach is to assess nutritional quality of the plant cover as a whole through it chemical composition. Plant samples from various places throughout the study zone were collected during 2 years, resulting in nearly 500 samples. Samples were dried, ground and spectra in diffuse reflectance were measured on a FOSS NIRSystem 6500 spectrometer in small ring cups. Chemical analysis of samples was performed on 150-200 samples selected for their spectral representativeness of the whole database: the parameters measured were Crude Protein (CP), Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (OMD). Calibration equations were built after mathematical pre-processing of data (SNV and detrend with 2nd derivative of spectra). Partial Least Squares regression (modified PLS in WINISI software) was found to be the most efficient method for calibrations. General equations had SECV values of 0.52% for CP, 1.37% for ADL and 2.73% for OMD, leading to RPD (=SD/SECV) values of 7.7, 6.1 and 5.2 respectively. However the choice of computing general equations can be questioned since plant covers can be roughly split into 2 categories: herbaceous (HB) or shrubby (SH), which differ strongly in term of chemical composition and nutritional value. Therefore it was decided to test different equations for each of these categories. Samples were affected to a category on the basis of their known botanical composition. However a part of samples could not be classified a priori. Therefore a Factorial Discriminant Analysis was performed on spectral data for samples of known category, and the equation was applied to unknown samples to classify them. Then calibrations were run for HB and SH subsets. SECV values for CP, ADL and OMD were respectively 0.50%, 1.43%, 3.43% for HB and 0.44%, 1.30%, 2.42% for SH. The conclusion of this study is that NIRS analysis was an efficient tool to predict the composition of our heterogeneous plant databases. NIR spectra were also useful for sample classification. Moreover the splitting of databases into different categories did not improve predictions, which suggests to keep the use of a general database.

The difficulty of direct observation and the protected status of some mountain wild and domestic ungulate species (Capra i. ibex (CI), Rupicapra rupicapra (RR) , Ovies aries (OA)) confer to faecal analyses a great advantage in the study of foraging strategies, as chemical composition of faeces can provide information on quality and quantity of animal feed intake. However the weight of a sample is sometimes too low to allow reference chemical analyses. In the framework of a study on ungulate nutrition in the French Alps, a total 233 faeces samples was collected; most of them from CI (191 samples) and some of RR (10) and OA (31). Only 24 samples reached the weight required for chemical analysis, which did not allow to build a NIRS calibration. So it was decided to apply the following procedure: 1/ take the spectra of all samples, 2/ mix some of the samples in order to get sufficient quantity for analysis, 3/ build a calibration by gathering data on these mixes + the 24 individual samples, 4/ apply this calibration to all samples. All 233 samples were dried, ground and spectra in diffuse reflectance were measured on a FOSS NIRSystem 6500 spectrometer in ring cups. A hierarchical classification (non supervised) of samples was performed on the basis of spectral data. Faeces within groups were mixed. This procedure ensured to maintain a high variability in the calibration database. Then chemical analyses were performed on 54 samples: the parameters measured were Mineral Matter (MM), Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fibre (CF), Van Soest fibre fractions (NDF, ADF, ADL). A first important feature was to test if the mixed samples represented well the total population. A Principal Component Analysis was performed on the calibration database, and the spectra of all (233) individual samples were projected on the principal component axes. Only 12% of samples from CI had Mahalanobis (H) distance greater than 3. This confirmed that the selection of analysed samples was representative. Then calibrations equations were built for chemical components with PLS (partial least square) regression. SECV obtained were 0.84%, 0.48%, 1.27%, 1.86%, 1.84%, 1.31% respectively for MM, CP, CF, NDF, ADF and ADL. These results allowed the prediction of the chemical composition of the whole database. The conclusion of this study is that the strategy of mixing samples with a procedure ensuring the minimal loss of variability can help to overcome problems of insufficient quantity of matter for chemical analysis. In the present study, the use of this strategy allowed to have a complete chemical profile on all samples collected. An additional benefit was the lower analytical cost compared to a reference analysis of all samples.

Peu d'études se sont portées sur la population d'éléphants du Parc Régional du W, en Afrique de l'Ouest (Bénin, Burkina Faso et Niger), et c'était dans une perspective essentiellement nationale plutôt que transfrontalière. Pendant quatre mois, d'avril à juillet 2004, deux femelles éléphants ont été équipées de colliers radio pour connaître leurs déplacements transfrontaliers. Cela a permis de rapporter 556 localisations. La taille des domaines vitaux calculée par la méthode de Kernel 95% a été estimée à 2.572 km2 pour l'une et 1.970 km2 pour l'autre. Les espaces vitaux des deux femelles se recouvraient fortement et elles étaient étroitement associées pendant la période concernée. Les déplacements des animaux du Niger vers la partie centrale du parc (au Burkina Faso) en passant par le nord du Bénin ont été observés au début de la saison des pluies, le long de la rivière Mekrou. Il faudrait encourager des études régionales et l'adoption de pratiques de gestion transfrontalière pour permettre à cette grande population restante d'éléphants de se maintenir.

Radiotracking of two roe deer Capreolus capreolus (1 female, 1 male) in a Mediterranean habitat (Matorrals) with a detailed analysis of the vegetation showed that within their annual home range the deers selected particular habitat types, according to the season. The northern slope was preferred by both animals. Comparatively to female, male had a larger annual home range (150 ha vs. 130 ha), composed of more widely scattered sites of preferred use in more seasonal vs variable habitat types. Habitat selection in different seasons was affected by several factors: i) in all seasons, abundance of Rubus ulmifolius and Rosa ssp., ii) strong winds, especially in winter, that caused the male to move to southern slope, iii) disturbance by hunting dogs in autumn that forced deers into one or two refuge zones, iv) aspect of deer biology, such as territory marking by the male and giving birth by the female, which modified not only behaviour but also use of space.