Tom Diserens

The aim of my PhD is to find out whether wolves regulate mesocarnivore (species like the fox and badger) behaviours, spatial distributions and temporal activity patterns in European anthropogenic landscapes. Studies from natural areas with low human impact clearly show that mesocarnivore communities are affected by large carnivores. However, Europe differs from these better studied systems in many ways, particularly because it has different animal communities and has been heavily transformed by human activity. Both of these factors can significantly affect the functioning of large carnivores thus changing their ecological role in ecosystems. Wolf populations are now recovering across Europe ‒ but, we know very little about the effect wolves will have on our ecosystems. To help fill this knowledge gap we will carry out extensive field work with camera traps in four intensively managed woodlands near cities in Mazowsze, Poland. We will then use the collected data to help us understand how wolves and mesocarnivores interact with one another in European anthropogenic landscapes.