Landscape openness effect on roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, behavior. Analysis on activity level, movement rate and circadian rhythm across a landscape gradient.

Abstract

This PhD Thesis is focused on the analysis of activity and movement time budgets in an intensively monitored roe deer population in an agro-ecosystem of south-west France. In this study, we analyze the effect of landscape structure on animal behaviour by studying diurnal and nocturnal activity levels and movement rates and also observing the general pattern of circadian rhythm along a landscape gradient, from strict forest habitat to open agricultural plain. This study will provide advances in current understanding of the landscape openness effect on behaviour and moreover of activity rhythms and spatial ecology of the roe deer, the most numerous large wild herbivore in Europe.