associate professor University of Seoul, Republic of Korea
Background/Question/Methods
Ecological corridors were introduced as urban green spaces in response to the fragmentation of wildlife habitats caused by urban development. These are used as walking trails for urban residents; therefore, concerns have been raised about their ecological effectiveness. This study assessed the right of action and status of use of ecological corridors were identified for Meles meles (European badger) living in ecological corridors that were created within the urban ecosystem. Unmanned sensor cameras were installed in ten ecological corridors for seven months to identify the ecological corridors with Meles meles usage rates. From April to June 2020, Meles meles were captured on traps installed on three ecological corridors. Specimens were caught on April 8, 2020(n = 1) April 16, 2020(n = 1), and May 27, 2020(n = 2). One Lotek Litetrack40, one WT-300, and two Telepuppy remote wireless tracking devices were prepared and attached to the captured animals. The Minimum Convex Polygon(MCP) was used to analyze the size of the sphere of action of Meles meles based on the location information collected by the receiver. In addition, Kernal Density(KD) analysis was used. Areas with a high frequency of occurrence and core habitats were identified via KD95% and KD50% analyses, respectively.
Results/Conclusions
In total, 206 points were received from the three types of remote wireless tracking. The right of action was analyzed based on these points. The MCP, KD95%, and KD50% were 1.25, 0.31, and 0.002 km2, respectively. In addition, the number of appearances by time period, was analyzed. This confirmed that activity began at 19:00 and animals were most active at 23:00. Furthermore, the frequency of occurrence by location data revealed 20% and 80% utilization rates in ecological corridors and urban green spaces, respectively. Meles meles moved through 2-3 ecological corridors during the night. In addition, the frequent use of urban green spaces located nearby was recorded. These results indicate that Meles meles are actively utilizing the ecological corridors created within the urban ecosystem. Moreover, they confirm that urban green spaces can serve as habitats for this species. This study is significant because it identifies the behavioral characteristics of Meles meles living in urban ecosystems and verifies the effectiveness of ecological corridors. This work was conducted with the support of the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through its Urban Ecological Health Promotion Technology Development Project, and funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (2019002770001)
