Habitat preferences of European bison in contemporary European landscapes

Abstract Megafauna populations have been lost in many regions, and with them, their ecological roles. Restoring those species that have survived depends on understanding their habitat requirements in contemporary, human‐dominated landscapes. European bison ( Bison bonasus ), Europe's largest land mammal, today mostly occur in small and isolated populations across their former range. Existing habitat use studies have focused on only a few populations, with many entirely unstudied. As a result, what constitutes suitable European bison habitat in contemporary landscapes remains debated. To elucidate the habitat preferences of contemporary European bison populations, we used GPS tracking data from 244 individuals from 22 populations across Europe, constituting virtually all GPS tracking data from free‐ranging individuals. Our findings indicated that contemporary European bison inhabit a wide variety of landscapes. Habitat use varied across scales, with European bison selecting forested areas and avoiding open areas at the landscape scale. At the home‐range scale, forests were selected during the growing season, croplands were selected during the non‐growing season, and grasslands were not strongly selected in any season. Within forests, European bison selected younger and disturbed forests. Human influence strongly mediated habitat use. In areas with higher human influence, European bison used forests generally more and grasslands less during the day and more during the night. Feeding stations were widely used during the non‐growing season, but European bison still selected for croplands even in populations where feeding takes place. Synthesis and applications . We reveal considerable spatial and seasonal variation in European bison habitat use. Our assessment neither supports views that European bison are forest specialists nor that they are today restricted to forests. Instead, we show that the species can thrive in a wide range of landscapes, including human‐dominated ones, providing opportunities for restoring them more widely across their historical range. However, the strong selection for croplands during winter provides a challenge to coexistence and highlights the need for proactive measures to avoid or mitigate crop raiding. Reintroduction projects should, therefore, mainly focus on areas with low conflict potential rather than on restoring European bison to specific habitat types.