**2. Study area**

312 Modern Telemetry

Photo 7. Old inappropriate fence destroyed by bears highway crossings

Photo 8. New fence permeability problems due to inadequate standards

in response to the road as a disturbance factor in terms of :

• Potential differences in movement distance (mean and max)

The main objectives of the study were to investigate behavioral changes of the brown bears

• Habitat suitability conditions and status in relation to bear presence and activity.

(missing of the upper bent part)

• Potential changes in habitat use range

• Potential differences in movement patterns

The project area extends over almost 1000km2 of a mixed forest and agricultural ecosystem and is located in the north-western part of Greece, in Pindos mountain range. Of this area 43.23% are forests, 31.11% are meadows (pasture lands), 19.47% agricultural lands, whereas human settlements occupy 3.69% of the total area. Major forest vegetation types comprise oak (*Quercus sp*.), black Pine (*Pinus nigra*) and beech (*Fagus sp*.) (see photos 1 & 2). The area is characterized by a mosaic of dense forests, openings and small scale cultivations. Altitude ranges between 500m –2.200 m. Specific sampling pressure was given to the sector that was more directly influenced by the highway construction works and which covers a surface of 160 sq.km. This surface includes the total length of the highway segment (37 km) in a "buffer zone" of 2+2 km width. The current alignment of the newly constructed Egnatia Motorway (total length 670 km), which is one of the largest transportation infrastructures projects in Europe and part of the TENT, cuts through the study area over a 50km stretch. In the total study area the overall highway mitigation measures comprise: 20 tunnels (16.465 km), 12 bridges (2.84 km), 1 green bridge (50m), 7 wildlife underpasses, and 59 culverts have been placed thus mitigating about 38,6% of the 50 km highway segment. The wider study area extends over 5.229 km2 and there are 48.293 inhabitants (9.56 id/ km2).

Photo 9. and 10. Two different aspects of the study area: mixed coniferous and deciduous forests and oak forests with openings and small scale cultivations

Telemetry as a Tool to Study Spatial Behaviour and Patterns of

through internet every 8 hours via Televilt-Followit server.

alignment and especially in correlation to two main factors: - the disturbance related to the construction phase - the location of the different mitigation measures

males and females and for data collected on daytime or at night.

**3.2 Home range size** 

(Giannakopoulos et al. 2010).

summer and for females in summer.

phase affected:

species.

Brown Bears as Affected by the Newly Constructed Egnatia Highway – N. Pindos - Greece 315

Bears were fitted with Televilt/Followit Simplex, Tellus, Tellus GSM and Tensyx GPS collars with remote drop-offs. GPS collars were fitted with devices such as VHF transmitter, mortality -activity sensors and were programmed to record a location every 60 minutes. During the denning period we programmed each GPS-receiver to obtain a location fix twice a day. For Simplex and Tellus collars data were remotely downloaded from the ground four times monthly using a RX-900 Receiver (Televilt TVP Positioning AB, Lindesberg, Sweden). Tellus/GPS-GSM collars worked via cell phone coverage and data were downloaded

We calculated home ranges with Arc View 3.2.a and the Home Range Extension (A. R. Rodgers and A. P. Carr, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) using the minimum convex polygon (100%MCP), 95%MCP, Fixed Kernel method and 50% contours of activity for core areas (areas of high intensity of use). The 100% MCP estimates were used to facilitate comparisons between studies and regions. Fixed Kernel Method range analysis was performed because, in addition to estimating range size, it reveals range use patterns, using a smoothing factor determined by least squares cross validation (LSCV) (Seaman and Powell 1996). We ignored autocorrelation within the data because the data continued to exhibit a high degree of dependence even when using extended fix intervals (24 hr; e.g., Reynolds and Laundre´ 1990, Rooney et al. 1998, De Solla et al. 1999). We tested collars GPS accuracy in the field and the mean error was 30m

Data gathered from the aforementioned methods were mainly used to identify bear presence as well as bear movements patterns and spatial behavior versus the highway

(a) the dispersal ability, (b) preferences on habitat use and (c) distributional patterns of the

To estimate **potential changes in habitat use range** we estimated home range polygons (95% Kernel core area ). Additionally group home range estimates were based on home range size. We also calculated min distance of polygons from road using t-test and ANOVAs. Data were organized and grouped according to the sex of the individuals and the seasons. Adequate data to perform statistical analyses were found for males in spring and

The analysis was repeated for males and females and for data collected at different seasons To estimate **potential changes in movement distances** we analyzed day and night movement distances but also home ranges of each individual (estimated by using Kernel based methods) to examine whether the distance from the highway is an important indicator of the quality or quantity of brown bears activity levels. Mean and maximum moving distances according to the time of activity and distance from the highway were examined as well as variations in mean direction with respect to the distance from highway (angular analysis of point patterns). We used ANOVAs and the analysis was repeated for

**3.3 Habitat use – movement distances - movement patterns – habitat suitability**  More specifically data analyses were used in order to test whether the highway construction
