Impact of infrastructure on habitat selection of wolverines Gulo gulo

Abstract Compared to the other northern large carnivores, wolverines Gulo gulo are thought to be the most sensitive species with regard to habitat changes and human disturbance. Nowadays wolverines in Scandinavia are found in remote high alpine areas, and we investigated whether human development through presence of infrastructure has relegated them to these areas. We analysed wolverine habitat selection and the impact of infrastructure in two study areas in Norway using compositional analysis. We found that alpine tundra with low human development was important for wolverines to locate their home ranges. Human development formed a more important factor for home range location than did habitat, because habitat selectivity was much higher in undeveloped habitats than in developed habitats. Within their home ranges, wolverines used alpine shrubland and forest, irrespective of human development. The sympatric distribution of wolverines with wild and semi‐domestic reindeer Rangifer tarandus indicates that wolverines are vulnerable to indirect loss of habitat. However, we hypothesise that wolverine distribution may be partly influenced by direct disturbance or higher risk of human‐caused mortality associated with infrastructure. Increased human development and activity in once remote areas may thus cause reduced ability of wolverines to perform their daily activities unimpeded, making the habitat less optimal or causing wolverines to avoid the disturbed area. Our results suggest that the potential exists for further wolverine recovery in forest ecosystems with low levels of infrastructural development.