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Wildlife population changes across Eastern Europe after the collapse of socialism
Author(s) -
Bragina Eugenia V,
Ives Anthony R,
Pidgeon Anna M,
Balčiauskas Linas,
Csányi Sándor,
Khoyetskyy Pavlo,
Kysucká Katarina,
Lieskovsky Juraj,
Ozolins Janis,
Randveer Tiit,
Štych Přemysl,
Volokh Anatoliy,
Zhelev Chavdar,
Ziółkowska Elzbieta,
Radeloff Volker C
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.1770
Subject(s) - capreolus , wildlife , geography , ursus , population , roe deer , population growth , ecology , wild boar , poaching , canis , biology , demography , sociology
When political regimes fall, economic conditions change and wildlife protection can be undermined. Eastern European countries experienced turmoil following the collapse of socialism in the early 1990s, raising the question of how wildlife was affected. We show that the aftermath of the collapse changed the population growth rates of various wildlife taxa. We analyzed populations of moose ( Alces alces ), wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ), roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), brown bear ( Ursus arctos ), Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ), and gray wolf ( Canis lupus ) in nine countries. Population growth rates changed in 32 out of 49 time series. In the countries that reformed slowly, many species exhibited rapid population declines, and population growth rates changed in 83% of the time series. In contrast, in countries with fast post‐socialism reforms, many populations increased rapidly, and growth rates changed in only 48% of time series. Our results suggest that the direction and frequency of the changes were associated with socioeconomic conditions, and that wildlife populations can be greatly affected by socioeconomic upheavals.