Holarctic Marmots as a factor of Biodiversity.
Rumiantsev V.Yu;, Nikol'skii A.A. & Brandler O.V. eds.,
Abstracts,
3d Conference on Marmots (Cheboksary, Russia, 25-30 August 1997),
Moscow ABF 1997, 216p., 61 (Russian), 165 (English)
HUMAN DISTURBANCE AND WILDLIFE :
ALPINE MARMOT'S CASE-PRELIMINARY RESULTS.
S. Louis, M. Le Berre
Laboratoire de Socioécologie et Conservation Bâtiment 403, UCBL1,
Villeurbanne Cédex, France
This study investigated the impact of hikers on the behaviour of marmots (Marmota marmota) during the summer 1996 at Aussois, France. The disturbed marmots' behaviour was compared to undisturbed one's. Only two aspect of the behaviour were significantly affected by the presence of human. Disturbed marmots foraging duration was significantly reduced, and they spend more time idle. All other behaviour were not significantly different. Marmots' behaviour was not deeply altered by human presence.
As many animal species, marmots seems to be very habituated to human presence on path. Spatial occupation strategy must be studied during the day to understand the mechanism allowing habituation.