Habitat characteristics of European bison (Bison bonasus) in Ukraine

Beginning in the 1960s, restoration of the European bison (Bison bonasus) in Ukraine has resulted in seven herds with approximately 350 total individuals currently. For the first time, we describe characteristics of habitats used by these seven European bison herds located in forest, forest-steppe, and mountain zones of Ukraine. During the growing season across all ecological zones and herds, we observed variation in bison use of woodland and open habitats associated with temporal variation in landscape scale habitat characteristics. During winter across all ecological zones and herds, variation in habitat use declined dramatically with supplementary feeding that incentivized sedentary association with woodlands. Our descriptive field observations are intended to improve understanding of European bison landscape ecology and serve as a basis for additional quantitative investigations.

Automated summary

This study describes the characteristics of habitats used by European bison herds in Ukraine and indicates variations in habitat use during different seasons.