# Importance of scrub–pastureland mosaics for wild-living cats occurrence in a Mediterranean area: implications for the conservation of the wildcat (Felis silvestris)

> Is the European wildcat really a forest cat? By reading scats left as scent marks along 78 km of trails in central Spain, researchers found wild-living cats were more often linked to mosaics of scrubland and pasture than to forest. They argue that Mediterranean scrublands deserve a place in wildcat conservation.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2003-lozano-virgos-importance-scrub-pastureland-mosaics/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** J. Lozano, E. Virgós, A.F. Malo, D.L. Huertas and J.G. Casanovas
- **Year published:** 2003
- **Journal or source:** Biodiversity and Conservation
- **Full citation:** Lozano, J., Virgós, E., Malo, A.F., Huertas, D.L. and Casanovas, J.G. 2003. Importance of scrub–pastureland mosaics for wild-living cats occurrence in a Mediterranean area: implications for the conservation of the wildcat (Felis silvestris). Biodiversity and Conservation 12(5): 921–935.
- **DOI:** 10.1023/A:1022821708594
- **Access status:** Hosted (freely available elsewhere)
- **PDF:** https://www.originalwisdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/2003_Lozano_and_Virgos_etal_importance-of-scrub-pastureland-mosaics-for-wild-living-cats-occurrence.pdf

## Tags

- **Species:** Mammals > Domestic cat; Mammals > European rabbit; Mammals > European wildcat
- **Region:** Europe > Spain
- **Tracking:** Scat; Sign surveys; Tracking; Tracks and signs identification
- **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Habitat selection
- **Methods and technology:** Analysis of variance (ANOVA); Linear regression; Radio telemetry
- **Data type:** New field data
- **Observer qualification:** Not reported
- **Discipline:** Behaviour and ecology; Wildlife tracking
- **Year published:** 2003

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** Studied: “wild-living cats”, the authors’ term for wildcats (Felis silvestris), feral domestic cats (Felis catus) and their hybrids, which could not be told apart by their scats; the authors argue most scats were probably from wildcats. Prey index: rabbit (latrine counts; the paper does not give a scientific name in the text, Oryctolagus cuniculus appears only in a reference title). Scats told apart from: red fox (Vulpes vulpes), stone marten (Martes foina) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Caught in a trapping campaign: two wildcats, other predators including feral dogs, no domestic cats. Discussed but not studied: Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), rodents, coyote (Canis latrans).
- **Location and habitat:** Centre of the Iberian Peninsula, Madrid province, central Spain, around the Guadarrama mountain range; 78 one-kilometre trail surveys in a region of 2916 km², at 500 to 2000 m. Four vegetation types: Mediterranean plain vegetation (500–800 m; Holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest and scrubland of Cistus ladanifer and Retama sphaerocarpa, mainly used for game hunting); Mediterranean mountain vegetation (950–1050 m; similar, mainly cattle raising); deciduous Pyrenean oak (Q. pyrenaica) habitat (1250–1700 m; understory Cistus laurifolius and “Citysus” scoparius); mountain pine (Pinus sylvestris) habitat (1250–1800 m; little shrub cover, snow for several weeks). Mediterranean pines (Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea) and Juniperus oxycedrus also present.
- **Topics:** habitat selection at microhabitat and landscape scales; scrub–pastureland mosaics; scrubland versus forest; wildcat as a “forest species” assumption; wildcat and domestic cat hybridisation; scat middens as scent marking sites on trails; scat decay rates; rabbit abundance; shelter; wildcat conservation policy in Europe (Bern Convention, Council of Europe recommendations); scrubland removal for fire prevention and infrastructure; reforestation under the European Agricultural Policy.
- **Statistics or models:** Principal component analysis (PCA) reducing 14 habitat variables to five factors (73.7% of variance); forward stepwise multiple regression of the occurrence index on PCA factors and vegetation type (dummy variables); a comparison of the occurrence index across vegetation types (F3,74 = 1.46, P = 0.23); STATISTICA 5.0. Possible inconsistencies: (1) 33 surveys with cats × 2.43 scats per km gives about 80 scats, while the text reports 83 scats in total (83 ÷ 33 = 2.52); (2) the text defines the occurrence index as 0 to 5 segments per km, but Figure 3 shows values from 0 to 0.8, apparently as a proportion; (3) in Table 1 the factors are not in order of eigenvalue (factor 2: 1.42, factor 3: 1.73, factor 4: 2.93).
- **Data type:** New field data: scat and habitat surveys in autumns and springs, 1997 to 1999; a scat decay check on four trails monthly, March to August 1999; a trapping campaign (252 trap-nights over 45 km²) during the study period. Landscape variables from 1:50,000 land-use maps.

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

The European wildcat is threatened in Europe, and conservation advice for the species has focused on forests, based on studies from central and northern Europe. The authors tested whether this holds in the Mediterranean, where scrublands are widespread. They asked whether wildcats in central Spain are linked to forest and tree cover, or to scrubland and other open habitats.

- Scat surveys. Wildcats leave scats in conspicuous places on trails as scent marks. The team walked 78 one-kilometre stretches of trail, spread across four vegetation types, once each in autumn or spring between 1997 and 1999. Each kilometre was split into five 200 m sections, and the number of sections with cat scats (0 to 5) gave an occurrence index.

- Telling the scats apart. Scats were identified by size, colour, smell and contents, and by dry weight to separate them from fox scats. Wildcat and domestic cat scats could not be told apart reliably, so the authors used the term “wild-living cats”. They left out scats longer than 6.1 cm and narrower than 1.4 cm, which are very probably from feral cats.

- Habitat measures. Every 200 m they estimated tree, shrub, open ground and rock cover, tree height and a shelter index within 25 m, and counted rabbit latrines along short side transects. Around each trail (9 km²) they measured forest, pasture, cropland, scrubland and urban cover, watercourses, ruggedness and elevation from maps.

- Checks on the method. Four trails were cleared and resurveyed monthly for six months to see how often scats appear and how long they last. Two of these trails lay inside the home ranges of two radio-tracked wildcats.

### 2. What they found

- Cat scats were found on 33 of the 78 trail kilometres, 83 scats in all. Where cats were present, an average of 1.5 of the five sections had scats, and there were 2.43 scats per km.

- Occurrence did not differ significantly among the four vegetation types.

- On the regularly checked trails, new scats appeared at about 3.98 per km per month. Nine scats were found on one trail at the first visit, suggesting scats can last about three months before decaying.

- In a trapping campaign during the study, the team caught two wildcats and other predators, but no domestic cats.

- The model explained 13% of the variation. Cats were more likely where shrub cover and shelter were high at the microhabitat scale, and where the landscape was a mosaic of scrubland and pasture with abundant rabbits and watercourses.

- Cats were not linked to areas dominated by forest or tree cover.

### 3. What they concluded

- Wild-living cats in this Mediterranean area prefer scrub–pastureland mosaics to forest. Vegetation structure, probably through prey and shelter, matters more than vegetation type.

- Cats seem to need two kinds of patches: closed patches for resting and shelter, and open patches such as pasture for hunting. In central Europe forests are the only shelter left, but in the Mediterranean, scrubland can serve as both shelter and hunting ground.

- Scarcity of cats in mountain pine habitat is probably due to poor shrub cover rather than to the forest being coniferous, along with harsher climate and fewer prey.

- Unexplained variation may come from persecution, and from changes in Iberian lynx and rabbit numbers. Gamekeepers, shepherds and naturalists suggest wild-living cats have increased in the past two decades, but there are no data on this.

- Scat surveys are a quick, cost-efficient way to get baseline data on elusive, rare species.

### 4. How tracking was or was not used

The study rests on a sign survey: finding and identifying cat scats along trails, using size, colour, smell, contents and dry weight to separate them from those of red foxes, stone martens and dogs. Size limits were used to leave out probable feral cat scats. Rabbit abundance was also measured from signs, by counting rabbit latrines. No trailing was reported.

### 5. Tracker or observer certification

Not reported. The paper does not say who identified the scats or how their skill was checked, although all results depend on telling cat scats from those of other carnivores.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Radio-tracking of two wildcats, used to place two test trails inside known home ranges.

- A trapping campaign (252 trap-nights) to check whether domestic cats were present.

- Land-use maps with a 121-point grid to measure landscape cover around each trail.

### 7. Implications for conservation (from the paper)

- European guidance that focuses on forests and farmland may not suit the Mediterranean, which holds most of the wildcat’s European range.

- The authors recommend: (1) protecting scrub–pastureland mosaics, including some as European Community Interest Areas; (2) further studies of these habitats in other Mediterranean areas, including patch size and layout; (3) avoiding extensive removal of scrubland for fire prevention and infrastructure; and (4) managing landscapes to combine scrubland and pasture, and using the main shrub species in reforestation funded by the European Agricultural Policy.

### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations)

_These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._

- Scat surveys showed where cats live without catching a single animal, but the study also shows a limit of sign: wildcat and domestic cat scats could not be told apart, so the results describe “wild-living cats” rather than wildcats alone.

- Knowing an animal’s marking habits helps design a sign survey: because resident cats mark trails with scats, a single walk of each trail was judged enough to detect them.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: Importance of scrub–pastureland mosaics for wild-living cats occurrence in a Mediterranean area: implications for the conservation of the wildcat (Felis silvestris) (Lozano and Virgós et al., 2003). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2003-lozano-virgos-importance-scrub-pastureland-mosaics/