Context: Alpine ecosystems are among the environments most exposed to the effects of climate change. Rising temperatures and altered precipitation regimes are expected to pose increasing challenges to cold-adapted mountain ungulates. Although shifts in species distribution associated with climate warming have been widely documented, less is known about the fine-scale behavioural responses animals use to cope with short-term weather conditions. Understanding how cold-adapted mountain ungulates adjust their movements and habitat use is essential for assessing their capacity to cope with increasingly variable weather conditions in heterogeneous mountain landscapes.
Objectives: In this study, we investigated the influence of severe summer weather conditions on habitat selection and movement behaviour in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Specifically, we aimed to evaluate how temperature and precipitation affect altitudinal movements, topographic habitat selection, and movement patterns, with particular emphasis on thermoregulatory behaviour, shelter-seeking strategies, and the potential energetic consequences associated with behavioural adjustments.
Methods: We analysed high-resolution GPS telemetry data collected from 21 adult Alpine ibex monitored in the Swiss National Park. To quantify behavioural responses to environmental conditions, we used integrated step selection analyses (iSSA) to assess how movement decisions and habitat preferences varied in relation to meteorological variables and topographic features.
Results: Alpine ibex exhibited marked behavioural responses to short-term weather conditions. During warm conditions, individuals consistently shifted towards higher elevations and reduced their use of south-facing slopes, indicating behavioural thermoregulation. Conversely, intense precipitation events triggered downhill movements and increased selection for steep terrain, suggesting active shelter-seeking behaviour. In addition to these changes in habitat selection, movement patterns were also influenced by weather conditions. Both high temperatures and heavy precipitation were associated with longer and more variable movement distances, reflecting substantial altitudinal displacements between foraging areas, thermal refugia, and sheltered habitats. These behavioural responses likely increase locomotion costs and may therefore impose important energetic constraints. Our findings further highlight the critical role of landscape heterogeneity in providing cool microclimates at higher elevations and sheltered terrain during storms.
Conclusions: Alpine ibex display considerable behavioural flexibility in response to short-term weather conditions. However, these adaptive responses may come at a significant energetic cost, potentially affecting body condition, reproduction, and long-term fitness under increasingly frequent and intense climatic extremes. Conserving landscape connectivity across elevation gradients and maintaining access to sheltered lower-elevation areas may therefore be critical for the long-term persistence of ibex populations in increasingly variable alpine environments.