Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation‐related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications.

Context: The Mediterranean basin is characterized by a heterogeneous landscape historically shaped by human activities. Land abandonment and extensive monocultures, however, have led to increasing homogeneity of Mediterranean habitats. Albeit the effects of habitat heterogeneity on wildlife have been widely studied, the available information on how habitat homogenization impacts the organization of mesocarnivore communities is still scant. Objectives: We investigated the relationship of environmental characteristics with occupancy, activity, community organization, and co-occurrence of mesocarnivore species in space and time. We focused on five key species (Vulpes vulpes, Genetta genetta, Meles meles, Herpestes ichneumon, and Martes foina) widely distributed throughout Mediterranean ecosystems. Methods: The study was conducted in north-central Portugal between June 2019 and June 2020. We used 300 camera trap sampling points coupled with occupancy, activity, and co-occurrence analysis to assess how different environmental characteristics influence mesocarnivores community. Results: We found that the occupancy of mesocarnivores is influenced by topography, landscape composition and structure, and human activity. We observed that landscape homogeneity limits the co-occurrence of mesocarnivores. In heterogeneous landscapes we recorded a greater overlap in activity (seven of ten species pairs) and spatial co-occurrence (six of the seven species pairs analyzed) of mesocarnivores species. Conclusions: We demonstrated the importance of landscape characteristics in the composition of the mesocarnivores community. Our findings support the adoption of management measures able to mitigate the impacts of landscape homogenization. Maximizing the heterogeneity is an important step to benefit the mesocarnivore community in altered Iberian landscapes.

Free-roaming cats and dogs impact biodiversity, public health, and the welfare of other animals. Attitudes towards free-roaming animals can influence their population dynamics and management success. We conducted an online survey to evaluate social perceptions and attitudes towards free-roaming animals among self-selected Portuguese residents aged 18 or older with internet access. The survey focused on responsible ownership, perceptions and attitudes, and management practices, and allowed the collection and analysis of 1083 responses (607 for dogs and 476 for cats). Our results identified needs for improvement in pet ownership: increasing pet cat identification, reducing unsupervised outdoor access, and promoting pet dog sterilization. In terms of management strategies, we found strong support for trap–neuter–release, sheltering, sanctions on abandonment, and educational campaigns. We also found limited support for lethal control methods and fear of culling and long-term caging as barriers to reporting free-roaming animals. While our findings are based on a self-selected online sample, they establish a foundation for future research while also offering valuable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders.

Within the Felidae family, the temporal activity patterns of large species have been widely studied (e.g., ^{Harmsen et al., 2009}, ²⁰¹¹; ^{Foster et al., 2013}; ^{Balme et al., 2019}; ^{Rafiq et al., 2020}). Some of these studies have demonstrated the existence of different patterns among large felids with species-specific alterations in response to different factors, such as human presence (^{Gaynor et al., 2018}), seasonality (^{Podolski et al., 2013}), and the presence of prey and/or competitors in the environment (^{Foster et al., 2013}). In contrast, such temporal activity patterns are not available for many species of smaller cats (<10 kg) due to the lack of studies (^{Macdonald & Loveridge, 2010}). Therefore, researches become important to identify the patterns observed in these species and to evaluate how they respond to local conditions and pressures.

Sarcoptic mange, a widespread and highly contagious disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei mites, affects a wide range of mammals, including the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ). Being a zoonosis, mange can be considered a potential public health issue, of conservation relevance, as many wildlife species are susceptible to mite infection, with impacts on individuals’ fitness and populations’ viability. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and investigate the factors associated with the occurrence of sarcoptic mange compatible lesions in red fox populations in Portugal. Using camera trap datasets and a Generalized Linear Mixed Effects Models (GLMM) approach, we inspected images of foxes for probable signs of mange and tested hypotheses related to ecological and environmental drivers of disease occurrence: climate conditions, land use composition and structure, host community abundance, soil composition, and altitude. Our results showed that 2.9% ( N = 75) of examined photos had mange-compatible lesions. Annual mean precipitation, as well as primary productivity (NDVI), and wild mammal diversity (Shannon-Wiener index) were significantly associated with mange occurrence. We hypothesise that areas with higher precipitation promote higher survival of mites outside their hosts, while higher productivity and diversity of mammals promote direct and indirect opportunities for mite transmission. Altitude exhibited a negative correlation with disease occurrence, suggesting that higher altitude regions, with lower abundance/diversity of mammals, provide less suitable conditions for mite transmission. Our study highlights the complex interactions between environmental and biotic variables and their effect on mange dynamics, providing insightful new data that can inform monitoring and wildlife conservation strategies, thereby enhancing ecosystem resilience.