Abstract
The food habits of the endangered Italian hare have not received adequate attention from researchers. In this study, the diet composition of this species and its seasonal variation were assessed by analysing faecal pellets in a semi-natural landscape in the south of Italy. The results showed that hares feed on 62 species of plants during the year, with a conspicuous presence of herbaceous ones (e.g., Trifolium pratense, Brachypodiumsylvaticum, Festucaarundinacea) as these occurred at high frequencies in most of the faecal samples. In spring, diet composition was characterised by a high percentage of Graminaceae (>37%). In the other seasons, hares also included fruits (e.g., Prunus spinosa, Pyrus piraster, Malus sylvestris), which, in autumn, accounted for >27%. There were significant differences among seasons (p<0.001) in terms of Margalef’s richness, Shannon diversity, and Buzas and Gibson’s evenness. The smallest values of richness and diversity were observed in spring. Dietary overlap was low between spring and the other seasons; conversely, there was substantial overlap (>70%) in the diets during the other seasons with a more pronounced similarity between summer and autumn (Sørensen, Cs=0.80; Morisita-Horn, CMH=0.73).
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank President R. Lombardi and Director M. De Lorenzo at the regional park “Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane” for their support.
References
Angelici, F.M., E. Randi, F. Riga and V. Trocchi. 2008. Lepus corsicanus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 17 July, 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Baumgartner, L.L. and A.C. Martin. 1939. Plant histology as an aid in squirrel food-habits studies. J. Wildl. Manage. 3: 266–268.10.2307/3796113Search in Google Scholar
Belovsky, G.E. 1978. Diet optimization in a generalist herbivore: the moose. Theor. Popul. Biol. 4: 105–134.10.1016/0040-5809(78)90007-2Search in Google Scholar
Bryant, J.P., P.B. Reichardt and T.P. Clausen. 1992. Chemically mediated interactions between woody plants and browsing mammals. J. Range Manage. 45: 18–24.10.2307/4002520Search in Google Scholar
Buzas, M.A. and T.G. Gibson. 1969. Species diversity: benthic foranimifera in western North Atlantic. Science 163: 72–75.10.1126/science.163.3862.72Search in Google Scholar PubMed
Calaciura, B. and O. Spinelli. 2008. Management of Natura 2000 habitats. 6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (*important orchid sites). European Commission, Technical Report 12/24.Search in Google Scholar
Chapuis, J.L. 1990. Comparison of the diets of two sympatric lagomorphs, Lepus europaeus (Pallas) and Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.) in an agroecosystem of the Ile-de-France. Z. Saügertierkunde 55: 176–185.Search in Google Scholar
Conti, F., G. Abbate, A. Alessandrini and C. Blasi. 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora. Palombi Editori, Rome, Italy.Search in Google Scholar
De Battisti, R., S. Migliore, L. Masutti and V. Trocchi. 2004. The diet of the Italian hare Lepus corsicanus on Etna Mountain, Sicily. In: Abstract Book of the 2nd World Lagomorph Conference. University of Porto, Portugal, pp. 157.Search in Google Scholar
Dingerkus, S.K. and W.I. Montgomery. 2001. The diet and landclass affinities of the Irish hare Lepus timidus hibernicus. J. Zool. Lond. 253: 233–240.10.1017/S0952836901000206Search in Google Scholar
Dusi, J.L. 1949. Methods for the determination of food habits by plant microtechniques and histology and their application to cottontail rabbit food habits. J. Wildl. Manage. 13: 295–298.10.2307/3795871Search in Google Scholar
Freschi, P., S. Fascetti, C. Rugge, A. Blasi, V. Trocchi and C. Cosentino. 2011. Study of Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) in different habitats of southern Apennines in Basilicata region. I. Floristic composition of diet. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 10: 124.Search in Google Scholar
Freschi, P., M. Musto, G. Potenza, C. Cosentino, R. Paolino, A.C. Blasi and A.R. Rivelli. 2012. Pascolamento e stato di conservazione degli habitat nei siti di interesse comunitario (SIC) di Rete Natura 2000 della Basilicata. Acta Italus Hortus 7: 90–93 (in Italian).Search in Google Scholar
Freschi, P., S. Fascetti, M. Musto, E. Mallia, A.C. Blasi, C. Cosentino and R. Paolino. 2014. Diet of the Apennine hare in a southern Italy Regional Park. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. DOI: 10.1007/s10344-014-0799-y.10.1007/s10344-014-0799-ySearch in Google Scholar
Frylestam, B. 1986. Agricultural land use effects on the winter diet of Brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas) in southern Sweden. Mammal. Rev. 16: 157–161.10.1111/j.1365-2907.1986.tb00037.xSearch in Google Scholar
Green, K., N.E. Davis, W.A. Robinson, J. McAuliffe and R.B. Good. 2013. Diet selection by European hares (Lepuseuropaeus) in the alpine zone of the Snowy Mountains, Australia. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 59: 693–703.Search in Google Scholar
Guarrera, P.M. 1999. Traditional antihelmintic, antiparasitic and repellent uses of plants in Central Italy. J. Ethnopharmacol. 68: 183–192.Search in Google Scholar
Hiltunen, M. 2003. Feeding intensity of mountain hares (Lepus timidus) during winter in Finland. Mamm. Biol. 68: 48–52.10.1078/1616-5047-00061Search in Google Scholar
Hjalten, J., K. Danell and L. Ericson. 2004. Hare and vole browsing preferences during winter. Acta Theriol. 49: 53–62.10.1007/BF03192508Search in Google Scholar
Holechek, J., Vavra, M. and R. Pieper. 1982. Botanical composition determination of range herbivore diets: a review. J. Range Manag. 35: 309–315.10.2307/3898308Search in Google Scholar
Homolka, M. 1982. The food of Lepus europaeus in a meadow and woodland complex. Folia Zool. 31: 243–253.Search in Google Scholar
Johnson, R.D. and J.E. Anderson. 1984. Diets of black-tailed jackrabbits in relation to population density and vegetation. J. Range Manage. 37: 79–83.10.2307/3898830Search in Google Scholar
Kontsiotis V.J., A.C. Tsiompanoudis and D.E. Bakaloudis. 2011. The influence of habitat structure on the European brown hare Lepus europaeus food habits in mountainous areas of northern Greece. Mammalia 75: 389–394.10.1515/MAMM.2011.050Search in Google Scholar
Langton, R.W. 1982. Diet overlap between the Atlantic cod Gadusmorhua, silver hake, Merlucciusbilinearis and fifteen other northwest Atlantic finfish. Bull. U.S. 80: 745–759.Search in Google Scholar
Lorenzo, C., A. Carrillo-Reyes, M. Gómez-Sánchez, A. Velázquez and E. Espinoza. 2011. Diet of the endangered Tehuantepec jackrabbit, Lepus flavigularis. Therya 2: 67–76.Search in Google Scholar
Maia, M., Rego, F. and F.S. Machado. 2003. Determining optimal sampling schemes to study red deer diets by fecal analysis. Silva Lusit. 11: 91–99.Search in Google Scholar
Margalef, R. 1958. Information theory in ecology. Gen. Syst. 3: 36–71.Search in Google Scholar
Morisita, M. 1959. Measuring of interspecific association and similarity between communities. Mem. Fac. Sci. Kyushu Univ. Ser. E (Biol.) 3: 65–80.Search in Google Scholar
Paupério J. and P.C. Alves (2008). Diet of the Iberian hare (Lepusgranatensis) in a mountain ecosystem. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 54: 571–579.Search in Google Scholar
Puig, S., F. Videla, M.I. Cona and S.A. Monge. 2006. Diet of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus) and food availability in northern Patagonia (Mendoza, Argentina). Mam. Biol. 72: 240–250.Search in Google Scholar
Pulliainen, E. and P. Tunkkari. 1987. Winter diet, habitat selection and fluctuation of a mountain hare population Lepus timidus, in Finnish Forest Lapland. Holarct. Ecol. 10: 261–267.Search in Google Scholar
Rödel, H.G., W. Völkl and H. Kilias. 2004. Winter browsing of brown hares: evidence for diet breadth expansion. Mamm. Biol. 69: 410–419.10.1078/1616-5047-00163Search in Google Scholar
Shannon, C.E. and W. Weaver. 1949. The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Champaign, IL.Search in Google Scholar
Soffar, S.A. and G.M. Mokhtar. 1991. Evaluation of the antiparasitic effect of aqueous garlic (Allium sativum) extract in hymenolepiasis nana and giardiasis. J. Egypt Soc. Parasitol. 21: 497–502.Search in Google Scholar
Sørensen, T.A. 1948. A method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species content, and its application to analyses of the vegetation on Danish commons. K. Dan. Vidensk. Selskab. Biol. Skrift. 5: 1–34.Search in Google Scholar
Tangney, D., J. Fairley and G. O’Donnell. 1995. Food of Irish hares Lepus timidus hibernicus in western Connemara, Ireland. Acta Theriol. 40: 403–413.Search in Google Scholar
Trocchi, V. and F. Riga. 2001. Italian action plan for the Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus). Min. Ambiente-INFS, Quad. Cons. Natura 9 (in Italian).Search in Google Scholar
Trocchi, V. and F. Riga. 2005. I Lagomorfi in Italia. Linee guida per la conservazione e gestione. Min. Politiche Agricole e Forestali – INFN, Documenti Tecnici 25: 1–128 (in Italian).Search in Google Scholar
Uresk, D.W. 1978. Diets of the black-tailed hare in steppe vegetation. J. Range Manage. 31: 439–442.10.2307/3897202Search in Google Scholar
Van Soest, P.J. 1982. Nutritional ecology of the ruminant. O and B Books, Corvallis, OR.Search in Google Scholar
Waller, P.J., G. Bernes, S.M. Thamsborg, A. Sukura, S.H. Richter, K. Ingebrigtsen and J. Höglund. 2001. Plants as de-worming agents of livestock in the Nordic countries: historical perspective, popular beliefs and prospects from the future. Acta Vet. Scand. 42: 31–44.Search in Google Scholar
Westoby, M. 1974. An analysis of diet selection by large generalist herbivores. Am. Nat. 108: 290–304.10.1086/282908Search in Google Scholar
Wolfe, A., J. Whelan and T.J. Hayden. 1996. The diet of mountain hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) on coastal grassland. J. Zool. Lond. 240: 804–810.10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05327.xSearch in Google Scholar
Wray, S. 1992. The ecology and management of European hares (Lepus europaeus) in commercial coniferous forestry. PhD Thesis. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Bristol, UK.Search in Google Scholar
©2015 by De Gruyter
