Aim  To analyse the biogeographical patterns in the feeding habits and trophic diversity of prey of the wildcat, Felis silvestris Schreber. Location  The Eurasian distribution range from the Caucasian mountains to the Iberian Peninsula and Scotland. Methods  We reviewed 15 studies to collate data on feeding behaviour across the current wildcat distribution range. We considered nine prey groups and recorded the latitude, whether the location was within a Mediterranean bioclimate area, and rabbit presence. Prey groups were reduced into four PCA factors. Regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships of latitude with PCA factors and trophic diversity. anova was used to test if trophic diversity was higher at locations with Mediterranean climates. We also analysed the relationship between small rodent consumption and both Mediterranean climates and rabbit presence using anova. Finally, we confirmed the relationship between the frequency of Murinae and Microtinae in the diets and the presence of rabbits and with respect to Mediterranean climates controlling for latitude (mancova). Results  Diet diversity was greatest in Mediterranean climates. Trophic diversity decreased when rodents formed the bulk of the diet, but increased with the inclusion of alternative prey such as rabbits and invertebrates. Small rodent consumption was also negatively related to rabbit consumption or presence. The inclusion of Murinae and Microtinae in the diet varied with latitude, with higher ingestion of the former in the southern locations and of the latter in northern areas. Main conclusions  The trophic diversity of the wildcat diet was associated with Mediterranean climatic conditions, being broader at more southern latitudes. At the continental scale, the wildcat cannot be considered a rodent specialist because rabbits were preferred when they were present. Thus, we consider the wildcat to be a facultative specialist. In addition, our results indicate that general trophic patterns in the diet of a species may not be accurately determined if the availability of alternative prey is not taken into account.

Introduced vertebrate predators are one of the most important threats to endemic species throughout a range of ecosystems, in particular on islands in biodiversity hot spots. Consequently, the reduction of predator numbers is considered a key conservation action in the management of many native vertebrates vulnerable to predators. It is now established that control attempts may affect non-target species through trophic interactions, but little is known concerning their consequences on competitive relationships. We study a mathematical model mimicking the effects of controlling introduced species in the presence of their competitors.We used two competing rodents to illustrate our study: black rats, Rattus rattus, and mice, Mus musculus. Analyses of the model show that control of only one introduced species logically results in the dramatic increase of the overlooked competitor. We present empirical data that confirm our theoretical predictions. Less intuitively, this process, which we term 'the competitor release effect', may also occur when both introduced competitors are simultaneously controlled. In our setting, controlling both predators can promote their coexistence. This occurs as soon as the inferior competitor benefits from the differential effect of the simultaneous control of both competitors, that is, when the indirect positive effect of control (the removal of their competitors) exceeds its direct negative effect (their own removal). Both control levels and target specificity have a direct influence on the extent of this process: counter-intuitively, the stronger and more specific the control, the greater the effect. The theoretical validation of the competitor release effect has important implications in conservation, especially for control management.

Summary1. Land abandonment due to increasing depopulation of rural areas is an ongoing trend in developed countries worldwide. Abandoned lands represent an opportunity for ecosystem recovery, an urgent need for biodiversity conservation. Seed dispersal services provided by animals are a key feature for this process. Different dispersers may differentially contribute to plant recruitment under different ecological conditions, leading to complementary dispersal services. 2. We studied the dispersal services, quantified as the contribution to plant recruitment, provided by the main dispersal guilds of Spanish juniper Juniperus thurifera L.: small-to-mediumsized strongly frugivorous birds (thrushes) and medium-to-large-sized carnivorous mammals (red fox and stone marten). To do this, we studied seed fate from seed dispersal to seedling survival during 2 years and estimated seed dispersal effectiveness (seedlings recruited per m 2 )in two ecological contexts derived from ecosystem recovery after a historical period of degradation: remnant woodlands and old fields.3. Results showed a clear shift in the contribution to plant recruitment between these guilds, resulting in complementary and non-redundant dispersal services. Thrushes were the main contributors to plant recruitment in woodlands (73%), leading to population growth but with a reduced impact on the colonization of old fields where carnivores contributed to 80% of recruitment (42% red fox, 38% stone marten). The dispersal complementarity observed for thrushes and carnivores is a consequence of their functional diversity, mainly driven by their differences in feeding and movement behaviour. 4. Synthesis and applications. The combination of short-distance, strongly frugivorous dispersers (e.g. passerine birds) together with big generalist frugivores with long-distance movements (e.g. carnivorous mammals) maintained (i) effective seed dispersal services in remnant woodlands and (ii) the connectivity between patches promoting old fields colonization and woodland expansion. Thus, it is in heterogeneous landscape mosaics ecosystems (e.g. agroenvironments) where functionally diverse disperser communities play a key role in ecosystem recovery. By performing effective dispersal services across an array of habitat types, functionally diverse disperser communities assist natural restoration of human-impacted ecosystems all over the world. Thus, dispersal communities provide an important ecosystem service that may replace costly human-mediated restoration projects.

1999. Dispersal of Spanish juniper yiCfy/iL' w.s' timrifera by birds and mammals in a fragmented landscape. -Ecography 22: 193 204.Dispersal of Spanish juniper Junipems timriferu was examined in a farming landscape of central Spain to study the effects of fragmentation on the dispersal effectiveness of the different dispersers. and the eonsequenees for the plant. The study was conducted in two large forests (LF: 280 and 150 ha) representative of unfragmented eonditions, and 18 small isolated fragments (0.1-3 ha) which were classified in two groups: 1) FI, forest remnants with both high juniper cover and cone production (N =5): and 2) F2, remnants in which fragmentation has caused a heavy reduction in junipers (N = 13). Cone production, disperser abundances and quantity of dispersal by birds (Turdus thrushes) and mammals (earnivores, rabbits and sheep) were estimated throughout two study years. Dispersal by thrushes was measured in three types of trees representing a decreasing attraction focus to birds: Spanish junipers with cones (SJI). Spanish junipers without cones (SJ2) and holm oaks (HO). Cone production greatly decreased from LF to Fl and F2 in both study years, affeeting F2 dramatically. Thrush abundances were similar in LF and Fl, but thrushes lacked or were very scarce in F2, Carnivores showed an even distribution throughout the whole area, but herbivores were relatively scarce in F2 fragments, especially rabbits, which were lacking in the fragments under 0.6 ha. Patterns of seed deposition around trees showed decreaj>ing dispersal activity of thrushes from SJI (83.1% of the examined trees had seed-packets-thrush pellets) to SJ2 (53.6';

Small-game hunting plays an important economic role in central Spain and some game species are key food resources for threatened predators. Small carnivores may reduce numbers of important game species. To alleviate predation pressure on game populations, management is often focused on predator control. Control methods can be non-selective, and so could potentially have a negative impact on non-target carnivore species, affecting carnivore guild composition and diversity. Using data on carnivore diversity in 70 quadrants (5 · 5 km) in a large area of central Spain with two main land uses (small-game hunting and a mixture of big-game hunting and forestry), we assessed how game management was related to carnivore diversity. Carnivore species richness was significantly lower in those areas managed for small-game hunting than in areas where other land uses predominated. The apparently least affected species by predator control was the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the main target species of predator control. Results suggested that low carnivore species richness was linked to small-game hunting activities, which was probably associated with non-selective predator control practices. Therefore, in order to reconcile carnivore conservation and economic goals it is imperative to develop and to evaluate selective predator control techniques.