No abstract

No abstract

Populations of game are not confined to single ecosystems but function within higher-order units, e.g. ecological landscape. The basis for the establishment of the hunting complexes was the assumption that the existing game hunting grounds, i.e. the basic units implementing game management, are too small and do not cover the natural areas inhabited by game populations. Roe deer are flexible species and easily adapt to various site conditions, so they inhabit many different habitats, from large forest complexes, through small in-field tree stands and shrubs, to treeless grounds and field monocultures. The aim of the study was to determine a possible impact of environmental conditions prevailing in the hunting complexes of the Regional Directorate of State Forests (RDLP in Lublin) on the ontogenetic quality of roe deer. The study was conducted on 518 European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) aged from 4 to 7 years (379 bucks and 139 does) harvested within hunting seasons 2010/2011–2013/2014. The results have shown that animals originating from areas with greater forest cover and denser stands are characterised by lower values of the mean ontogenetic quality parameters (carcase weight, kidney fat index, chest girth, weight of antlers) in comparison with animals from typical agricultural areas with fragmented forest complexes. These results indicate that, even in the case of such a eurytopic species as the roe deer, the ontogenetic quality differs between individual hunting complexes. The study has proved that strategies for hunting management of the roe deer should take into account the impact of the landscape structure, which provides a rationale behind creation of hunting complexes.

In breeders' general opinion small breed females produce less numerous litters. The aim of the study was to analyse the litter size and the frequency of the gender ratio in selected small dog breeds in view of their popularity in Poland. The data set comprised information on 639 litters (in total 2578 puppies) of eight breeds, which were born between January 2003 and end December 2014. The results were statistically analysed using statistical program SPSS 20.0. Medium-size litters were observed in the analysed small dog breeds (4.034±0.1). Comparison of the selected breeds of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) Groups showed that the mean litter size in Group IX was higher (4.36±0.08) than that in Group III (3.87±0.14) and the differences were statistically significant. The study has confirmed the hypothesis that larger females produce more numerous litters, but there are large intra-individual variations in the number of pups born in individual breeds. Additionally, the gender ratio in the puppies born in the analysed breeds was equal, despite the fluctuations in the individual breeds.

The aim of the study was to assess the genetic variability of the Polish Greyhound population based on pedigree analysis and molecular DNA testing and to determine the degree of relatedness among individuals in the population. Pedigree data of 912 Polish Greyhounds recorded in pedigree books since they were opened for this breed were analyzed. For molecular testing, DNA was obtained from cheek swabs taken from 235 dogs of the tested breed. A panel of 21 markers (Short Tandem Repeat—STR) was used. The mean inbreeding determined for the Polish Greyhound population based on pedigree analyses was low and amounted to 11.8%, but as many as 872 individuals of the 912 dogs in the studied population were inbred. A total of 83 founders (at least one unknown parent) were identified, among which 27 founders had both unknown parents. Full-sibling groups consisted of 130 individuals, with a minimum and maximum litter size of 2 and 16, respectively. The average litter size was 5.969. Gene diversity calculated based on the mean kinship matrix was 0.862 and the population mean kinship was 0.138. The founder genome equivalent based on the mean kinship matrix was 3.61; the founder genome surviving level was 12.34; the mean Ne was estimated at 21.76; and the Ne/N ratio was 0.135. The FIS inbreeding coefficient for 21 STR was negative, and the mean FIS value for all loci had a low negative value (−0.018). These values suggest a low level of inbreeding in the examined breed as well as the avoidance of mating related animals.