Climate fluctuations during the Last Glacial Period between 115,000 and 11,500 years ago (Lokrantz & Sohlenius, 2006) played an important role in shaping the current species composition, distribution, and genetic diversity of mammals in Europe. During glaciations, the ranges of cold sensitive species were limited to refugial areas located in the Balkan, the Iberian and the Apennine Peninsulas (Hewitt, 2004;Taberlet et al., 1998) and south-eastern part of the continent (the Black Sea region and the Caucasus Mts.; Markova & Puzachenko, 2019). Contribution of a given refugium into postglacial recolonization processes varied a lot among species such as, for example, red deer Cervus elaphus (Niedziałkowska, Doan, et al., 2021), wild boar Sus scrofa (Niedziałkowska, Tarnowska, et al., 2021), or common vole Microtus arvalis (Stojak et al., 2015). Cold-adapted species such as, for example, reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Sommer et al., 2014), saiga antelope Saiga tatarica (Nadachowski et al., 2016), or arctic fox Alopex lagopus (Dalén et al., 2007), thrived in the glacial stages, expanded their ranges southward, and during the onset of interglacial they underwent massive, large-scale extinctions. Species of mammals that have very broad biogeographic niche (from the Mediterranean to the boreal zone) had more diverse response to geological time-scale pulsation of climate, most likely with several glacial refugia located at both lower and higher latitudes, where subpopulations diverged into different lineages and could have developed adaptations to different climate, habitat, and food-related conditions. Examples of such species include the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (Tarnowska et al.,

No abstract

The common pheasant, a game species widely introduced throughout the world, can be considered as an ideal model to study the effects of introduction events on local adaptations, biogeographic patterns, and genetic divergence processes. We aimed to assess the origin, spatial patterns of genetic variation, and demographic history of the introduced populations in the contact zone of Central and Southeast Europe, using mitochondrial DNA control region sequences and microsatellite loci. Both types of molecular markers indicated relatively low to moderate levels of genetic variation. The mtDNA analyses revealed that common pheasants across the study area are divided into two distinct clades: B (mongolicus group) and F (colchicus group). Analyses of the microsatellite data consistently suggested a differentiation between Hungary and Serbia, with the pheasant population in Hungary being much more genetically homogeneous, while that of Serbia has much more genetic mixture and admixture. This cryptic differentiation was not detected using a non-spatial Bayesian clustering model. The analyses also provided strong evidence for a recent population expansion. This fundamental information is essential for adequate and effective conservation management of populations of a game species of great economic and ecological importance in the studied geographical region.

Previous studies in hares and jackrabbits have indicated that positive selection has shaped the genetic diversity of mitochondrial genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, which may affect cellular energy production and cause regional adaptation to different environmental (climatic) pressures. In the present study, we sequenced the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (MT-ND6) gene of 267 brown hares (L. europaeus) from Europe and Asia Minor and tested for positive selection and adaptations acting on amino acid sequences (protein variants). Molecular diversity indices and spatial clustering were assessed by DnaSP, Network, and Geneland, while the presence of selection signals was tested by codeml in PAML, and by using the Datamonkey Adaptive Evolution web server. The SPSS software was used to run multinomial regression models to test for possible effects of climate parameters on the currently obtained protein variants. Fifty-eight haplotypes were revealed with a haplotype diversity of 0.817, coding for 17 different protein variants. The MT-ND6 phylogeographic pattern as determined by the nucleotide sequences followed the earlier found model based on the neutrally evolving D-loop sequences, and reflected the earlier found phylogeographic Late Pleistocene scenario. Based on several selection tests, only one codon position consistently proved to be under positive selection. It did occur exclusively in the evolutionarily younger hares from Europe and it gave rise to several protein variants from the southeastern and south-central Balkans. The occurrence of several of those variants was significantly favored under certain precipitation conditions, as proved by our multinomial regression models. Possibly, the great altitudinal variation in the Balkans may have lead to bigger changes in precipitation across that region and this may have imposed an evolutionarily novel selective pressure on the protein variants and could have led to regional adaptation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of two heavy metals, lead and cadmium, in European hare liver samples, collected in agro biotope of northern Serbian province Vojvodina. Heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) do not have any biological function in the animal body; however, they can be found due to the pollution in the environment. For the purpose of this study, in 196 samples from 17 different locations hare livers were analyzed for the occurrence of lead and cadmium. All samples were taken from hares harvested during the regular hunting season. The average value for lead in all analyzed samples was 884 µg/kg fresh weight (fw), with the range 59–3700 µg/kg fw. Only samples from two locations had the average concentration of lead which was within the permitted limit by the Serbian regulation. The average cadmium level in all samples was 243 µg/kg fw. The range of all samples was from 0 to 1414 µg/kg fw. Our research indicates that out of two investigated heavy metals, the occurrence of lead is more common and at a higher concentration in the agricultural development region of Vojvodina.

The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L. 1758) is an allochtonous game species of great importance to the hunting sector in Serbia. Growing concerns over a decline in its population raise issues about the proper management and hunting of common pheasants. As this research tends to identify the importance of common pheasants to Serbian hunters, the present study is based on a mixed research model combining traditional analyses with social studies on Serbian hunters. The data utilized have been collected from the annual management plans of 272 hunting grounds across Serbia and the interviews with 377 hunters. The results obtained suggest that there are significant differences between the analyzed variables in the management plans examined, which indicates that the pheasant hunting management in Serbia is not harmonized. However, the social studies conducted identify the common pheasant as the most hunted and popular game species with Serbian hunters. Accordingly, the common pheasant hunting and management in Serbia has to be improved in order to meet the hunters' expectations and ensure their satisfaction.

Summary The purpose of this study is to compare the specifics of winter and spring diets of the roe deer using rumen content analysis. A chemical analysis was performed on a total of 13 samples of roe deer rumen contents: 7 samples of winter diet rumen contents and 6 samples of spring diet rumen contents. The following parameters were examined in this study: the level of crude protein and the content of fiber (NDF, ADF and ADL). The results obtained were processed by descriptive statistics and compared using F-tests. Consequently, certain deviations in the quality of roe deer nutrition were found in both winter and spring periods of the year. A lack of protein and energy can pose significant problems to roe deer, especially in the cooler periods of the year. Approximately a total of 17MJ/day is the maximum assumed energy required for animals kept in enclosure. The need for crude protein varies from 30.8% to 34.4% DM. This problem can be tackled if roe deer are adequately fed with quality bulky and concentrated feed, despite the fact that the animals adapt metabolically to seasonal variations.

Serbia is characterized by favorable natural conditions for the management of game, whose abundance is unsatisfactory. One of the reasons for that is poaching as a harmful activity that directly affects the abundance of the main hunting game species. Although many domestic experts and researchers agree that poaching has a significant negative impact on the management of hunting game, to this detrimental effect is not given adequate attention. That is why the aim of this study is to draw the attention of stakeholders to this problem. The study tests the possibility of building a statistical model that can be used to predict the volume of poaching. On the basis of 13 variables analyzed in 129 hunting grounds, the results indicate that it is possible to predict the extent of poaching using the power regression model with three variables and a R 2 = 0.23 coefficient of determination.