A statistical analysis of the relationship between red fox Vulpes vulpes and its prey species (grey partridge Perdix perdix, brown hare Lepus europaeus and rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Western Germany from 1958 to 1998

Abstract

Predator-prey relationships are of general interest in ecology and have been studied extensively. They are also of interest for effective management and recovery of prey populations. However, quantification of these relationships in the field has remained difficult. We analysed the impact of the predation of red fox Vulpes vulpes on brown hare Lepus europaeus, grey partridge Perdix perdix and rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus using yearly hunting bag records as population indicators in eight German provinces over a period of 41 years. Bag records were tested for deviation from properties of suitable population indicators. We quantified the association between prey and predator populations within the context of other variables such as weather and long-term trends. We used an overall regression model for each prey population and discussed three statistical approaches accounting for the time series structure of the data. Models for all prey species populations display a good fit. The fox population has a significant negative association to the hare population in all models. The results for the rabbit population show only a small effect of the fox population, though it is not significant. The effect of the fox population on the partridge population cannot be clearly distinguished from a general trend. Additionally, there is a strong long-term trend in the hare and partridge populations. This could be due to major changes in the agricultural landscapes over the last decades. It is important to note that this trend is much stronger than the association to the fox population. Our study suggests that habitat improvement could be much more effective in restoring prey populations than fox control due to the minor interactions between the fox and the prey populations.

Estimates of regional population densities of badger Meles meles, fox Vulpes vulpes and hare Lepus europaeus using walked distance sampling

“…Experimental evidence showed that culling badgers for disease control was associated with increases in fox densities (Trewby et al 2008). In turn, the fox is generally acknowledged as the main predator of the brown hare throughout Europe and under some circumstances it is considered that fox predation may influence hare densities (Knauer et al 2010;Reynolds et al 2010).…”

Food quality and quantity are more important in explaining foraging of an intermediate‐sized mammalian herbivore than predation risk or competition

“…We focused on red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as the main predator of European hare and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as the main competitor of European hare. Red fox can substantially impact hare populations as a predator (Knauer, Küchenhoff, & Pilz, 2010;Schmidt, Asferg, & Forchhammer, 2004). European hares and rabbits have a substantial overlap in resources (Kuijper, van Wieren, & Bakker, 2004) and are classified as trophic competitors when sympatric (Homolka, 1987).…”

Trans-Boundary Edge Effects in the Western Carpathians: The Influence of Hunting on Large Carnivore Occupancy

“…Hunting data are a commonly used source of ungulate indices at large spatial scales and for long periods where other sources are not available (e.g. [44–46]). Given the similar social conditions and the use of same hunting system across the study area, we ruled out different intensity of hunting efforts as a possible reason for significant differences in ungulate density and total biomass in Beskydy and Orava.…”