Age and season determine European rabbit habitat use in Mediterranean ecosystems

Rueda, Marta Pacheco; Rebollo, Salvador; Bravo, Lucía Gálvez

doi:10.1016/j.actao.2008.03.007

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Plant phenology may partially explain the strong seasonal variations on rabbit distribution. In fact, wild rabbit strategies of using space depend on the availability of different plant species and on their actual nutritive value (Soriguer 1988;Rueda et al 2008;Ferreira and Alves 2009). And, wild rabbit reproductive phenology, which is clearly influenced by plant phenology (Gonçalves et al 2002;Martins et al 2002), also seems to play an important role on seasonal changes in distribution.…”

Section: Seasonal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of habitat management in the recovery of low-density populations of wild rabbit

et al. 2013

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Understanding the relationship between spatial patterns of landscape attributes and population presence and abundance is essential for understanding population processes as well as supporting management and conservation strategies. This study evaluates the influence of three factors: environment, habitat management, and season on the presence and abundance of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), an important prey species for Mediterranean endangered predator species. To address this issue, we estimated wild rabbit presence and abundance by latrine counting in transects located in 45 plots within a 250×250 m grid from June 2007 until June 2009 in a 1,200 ha hunting area in southern Portugal. We then analyzed how wild rabbit presence and abundance correlate with the aforementioned factors. Our results showed that the main variable influencing wild rabbit presence and abundance was the distance to the artificial warrens. North and northeast slope directions were negatively related to wild rabbit presence. Conversely, rabbit presence was positively correlated with short distances to ecotone, artificial warrens, and spring. Regarding rabbit abundance, in addition to artificial warrens, soft soils, bushes, and season also had a positive effect. We found that environmental variables, management practices, and season each affect wild rabbit presence and abundance differently at a home range scale in low-density population. Thus, our major recommendations are reducing the distance to artificial warrens and ecotone, ideally to less than 100 m, and promoting habitat quality improvement on slopes with plenty of sun exposure.

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Section: Seasonal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of habitat management in the recovery of low-density populations of wild rabbit

et al. 2013

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“…Even though if the proportion of pellets <6 mm diameter was similar to the proportion of captured juveniles this would not mean that the pellets <6 mm diameter could be assigned to juveniles or vice versa (e.g. to analyze habitat use; Rueda et al, 2008). It may occur, for example, that some adults mainly produce small pellets, as showed by Delibes-Mateos et al (2009), while some juveniles deposit large pellets, hence balancing in the population the overall proportion of pellets >6 mm in diameter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pellets collected at each station were stored in separate labeled paper bags, and sorted using 4 mm and 6 mm diameter sieves. The proportions of pellets >6 mm diameter and >4 mm diameter were calculated for comparison with the proportion of adults and juveniles in the populations, according to the method of Rueda et al (2008).…”

Section: Rabbit and Pellet Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, Bhadresa (1982) suggested that pellet weight might be used in New Zealand white rabbits to determine rabbit age. Rueda (2006), Dellafiore (2007) and Rueda et al (2008) subsequently used a method based on pellet size to differentiate adult and juvenile rabbits. These authors considered that pellets >6 mm in diameter were deposited by adults, while those <6 mm in diameter were deposited by juveniles or kittens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence against the use of fecal pellet size for age determination in European wild rabbits

2009

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a b s t r a c t Techniques for estimating the age of wild animals are crucial to many aspects of the study of population biology. Accurate estimates of the proportion of different age classes in wild rabbit populations would be very useful, and the possibility that it could be obtained from the pellet size holds great appeal. However, this suggestion has created controversy in the literature as this technique has not been validated. This study involved assessment of whether threshold fecal pellet diameters could be used to differentiate adult and juvenile rabbits. The proportion of adults in four wild rabbit populations living in semi-natural conditions was compared with the proportion of animal pellets greater than threshold diameters of 6 mm and 4 mm. Our results suggest that inferring a relationship between the proportion of pellets >6 mm diameter and the proportion of adults in a population is not applicable to European wild rabbits, and that the use of this method could produce erroneous interpretations. The use of a 4 mm pellet diameter threshold appeared to produce even more inaccurate results. Studies that use this technique should include validation, as the results can vary greatly among individuals and populations..

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“…habitat type) rather than structural and functional components. A few examples of some selected landscape variables that were identified in published leporid papers include: edge density, land use (Petrovan et al 2011), topography, elevation, patch area, distance to roads, orchards, hedges (Roedenbeck and Voser 2008), aspect, altitude (Fulgione 2009), slopes, topography and vegetation (Rueda 2008), soil hardness, vegetation structure, elevation, and scrub height (Calvete 2004). It is important that variables such as altitude, aspect, edge effect, and slope continue to grow within leporid research to obtain a more specific understanding of structure and function of ecological processes in leporid landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Leporid Research and Landscape Ecology Metrics in a European Landscape

Gilcrease¹

2013

Journal of Landscape Ecology

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Leporids play a dynamic role in the ecosystem and assessments must be undertaken in order to improve research efforts and methods. Landscape ecology metrics are used to quantify components of leporid habitat such as vegetation structure, vegetation cover, habitat type, and fragmentation; however, the degree to which the metrics are utilized in leporid research is relatively unknown. This paper assessed fifty-three published, peer reviewed papers on leporids from various European countries on where the study was done, the species of leporid that was studied, the content of the study (i.e. what the paper focused on), the length of the study, the size of the study area, and the method of study. The quantified landscape metrics within these papers were assessed. This study found that most of the studies occurred in Spain, the European rabbit and European hare were the most studied leporids, many papers were concerned with habitat relationships, many of the studies were conducted in a year or less, many papers utilized pellet surveys and trapping, and the most common landscape metric utilized was habitat type. This survey of research on leporids highlights that there is a lack of utilizing landscape structure and function metrics such as slope, fragmentation, and edge effect. These are important variables to help connect structure and function of ecological processes in the context of leporid habitat and landscapes. It is recommended that leporid researchers and landscape planners exchange research findings so that the best planning practices can occur on the ground for the leporids.

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Age and season determine European rabbit habitat use in Mediterranean ecosystems

Cited by 18 publications

References 52 publications

Effectiveness of habitat management in the recovery of low-density populations of wild rabbit

Effectiveness of habitat management in the recovery of low-density populations of wild rabbit

Evidence against the use of fecal pellet size for age determination in European wild rabbits

An Assessment of Leporid Research and Landscape Ecology Metrics in a European Landscape

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