Contribution to the ecology of the Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus)

Abstract

The Italian hare ( Lepus corsicanus ) is endemic to Central-Southern Italy and Sicily, classified as vulnerable due to habitat alterations, low density and fragmented populations and ecological competition with the sympatric European hare ( Lepus europaeus ). Despite this status , only few and local studies have explored its ecological features. We provided some key traits of the ecological niche of the Italian hare as well as its potential distribution in the Italian peninsula. All data derived from genetically validated presences. We generated a habitat suitability model using maximum entropy distribution model for the Italian hare and its main competitor, the European hare. The dietary habits were obtained for the Italian hare with DNA metabarcoding and High-Throughput Sequencing on faecal pellets. The most relevant environmental variables affecting the potential distribution of the Italian hare are shared with the European hare, suggesting a potential competition. The variation in the observed altitudinal distribution is statistically significant between the two species.The diet of the Italian hare all year around includes 344 plant taxa accounted by 62 families. The Fagaceae , Fabaceae , Poaceae , Rosaceae and Solanaceae (counts > 20,000) represented the 90.22% of the total diet. Fabaceae (60.70%) and Fagaceae (67.47%) were the most abundant plant items occurring in the Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter diets, respectively. The Spring/Summer diet showed richness (N = 266) and diversity index values (Shannon: 2.329, Evenness: 0.03858, Equitability: 0.4169) higher than the Autumn/Winter diet (N = 199, Shannon: 1.818, Evenness: 0.03096, Equitability: 0.3435). Our contribution adds important information to broaden the knowledge on the environmental (spatial and trophic) requirements of the Italian hare, representing effective support for fitting management actions in conservation planning.

Diet Selection by the Italian Hare (Lepus corsicanus de Winton, 1898) in Two Protected Coastal Areas of Latium

“…Additionally, the plants composing the diet may act as early warning indicators of food resource limitation, especially concerning diet overlap with other animals [7]. Studies on diet composition of the species, carried out in Sicily [8], Corsica [4], and in peninsular Italy [9][10][11][12][13], demonstrated that the Italian hare feeds on a large number of species of plants during the year, with a conspicuous presence of herbaceous ones (e.g., B. sylvaticum, Trifolium pratense, Lolium arundinaceum). Grasses and non-leguminous forbs represent the basis of the diet, with a higher incidence of Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Asteraceae in summer and of Rosaceae, Fagaceae, and Pinaceae (leaves, buds and barks) in the winter period [4,[9][10][11].…”

“…Nevertheless, only little is known about the feeding preferences of the Italian hare and, among the aforementioned areas, only in Corsica, the feeding behaviour of this species was recently studied [4]. Knowledge of dietary selectivity in herbivores is a key element for the definition of their elective habitat and of the competition with other species [8][9][10][11][12][13]. In this study, in order to deepen this fundamental aspect of the trophic niche of L. corsicanus, we evaluated the effect of season on diet composition and feeding selection of the species in two protected areas of the Latium coastal environment in which there is no co-presence with L. europaeus [5]: Castelporziano Presidential Estate and Circeo National Park.…”

The Boar War: Five Hot Factors Unleashing Boar Expansion and Related Emergency

“…Abandonment of mountain pastures, agricultural land and traditional cultivation practices since the end of the World War II, the establishment of large European National Parks, and legislative exploitation activities, magnified by other factors, such as climate change, have had a significant impact on landscape texture [109][110][111][112][113][114][115] and, consequently, on the structure of animal communities [34,[116][117][118][119]. In particular, the mosaic of the open areas and woodland patches has gradually been replaced by shrub and woodland encroachments due to a natural process of vegetation re-growth [120][121][122][123][124].…”

Traditional Free-Ranging Livestock Farming as a Management Strategy for Biological and Cultural Landscape Diversity: A Case from the Southern Apennines

“…Grazing can also help maintain the balance between grasslands and forests in the landscape [26,27] and maintain active ecotones at the margin with wooded areas, through plant dispersal via animals [28,29]. This, in turn, may have an effect on animal communities closely tied to vegetation, such as arthropods [30,31], bats [32], or hares [33], which directly benefit from the effects of free-ranging livestock, as well as on predators like wolves [34].…”