Variations in the diet and population density of the red fox Vulpes vulpes in the mixed woodlands of northern Belarus

Abstract

The dietary structure and distribution patterns of red foxes Vulpes vulpes in situations of different food supply in the coniferous-deciduous (mostly small-leaved) woodlands of northern Belarus were investigated. A total of 1526 scats of red foxes was analysed, and snowtracking of the species was performed each winter. Abundance of the main prey (small rodents, perching birds and hares) and wild ungulates supplying carrion for red foxes in the cold season were monitored. The results suggest that in northern Belarus red foxes had a diversified diet, consisting basically of different combinations of bank voles, Microtus voles, and wild ungulate carrion. The importance of carrion much increased in winter, while the proportions of birds and fruits grew during the warm season. In the ecologically rich woodland harbouring on clay soil, red foxes relied more on small rodents, while carrion and fruits appeared to be more important food item of the predator in the barren forested terrain dwelling on poor sandy deposits. During Microtus population outbreaks, red foxes more frequently fed on this prey. One-sixth lower density of red foxes was attributable to the forested terrain on sandy deposits compared to the woodland on clay soil, and a pronounced landscaperelated difference in the habitat selection by the predator was found.

Burrowing by badgers (Meles meles) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes) changes soil conditions and vegetation in a European temperate forest

“…There is some evidence that a substantial part of the animal manure is deposited in the close vicinity of burrows (Neal and Roper 1991;Hutchings et al 2001;Kowalczyk et al 2004) and that this may lead to local eutrophication. Deposition of feces may also be associated with seed dispersal of plants producing fleshy fruit, which during some periods are an important component of the carnivore diet (Goszczyn´ski et al 2000;Sidorovich et al 2006;Fedriani and Delibes 2009;Fedriani et al 2010;Rosalino and Santos-Reis 2009;Rost et al 2012).…”

Predator dietary response to prey density variation and consequences for cestode transmission

“…A response of the fox diet to Microtus sp. density variations was observed in France and Belarus, but in every case, the species was fluctuating, A. terrestris was constantly at a low density, and other resources, such as forest rodents, birds or lagomorphs, were available (Sidorovich et al 2006;Guislain et al 2008;Dupuy et al 2009). In northern Europe where M. agrestis is a fluctuating species, its contribution to the fox diet was correlated to its density in the field, and (2) 104 The number of occurrences (number of faeces in which the food item occurred) is given in parentheses a Faeces collected in winter 1 were not analysed LL Maximised log-likelihood, K number of estimated parameters, N/K number of observations/K, AICc second-order Akaike index criterion, dAICc difference between AICc and the lowest value of AICc, w ic Akaike weights a Asymptotic and logistic models did not converge foxes had access to other prey when M. agrestis density was low (O'Mahony et al 1999;Dell'Arte et al 2007).…”

“…Their biomass regularly dominates the system compared to nongrassland habitat species such as murines and Myodes glareolus (Raoul et al 2001a). These latter species were consumed to a far lesser extent than grassland species, reflecting the general opportunistic behaviour of the fox in taking advantage of the most abundant and accessible resources (Ferrari and Weber 1995;Sidorovich et al 2006;Dell'Arte et al 2007). …”

“…The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the main E. multilocularis wild definitive host in Europe. It is generally described as a generalist and opportunistic predator taking its prey as a function of its availability; rodents, lagomorphs, birds, carrion, insects and fruits are its main food resources but their contribution to the diet is dependent on season, habitat composition, and the composition of the regional prey community (Ferrari and Weber 1995;Sidorovich et al 2006;Dell'Arte et al 2007). The fox predation response to prey density variation has been described in various ecological contexts (Dell'Arte et al 2007;Delibes-Mateos et al 2008;Dupuy et al 2009), but the consequences of its functional response on E. multilocularis transmission remain unexplored.…”

Factors affecting the diet of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in a heterogeneousMediterranean landscape

“…Its diet composition in variable environments has been frequently studied in Europe (see Sidorovich et al, 2006 for a review; Hartová-Nentvichová et al, 2010). The diet variation among age classes (see Artois, 1989 for a review) and associations between prey density and fox diet (Cavalini and Lovari, 1991;Dell' Arte et al, 2007;Delibes-Mateos et al, 2008;Panek, 2009;Jankowiak and Tryjanowski, 2013) have also been studied.…”