Winter browsing of brown hares: evidence for diet breadth expansion

Rödel, Heiko G.; Völkl, Wolfgang; Kilias, Harald

doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00163

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The expansion of diet breadth to include woody plants has previously been found for hare in colder climates, when the ground is covered by snow and herbaceous vegetation availability is decreased (Rödel et al 2004;Green et al 2013). We found evidence that a similar diet breadth expansion occurs in Mediterranean climates during the warm and dry seasons, but in this case, the limiting factor is the drought that decreases the foraging quality of herbs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

2015

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Background: Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) were collected before and after autumn rains from a mixed farmland and scrubland area. The age and sex of each specimen were determined, and microhistological technique was applied to analyze the stomach contents. Results: Hares consumed a higher number of plant species in comparison with other studies in continental European farmlands. A different pattern in diet of hare was found, where from a partial herbivory, frugivory, and granivory during the dry period, hares turn to primarily herbivory during the wet period. An expansion of diet breadth and an increase in food consumption was found in the dry season. Farming contributes to the enrichment of diet especially during the dry season. Diet composition was differed between ages, but no significant difference was found between the two sexes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

2015

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“…In general, the negative effects of food shortage are reported to be most pronounced in young individuals which are not fully grown (White 1978;Van Deelen et al 1997). In order to satisfy nutritive demands outside the vegetation period, many grazing herbivores supplement their diet or switch to alternative food sources, such as woody browse (e.g., winter browsing in the brown hare Lepus europaeus: Novakova and Vanek 1956;Zo¨rner et al 1984;Ro¨del et al 2004b; dry season browsing in the impala Aepyceros melampus: Rodgers 1976). In particular, the availability of plant tissues with a sufficiently high nitrogen content is highlighted as a major limitation factor (White 1978(White , 1993Mattson 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Winter feeding behaviour of European rabbits in a temperate zone habitat

Rödel

2005

Mammalian Biology

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Herbivores living in seasonal environments commonly have to deal with reduced food availability and quality during the winter season. The present study investigated how European rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus living in a grassland habitat adapt their feeding behaviour to cope with this situation. Both adult and subadult animals markedly increased their feeding rates throughout the course of the winter, with the rates in subadults being generally higher. Nevertheless, both age classes showed a significant decline in body mass throughout the winter averaging 22.3% of the autumn mass in subadult and 9.7% in adult animals. In late winter, an increase in the faecal sand content was found, indicating that the animals were feeding on ground-level plant parts. Measurements of nitrogen content of (1) grass leaves and stems and (2) ground-level sprouts and roots demonstrated a decrease in the food quality of grass leaves and stems from early to late winter. In contrast, the nitrogen content of roots and ground-level sprouts remained stable. It can be speculated that the animals increasingly switched to ground-level plant parts as alternative food in the course of the winter in order to satisfy their needs for a sufficient source of nitrogen.

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“…An increasing niche breadth with altitude has been shown for some species (e.g. brown hares) in situations where less food was available [21], and in more generalized plant-pollinator networks [22]. Scarce food supply at higher altitudes may therefore lead to a higher proportion of polylectic species with a wider niche breadth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude acts as an environmental filter on phylogenetic composition, traits and diversity in bee communities

et al. 2012

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Knowledge about the phylogeny and ecology of communities along environmental gradients helps to disentangle the role of competition-driven processes and environmental filtering for community assembly. In this study, we evaluated patterns in species richness, phylogenetic structure and life-history traits of bee communities along altitudinal gradients in the Alps, Germany. We found a linear decline in species richness and abundance but increasing phylogenetic clustering in communities with increasing altitude. The proportion of social-and ground-nesting species, as well as mean body size and altitudinal range of bee communities, increased with increasing altitude, whereas the mean geographical distribution decreased. Our results suggest that community assembly at high altitudes is dominated by environmental filtering effects, whereas the relative importance of competition increases at low altitudes. We conclude that inherent phylogenetic and ecological species attributes at high altitudes pose a threat for less competitive alpine specialists with ongoing climate change.

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Winter browsing of brown hares: evidence for diet breadth expansion

Cited by 31 publications

References 24 publications

Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Winter feeding behaviour of European rabbits in a temperate zone habitat

Altitude acts as an environmental filter on phylogenetic composition, traits and diversity in bee communities

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