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

Christos Sokos,Konstantinos Andreadis,Nikolaos Papageorgiou

doi:10.1186/s40555-014-0095-2

Christos Sokos, Konstantinos Andreadis + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40555-014-0095-2

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Abstract

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. 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. Hare is a facultative generalist herbivore that adapts its diet to the seasonal vegetation changes. In Mediterranean ecosystems, the seeds, fruits, and grapes are important additions to the diet. Results suggest that during the dry period juveniles cannot exploit all the available food resources, such as fruits and seeds, as effectively as adults.

Highlights

Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) were collected before and after autumn rains from a mixed farmland and scrubland area
The hares were classified according the stage of vegetation, 26 hares were classified in the transitional period of vegetation from summer to winter where 1) winter plant species have not yet grown sufficiently, taking into account each studied year’s plant phenology, and 2) summer plant species and fruits have not yet died down or desiccated completely
The hare found to be a facultative generalist herbivore that adapts its diet to the seasonal vegetation changes

Summary

Introduction

Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) were collected before and after autumn rains from a mixed farmland and scrubland area. Flexibility in foraging is a typical response of herbivores to cope with seasonal differences in food availability and quality in the Mediterranean (Rueda et al 2008). Mammals such as the brown hare (hereafter hare) have higher genetic diversity (Antoniou et al 2013), a longer reproductive period (Antoniou et al 2008), and a more diverse diet (Kontsiotis et al 2011) in the Mediterranean than in more northern ecosystems of its distribution. In Mediterranean lowland farmland areas, the diet ecology of the hare is almost unknown. Information on hare diet would assist evaluations on the suitability of different ecotopes for hare and to design appropriate habitat improvement actions and agri-environmental measures (Sokos et al 2012)

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