The influence of habitat structure on the European brown hare Lepus europaeus food habits in mountainous areas of northern Greece

Abstract

The European brown hare ( Lepus europaeus , Pallas 1778) is a widely distributed mammal inhabiting most of Europe. It is one of the most important game animals across its distribution (Chapman and Flux 1990 ). However, a signifi cant population decline has been observed in most European countries over recent decades, usually due to anthropogenic factors (Smith et al. 2005 ). This decline is refl ected in annual harvests of the European hare. In particular, habitat degradation, the reduction of wild plants ’ richness and agricultural intensifi cation have caused numerous problems for the European hare ’ s abundance and population (Smith et al. 2005 , Olesen and Asferg 2006 ). Greece maintains one of the lowest population densities in the Mediterranean region, probably due to low habitat quality (Bakaloudis et al. 2009 ). Information about a game species ’ food habits is needed for a better understanding of its ecology, which will help biologists determine effi cient ways for its sustainable management. Stomach content analysis is a frequently used method to describe the food preferences of common terrestrial vertebrates and for mammalian game species (Bakaloudis and Vlachos 2009 ). Microhistological analysis of food ingested is a method widely used to describe herbivore diet composition (Homolka 1983, 1987 , Katona et al. 2004 , Reichlin et al. 2006 , Pauperio and Alves 2008 ). Several studies have been conducted concerning the diet of hares ( Lepus sp.) in central and northern European countries, but there is limited information concerning their feeding