Effect Of Wild Boar Research Articles

Effect of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Rooting on Soil Characteristics in a Deciduous Forest Affected by Sedimentation

Forest soils are shaped by various processes, like runoff, erosion, sedimentation and bioturbation. A better understanding of the interactions between abiotic and biotic soil-forming processes, including wild boar (Sus scrofa) rooting (i.e., subsurface foraging), enhances adequate management of forest ecosystems. We hypothesized that intense soil sedimentation influences wild boar rooting occurrence and that wild boars modify the outcome of the sedimentation process by redistributing soil layers. This study was conducted in the Babat Valley, Hungary. We estimated the availability of sedimented and non-sedimented patches and the occurrence of boar rooting. Surveys and samplings were done along transects, over consecutive months, where the impact of rooting on the physical and chemical characteristics of soil was measured by comparing them between control and rooted sites. We found that non-sedimented, steep areas were preferred areas for rooting. Sedimentation processes have a higher impact on soil chemical characteristics and soil layer composition than wild boar rooting. We conclude that mitigation of soil degradation can be more effective by reducing adverse abiotic processes rather than wild boar population control.

Accounting for detection unveils the intricacy of wild boar and rabbit co-occurrence patterns in a Mediterranean landscape

The patterns of species co-occurrence have long served as a primary approach to explore concepts of interspecific interaction. However, the interpretation of such patterns is difficult as they can result from several complex ecological processes, in a scale-dependent manner. Here, we aim to investigate the co-occurrence pattern between European rabbit and wild boar in an estate in Central Portugal, using two-species occupancy modelling. With this framework, we tested species interaction for occupancy and detection, but also the interdependencies between both parameters. According to our results, the wild boar and European rabbit occurred independently in the study area. However, model averaging of the detection parameters revealed a potential positive effect of wild boar’s presence on rabbit’s detection probability. Upon further analysis of the parameter interdependencies, our results suggested that failing to account for a positive effect on rabbit’s detection could lead to potentially biased interpretations of the co-occurrence pattern. Our study, in spite of preliminary, highlights the need to understand these different pathways of species interaction to avoid erroneous inferences.

Effects of wild boar grazing on the yield of summer truffle (Tuscany, Italy)

The research presented here seeks to describe the impact of wild boar to a natural truffle ground of <em>Tuber aestivum </em>Vittad. on Monte Amiata (Tuscany – Italy). Pedoclimatic analyses indicated that the selected area could be considered suitable for the truffle production. Then classification of the vegetation of a <em>Quercus cerris </em>forest was carried out exploring the possibility of the BACI (Before-After-Control-Impact) sampling design. Finally 10 plots were selected, half of which have been fenced. For the first time the impact of wild boar was evaluated by estimating the surface area turned over by its activity. Moreover in each plot the number and weight of summer truffles was performed every 10 days during the fruiting period (June-November 2006-2008). The hypothesis that the presence of <em>Sus scrofa </em>has a strong negative influence on truffle harvesting has been amply confirmed by the data presented here, given the large increase of fruiting bodies of the summer truffle collected in the fenced plots. Consequently the destructive behaviour of the wild boar imply not only an ecological but also an economic damage in areas in which non-wood forest products are an important source of income.

Wild boar’s (Sus scrofa) role in the vegetation dynamics of water bodies of Oksky state reserve

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is a native inhabitant of the southeastern Meshchera lowland. However, as a result of human activity, biotic communities evolved for a long time in the absence this species. When, after a long absence, wild boars reappeared in the Oksky reserve nearly 50 years ago and began to restore its population quickly, the activity of these animals became a new factor of disturbances. Rooting by wild boar can strongly affect wetland and aquatic vegetation, although the effect of wild boar on freshwater ecosystems has seldom been studied. We characterized the use of different types of water bodies by wild boars and assessed long-term and short-term changes in vegetation of water reservoirs under the influence of a wild boar by the example of the Oksky Reserve. Sagittaria sagittifolia was a species that was most attractive for wild boars of any water and wetland vegetation. Vegetation is most intensely disturbed by the animal at floodplain water bodies without significant muddy sediments and at the Pra and Oka rivers. However, the vegetation dynamics begins to be influenced by wild boar activity only in the waters of the high floodplain that are not regularly flooded by spring waters. This influence is expressed as a reduction and thinning of Sagittaria sagittifolia patches, an increase in heterogeneity and patchiness of vegetation on disturbed plots, and formation of naked sites lacking vegetation (in wallows made by the animals). Comparison of our data with initial descriptions of vegetation in ten oxbows of the Pra that were made before wild boar introduction showed an increase in the occurrence of Sagittaria sagittifolia at the level of plant associations and water bodies. This is probably due to the fact that a disturbance of dense thickets of dominant plants of the coastal zone by boars provides favorable conditions for the invasion of species such as Sagittaria sagittifolia.

Effects of wild boar (Sus scrofa) grazing on soil properties in Mediterranean environment

Abstract Two sites (Asciano and Castelfalfi) were selected in Tuscany (central-west Italy) in order to study the effects of wild boar activities (rooting and trampling) at two different densities and on the organic matter quality and functionality in soil ecosystems. In each site, two study areas with different vegetation (woodland (W) and olive tree grove (O)) were identified to evaluate the influence of vegetal cover on soil properties. Physical, chemical, biological and chemico-structural (pyrolysis–gas chromatography) analysis were combined to assess the evolution of soil characteristics. In the low boar density site (Asciano) soil organic matter quality and biological activity resulted positively affected by rooting and trampling activity (higher value of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, ATP and biomass carbon in soil grazed), while the high wild boar density (Castelfalfi) was responsible for a higher soil degradation as suggested by the lower value of chemico-physical and biological parameters. The effect of wild boar activity on soil depends also on the type of vegetation, in fact, woodland vegetation, with a greater contribution in organic matter, seemed to be more efficient in the protection of soil against degradation with respect to olive cover, also in Castelfalfi site, showing an improvement in the physical and biological soil properties.

Editorial

The 3rd International Wild Boar Symposium was organised by the Research Unit of the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management and was held in Uppsala, Sweden, in September 2000. The Symposium gathered almost 50 wildlife researchers and managers from Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The timing and location of the Symposium in Sweden was fitting, due to the rapid increase of the Swedish wild boar population. The debate among farmers, sportsmen and governmental authorities clearly indicated the necessity to synthesise knowledge and experience from around the world. The presentations given at the 3rd International Wild Boar Symposium covered a wide range of topics, such as effects of wild boar on farmed crops and livestock, social organisation, population structure, effects of hunting on wild boar behaviour, supplemental feeding and effects of predators. Other important aspects of wild boar behaviour were dynamics of home range establishment, activity patterns during foraging, as well as home range use and the role of the wild boar in increasing biodiversity. Both managers and scientists agreed on the necessity of increased co-operation to meet the needs of managers, to improve the scientific knowledge about wild boars, and to develop better monitoring methods. It was concluded that regular international Symposia and workshops would contribute to reaching these goals. To stimulate increased scientific soundness and transparency of the presented results, we chose WILDLIFE BIOLOGY as an international forum to publish the proceedings, and this encouraged the participants to produce high quality papers for the Symposium. It also will increase the distribution of the proceedings. All papers that were submitted from the 3rd International Wild Boar Symposium for publication in WILDLIFE BIOLOGY were critically reviewed by at least two scientists, many of whom had not participated in the Symposium. The same criteria and standards were used as for other manuscripts submitted to WILDLIFE BIOLOGY. The referees' recommendations helped the authors improve their manuscripts and were of great help to the Editor-in-Chief of WILDLIFE BIOLOGY, Jon E. Swenson, and me when deciding which papers would be included in this supplementary issue of WILDLIFE BIOLOGY. We hope you find this Proceedings issue of WILDLIFE BIOLOGY to be as stimulating and thought provoking as we do. We also express our thanks to the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency for financing the Symposium and publication of the proceedings.