What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians.

Autor: Guimarães NF; Faculty of Forestry, Department of Applied Zoology and Wildlife Management, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia.; Little Fox, The Centre of Natural Sciences, Research and Environmental Education, Staré Hory, Slovakia.; Diana-Carpathian Wildlife Research, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia., Álvares F; CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal., Ďurová J; Little Fox, The Centre of Natural Sciences, Research and Environmental Education, Staré Hory, Slovakia.; Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Technical University in Zvolen, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia., Urban P; Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia., Bučko J; National Forest Centre, Zvolen, Slovakia., Iľko T; Diana-Carpathian Wildlife Research, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.; Muráň Plateau National Park, State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Revúca, Slovakia., Brndiar J; Diana-Carpathian Wildlife Research, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia., Štofik J; Poloniny National Park, State Nature Conservancy of the Slovakia Republic, Stakčín, Slovakia., Pataky T; Faculty of Forestry, Department of Applied Zoology and Wildlife Management, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia., Barančeková M; Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic.; University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic., Kropil R; Faculty of Forestry, Department of Applied Zoology and Wildlife Management, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia., Smolko P; Faculty of Forestry, Department of Applied Zoology and Wildlife Management, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia.; Diana-Carpathian Wildlife Research, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2022 Jun 27; Vol. 17 (6), pp. e0265386. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jun 27 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265386
Abstrakt: The wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important portion of the European wolf population; however, it has been markedly understudied. We evaluated winter diet composition and prey selection of Slovak wolves based on 321 scat samples collected between September-April within four different study areas during 2015-2017. The winter diet of wolves in the Slovak Carpathians was characterized by a 98% occurrence of wild large-sized and medium-sized ungulates with red deer occurring in wolf scats most often, consistent with their highest density among other wild ungulates. However, by comparing the consumption with availability of wild prey, we found that wolves in fact selected for wild boar especially in areas with higher altitudinal range, while selected for red deer in areas with low altitudinal range where this prey species was more spatially predictable. Although wolves showed the potential to switch between red deer and wild boar when their density increases, we found that this variation can be rather linked to changing prey vulnerability, which is dependent on particular environmental conditions at local scale such as topography and snow accumulation. The present study provides valuable insights into the winter foraging ecology of Slovak wolves in a multi-prey system of the Carpathians and allows for practical implications in the management of the rapidly increasing populations of wild ungulates across Europe.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje