Diet selection by hares (Lepus europaeus) in arable land and its implications for habitat management

Abstract

Populations of European hares (Lepus europaeus) have experienced a dramatic decline throughout Europe in recent decades. European hares are assumed to prefer weeds over arable crops, and weed abundance was reduced by the intensification of agriculture. Therefore, modern agriculture has been blamed as a major factor affecting European hare populations. However, it is questionable whether European hares select weeds at all, as previous studies had major methodological limitations. By comparing availability and use of plants with Chesson's Electivity Index, we investigated whether the European hare actually feeds selectively on different plants in arable land. Food availability and use were dominated by cultivated crops (e.g. winter wheat, spring barley and sugar beet). Diet selection analysis revealed that in autumn and winter, European hares predominantly preferred cultivated crops (winter wheat) and food items provided by hunters (tubers of sugar beet and carrot). In spring and summer, apart from soy, only weeds (e.g. clover and corn poppy) were positively selected, especially after cereal crops were harvested. We suggest that the decline in European hare populations throughout Europe was facilitated by the decrease in weed abundance. Wildlife-friendly set-asides in arable land have the potential to reconcile the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy with wildlife conservation.

Habitat overlap between sympatric European hares (Lepus europaeus) and Eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus) in northern Italy

“…Permanent cover, alfalfa and crops were equally preferred by hares in allopatry as well as in sympatry. The species is known to feed on winter cereals and alfalfa during autumn and winter months, because they provide good quality food (Tapper and Barnes 1986;Reichlin et al 2006), and on stubbles in summer because of the weeds which grow and dominated after harvesting (Reichlin et al 2006). The avoidance of anthropogenic-occupied areas came out mostly in allopatry, where villages and road networks were more developed than in the sympatric area; Roedenbeck and Voser (2008) identified the negative effect of villages and road networks on the spatial distribution of hares even in protected areas.…”

“…The ultimate cause of the decline of hare numbers has been attributed to habitat heterogeneity occurring in different agro-ecosystems because of the adoption of modern agricultural practices (Vaughan et al 2003;Smith et al 2004;Reichlin et al 2006;Pépin and Angibault 2007).…”

The indicator plant species of wild animals in the Gidengelmez mountains district

“…European hare eats Vicia cracca subsp. stenophylla, Dianthus zonatus and Sedum caespitosum (Reichlin et al, 2006;Karmiris and Nastis, 2010;Karmiris and Tsiouvaras, 2013;Freschi et al, 2015). European hare eats the leaves and the other parts of Vicia cracca subsp.…”

Diet overlap between small ruminants and the European hare in a Mediterranean shrubland

“…Sheep are considered grazers, since they mainly consume herbaceous species, despite sometimes including a substantial amount of browse in their diets [22,24]. Although the hare relies largely on grasses for food, its diet composition may vary markedly from one area to the next [25,26]. Under stressful conditions, hares consume increased quantities of browse and plant biomass of very low nutritional value, such as bark, pine needles, etc.…”

“…Based on the assumption that goats are generally browsers, hares consume mainly grasses, and sheep have a more diverse diet composition [e.g. 23,24,26], we hypothesized that the dietary overlap and its seasonal changes between small ruminants and hares would be low. Subsequently, we predicted that diversity of the composition of sheep diet would be higher than the other two herbivores studied.…”