Summer Diet of Horses (Equus ferus caballus Linn.), Guanacos (Lama guanicoe Müller), and European Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas) in the High Andean Range of the Coquimbo Region, Chile

Abstract

For an adequate management of natural grasslands, the knowledge and understanding of the dietary habits of herbivores and their trophic interactions are fundamental. During two summer seasons, in a mountain range of a sector of the Coquimbo Region, Chile, the botanical composition, diversity, and similarity of the diets of horses, European brown hares, and guanacos were studied, as was the selectivity of the main grassland plant species, using feces microhistology. The contribution of hydromorphic grasses was similar in the diets of guanacos (35.90 ± 7.27%) and horses (32.25 ± 4.50%), differing from that found in hares (16.32 ± 5.32%). Dryland grassland grasses contributed similarly to the diets of horses (13.21 ± 3.22%), guanacos (22.53 ± 5.21%) and hares (18.35 ± 3.81%), as well as graminoids, which averaged 47.79 ± 6.66%, 35.63 ± 10.76% and 38.94 ± 7.88%, in diets of horses, guanacos, and hares, respectively, without significant differences. The contribution of herbaceous dicotyledons was only important in hares (23.76 ± 3.76%), while that of shrubs was low (<3%) and similar among the three herbivores. Dietary diversity was similar among the three herbivore species (73–79%), with a higher degree of dietary overlap between horses and guanacos (55.7%), which was higher than that obtained between hares and guanacos (50%) and between horses and hares (48%), for which there would be a potential trophic competition between them. The most abundant species of dryland and wet grasslands generally fulfill a functional role of subsistence and a nutritional role of maintenance; however, for the three herbivores studied, a different selective behavior was evidenced, according to their physiological differences, with the selection process little affected by the relative abundance of these species in the grasslands. Due to the above, herbivores resort to the selection of certain species that, despite being not very abundant in grasslands, play an important nutritional and functional role, improving the quality of their diets.

Preliminary Report on Diet Estimation of Taruka (Hippocamelus antisensis d’Orbigny, 1834) in an Agricultural Area of the Andean Foothills of the Tarapacá Region, Chile

“…However, these figures are lower than those found in other highland ungulates, such as vicuñas ( Vicugna vicugna Mol.) and guanacos ( Lama guanicoe Müller), where J reaches values of 0.8 [ 49 , 50 ]. This aspect would indicate that the taruka therefore present a lower dietary plasticity, a narrower trophic niche, and a lower capacity for competition compared to domestic camelids, which would become more acute in the dry period.…”

Seasonal Diet Composition of Goitered Gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) in an Arid and Semi-Arid Region of Western China

“…If the morphology was not clear, the immersion time was extended. After achieving a clear cell morphology, saffron red staining for ~30 min, followed by stain removal, was used for microscopic mount preparation [ 1 , 45 , 50 , 51 ]. Each plant specimen was used to prepare five slides.…”

Abandonment of Silvopastoral Practices Affects the Use of Habitats by the European Hare (Lepus europaeus)

“…The hare prefers grazed and partially disturbed habitats, such as grasslands, scrublands, clearings in scrub and forest stands, and farmland [20,21], and this is why habitat heterogeneity plays a key role in its population dynamics [13,14,16,17,22]. Although its diet consists of a wide range of herb species, grasses and graminoids usually constitute the bulk of its diet composition [23,24].…”