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Trophic ecology of the European wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus on the Mediterranean island of Lemnos, Greece

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Ecological Research

Abstract

The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a species with a wide distribution across the globe and a contradicting role in the ecological integrity of ecosystems and local economies. Despite the considerable amount of research that has been conducted on the trophic ecology of the species in continental environments, similar studies in insular environments are still fairly scarce. The article examines the trophic ecology of wild rabbit, using microhistological analysis to study its annual dietary composition in relation to the availability and quality of food sources, in two different habitats of a northeast Mediterranean island. A total of 112 species were found to participate, to a lower or greater degree, in the species diet across the year. The available food sources, as well as the identified food items, were classified in three feeding functional groups (FFGs), namely, grasses, forbs and parts of woody plants. Wild rabbit follows a diverse diet having adapted to the seasonal changes in the availability and quality of food sources. Forbs is the FFG which constitutes the main food source of the species, while grasses and parts of woody plants form occasionally an important component of its diet. The FFG of grasses is almost constantly preferred in both habitat types and plays a deterministic role in the trophic ecology of wild rabbit. During the critical dry season, where the availability of high quality food becomes limited, the species preferably consumes taxa that are generally less palatable and even toxic in its struggle for survival.

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Acknowledgments

This research is part of a Ph.D. thesis, and supported partly financially by the Prefecture of Lesbos. Thanks are given to Professors N. Papageorgiou, C. Vlachos, V. Papanastasis, E. Eleftheriadou (Associate Professor) and S. Panagiotidis (Assistant Professor) for their valuable comments during this research. The Ministry of Rural Development and Food is also acknowledged for the permission to collect data. The study was conducted according to the Greek and EU laws.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife Management and Freshwater Fisheries, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 241, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece

    V. J. Kontsiotis & D. E. Bakaloudis

  2. Department of Forestry and Management of Natural Environment, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 661 00, Drama, Greece

    T. Merou

  3. Department of Landscape Architecture, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 661 00, Drama, Greece

    P. Xofis

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  1. V. J. Kontsiotis
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  2. D. E. Bakaloudis
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  3. T. Merou
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  4. P. Xofis
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Correspondence to V. J. Kontsiotis.

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Kontsiotis, V.J., Bakaloudis, D.E., Merou, T. et al. Trophic ecology of the European wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus on the Mediterranean island of Lemnos, Greece. Ecol Res 30, 683–691 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1269-z

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