Abstract
The aim of this study was to estimate long-term changes in the winter feeding pattern of red foxes Vulpes vulpes and in their predation on brown hares Lepus europaeus in relation to the decreasing abundance of hares in western Poland in 1965/1966–2006/2007. The frequencies of occurrence in the stomachs of culled foxes (N = 726) were used as indices of prey capture rates. The average autumn density of brown hares in the study area decreased from 48 individuals/km2 at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s to seven individuals/km2 in 1999–2006. Hares and small rodents were the main food classes of foxes in western Poland at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s; however, the occurrence of hares in the fox diet subsequently decreased, and they were replaced by livestock carrion. The relationship between the occurrence frequency of hares in the fox diet and the hare density was best described by sigmoid equation. It indicates that the red fox showed a type III functional response to long-term changes in hare abundance. When predation rate index was estimated on the basis of functional response, the potential fox predation was density-dependent at low to intermediate hare densities (<25 individuals/km2). This finding suggests that the increase in the number of low-density hare populations may require intensive management measures, e.g. simultaneous use of fox control and habitat improvement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boutin S (1995) Testing predator–prey theory by studying fluctuating populations of small mammals. Wildl Res 22:89–100
Delibes-Mateos M, Fernandez de Simon J, Villafuerte R, Ferreras P (2008) Feeding responses of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) to different wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) densities: a regional approach. Eur J Wildl Res 54:71–78
Dziurdzik B (1973) Key to the identification of hairs of mammals from Poland. Acta Zool Cracov 18:73–92
Erlinge S, Frylestam B, Göransson G, Högstedt G, Liberg O, Loman J, Nilsson IN, von Schantz T, Sylvén M (1984) Predation on brown hare and ring-necked pheasant populations in southern Sweden. Holarct Ecol 7:300–304
Gascoigne JC, Lipcius RN (2004) Allee effects driven by predation. J Appl Ecol 41:801–810
Goszczyński J (1974) Studies on the food of foxes. Acta Theriol 19:1–18
Goszczyński J (1985) The effect of structural differentiation of ecological landscape on the predator–prey interaction. Treatises Monogr, AU Wars 46:1–80
Goszczyński J (1986) Diet of foxes and martens in central Poland. Acta Theriol 31:491–506
Goszczyński J, Wasilewski M (1992) Predation of foxes on a hare population in central Poland. Acta Theriol 37:329–338
Goszczyński J, Ryszkowski L, Truszkowski J (1976) The role of the European hare in the diet of predators in cultivated field systems. In: Pielowski Z, Pucek Z (eds) Ecology and management of European hare populations. PWRiL, Warszawa, pp 127–133
Hanski I, Hansson L, Henttonen H (1991) Specialist predators, generalist predators, and the microtine rodent cycle. J Anim Ecol 60:353–367
Holling CS (1959) Some characteristics of simple types of predation and parasitism. Can Entomol 91:385–398
Jędrzejewska B, Jędrzejewski W (1998) Predation in vertebrate communities. The Białowieża Forest as a case study. Springer, Berlin
Kamieniarz R, Panek M (2008) Game animals in Poland at the turn of the 20th and 21st century. Stacja Badawcza—OHZ PZŁ, Czempiń
Korpimäki E, Oksanen L, Oksanen T, Klemola T, Norrdahl K, Banks PB (2005) Vole cycles and predation in temperate and boreal zones of Europe. J Anim Ecol 74:1150–1159
Lindström E, Andrèn H, Angelstam P, Widèn P (1986) Influence of predators on hare populations in Sweden: a critical review. Mamm Rev 16:151–156
Lindström ER, Andrén H, Angelstam P, Cederlund G, Hörnfeldt B, Jäderberg L, Lemnell P-A, Martinsson B, Sköld K, Swenson JE (1994) Disease reveals the predator: sarcoptic mange, red fox predation, and prey populations. Ecology 75:1042–1049
Murdoch WW, Oaten A (1975) Predation and population stability. Adv Ecol Res 9:1–123
Oksanen T, Oksanen L, Schneider M, Aunapuu M (2001) Regulation, cycles and stability in northern carnivore–herbivore systems: back to first principles. Oikos 94:101–117
Panek M, Bresiński W (2002) Red fox Vulpes vulpes density and habitat use in a rural area of western Poland in the end of 1990s, compared with the turn of 1970s. Acta Theriol 47:433–442
Panek M, Kamieniarz R, Bresiński W (2006) The effect of experimental removal of red foxes Vulpes vulpes on spring density of brown hares Lepus europaeus in western Poland. Acta Theriol 51:187–193
Pech RP, Sinclair ARE, Newsome AE, Catling PC (1992) Limits to predator regulation of rabbits in Australia: evidence from predator-removal experiments. Oecologia 89:102–112
Pech RP, Sinclair ARE, Newsome AE (1995) Predation models for primary and secondary prey species. Wildl Res 22:55–64
Pegel M (1986) Der Feldhase (Lepus europaeus Pallas) im Beziehungsgefüge seiner Um- und Mitweltfaktoren. Schriften des Arbeitskreises Wildbiologie und Jagdwissenschaft an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen 16:1–224
Pepin D, Birkan M (1981) Comparative total- and strip-census estimates of hares and partridges. Acta Oecol, Oecol Appl 2:151–160
Pielowski Z (1969) Belt assessment as a reliable method of determining the number of hares. Acta Theriol 14:133–140
Pielowski Z (1976) The role of foxes in the reduction of the European hare populations. In: Pielowski Z, Pucek Z (eds) Ecology and management of European hare populations. PWRiL, Warszawa, pp 135–148
Raoul F, Deplazes P, Rieffel D, Lambert J-C, Giraudoux P (2010) Predator dietary response to prey density variation and consequences for cestode transmission. Oecologia 164:129–139
Reynolds JC, Tapper SC (1995) Predation by foxes Vulpes vulpes on brown hares Lepus europaeus in central southern England, and its potential impact on annual population growth. Wildl Biol 1:145–158
Reynolds JC, Tapper SC (1996) Control of mammalian predators in game management and conservation. Mamm Rev 26:127–156
Reynolds JC, Stoate C, Brockless MH, Aebischer NJ, Tapper SC (2010) The consequences of predator control for brown hares (Lepus europaeus) on UK farmland. Eur J Wildl Res 56:541–549
Rzebik-Kowalska B (1972) Studies on the diet of the carnivores in Poland. Acta Zool Cracov 17:415–506
Schmidt NM, Asferg T, Forchhammer MC (2004) Long-term patterns in European brown hare population dynamics in Denmark: effects of agriculture, predation and climate. BMC Ecol 4:15
Sinclair ARE, Pech RP (1996) Density dependence, stochasticity, compensation and predator regulation. Oikos 75:164–173
Sinclair ARE, Pech RP, Dickman CR, Hik D, Mahon P, Newsome AE (1998) Predicting effects of predation on conservation of endangered prey. Conserv Biol 12:564–575
Smith RK, Jennings NV, Harris S (2005) A quantitative analysis of the abundance and demography of European hares Lepus europaeus in relation to habitat type, intensity of agriculture and climate. Mamm Rev 35:1–24
Strauß E, Grauer A, Bartel M, Klein R, Wenzelides L, Greiser G, Muchin A, Nösel H, Winter A (2008) The German wildlife information system: population densities and development of European hare (Lepus europaeus PALLAS) during 2002–2005 in Germany. Eur J Wildl Res 54:142–147
Tapper SC, Barnes RFW (1986) Influence of farming practice on the ecology of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus). J Appl Ecol 23:39–52
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to all colleagues from the Research Station PHA in Czempiń for their help in data collection and paper preparation, and to anonymous referees for their valuable comments to the manuscript. Financial support for this research was provided by the State Committee for Scientific Research within the project No 2 P04F 005 26.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by C. Gortazar
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Panek, M. Long-term changes in the feeding pattern of red foxes Vulpes vulpes and their predation on brown hares Lepus europaeus in western Poland. Eur J Wildl Res 59, 581–586 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0709-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0709-8