Inter-pack, seasonal and annual variation in prey consumed by wolves in Pollino National Park, southern Italy
Inter-pack, seasonal and annual variation in prey consumed by wolves in Pollino National Park, southern Italy
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DOI：
10.1007/s10344-018-1166-1
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发表时间：
2018-02-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Boitani, Luigi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ciucci, Paolo;Artoni, Luca;Boitani, Luigi
尽管了解人类改造景观中狼的饮食习惯对于保护和冲突管理至关重要，但在狼与人类长期共存的意大利亚平宁山脉南部尚未进行过此类研究。通过粪便分析（n = 1743）和对数线性模型，我们研究了意大利南部波利诺国家公园（PNP）相对简单的猎物系统（1999-2003）中五只狼群的饮食组成。总体而言，尽管野猪是最常食用的猎物（平均频率 +/- SD，63.1 +/- 23%），但就生物量而言，野猪和牛在饮食中占主导地位（分别为 45.3 +/- 24 和 48.1 +/- 21%）。然而，我们揭示了区域（即区域、狼群）以及对狼饮食的年度和季节性影响。 PNP（波利诺亚系）北部地区狼群对牛的消耗量最高，尤其是在夏季，此时牛在生物量方面占主导地位（68.3 +/- 20%）。相反，Orsomarso 群体中的野猪消耗量最高（生物量，62.1 +/- 13%），在整个研究期间呈增加趋势，但没有相关的季节性变化。野猪仔猪和牛犊是最常被食用的年龄段，这表明它们全年都有供应，并且与其他猎物相比利润更高。狼对牛的消费反映了流行的畜牧技术（自由放养的牛群，无人看管的分娩），并决定了永久的冲突状态，常常引发对狼的报复性捕杀。需要兼容的畜牧业实践以及多猎物群落的恢复，以减少狼与牲畜的冲突，并可能增强狼在人类改变的生态系统中的生态作用。
Although understanding of food habits of wolves in human-modified landscapes is critical to inform conservation and conflict management, no such studies have ever been conducted in the southern Apennines, Italy, where wolves long coexisted with humans. By means of scat analysis (n = 1743) and log-linear modelling, we investigated diet composition in five wolf packs in the relatively simple prey system of the Pollino National Park (PNP), southern Italy (1999-2003). Overall, although wild boar was the most frequently consumed prey (mean frequency +/- SD, 63.1 +/- 23%), both wild boar and cattle predominated the diet in terms of biomass (45.3 +/- 24 and 48.1 +/- 21%, respectively). We revealed, however, a zonal (i.e. area, pack) followed by annual and seasonal effects on the wolf diet. Cattle consumption by wolf packs in the northern portion of PNP (Pollino subrange) was highest, especially during summer when cattle predominated the diet in terms of biomass (68.3 +/- 20%). Instead, wild boar consumption was highest in the Orsomarso packs (biomass, 62.1 +/- 13%), with increasing trends throughout the study period but no relevant seasonal variation. Wild boar piglets and cattle calves were the most frequently consumed age classes, revealing their availability year-round and higher profitability compared to other prey. Cattle consumption by wolves reflected prevailing husbandry techniques (free-ranging herds with unattended births) and determined a permanent state of conflict, often spurring retaliatory killing of wolves. Compatible cattle husbandry practices, along with the restoration of multi-prey communities, are needed to reduce wolf-livestock conflicts and possibly enhance the ecological role of wolves in human-altered ecosystems.