Feeding Behavior of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus, Leu2 Haplotype) on Pianosa Island: Insights into the Absence of Trophic Competition
Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Plant Sampling
2.3. Fecal Pellet Sampling and Analysis Procedure
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Vegetation and Dietary Botanical Composition
3.2. Botanical Diversity and Similarity in Vegetation and Diet
3.3. Dietary Selectivity
4. Discussion
4.1. Biodiversity and Seasonal Impact
4.2. Feeding Selection
4.3. Feeding Strategy in Absence of Predation and Competition
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Total | Spring | Autumn | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Coast | Internal | Coast | Internal | |
Vegetation | 68 | 83 | 36 | 54 |
Diet (a + b) | 39 | 56 | 29 | 36 |
a, selected | 29 | 33 | 19 | 23 |
b, not selected | 10 | 23 | 10 | 22 |
Index | Internal Site | Coastal Site | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spring | Autumn | p | Spring | Autumn | p | |
Diversity (α diversity) | ||||||
Shannon, H | 3.494 ± 0.053 | 2.758 ± 0.099 | 0.013 | 3.434 ± 0.006 | 2.585 ± 0.166 | 0.002 |
Margalef | 7.418 ± 0.703 | 4.026 ± 0.152 | 0.001 | 6.327 ± 0.628 | 4.010 ± 0.387 | 0.009 |
Buzas and Gibson, E | 0.832 ± 0.08 | 0.797 ± 0.009 | 0.931 | 0.852 ± 0.084 | 0.789 ± 0.009 | 0.789 |
Similarity (β diversity) | ||||||
Chao | 0.712 | 0.675 | ||||
Sørensen | 0.724 | 0.683 |
Index | Internal Site | Coastal Site | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spring | Autumn | p | Spring | Autumn | p | |
Diversity (α diversity) | ||||||
Shannon, H | 2.900 ± 0.050 | 2.408 ± 0.074 | 0.011 | 2.750 ± 0.087 | 2.300 ± 0.087 | 0.021 |
Margalef | 3.825 ± 0.075 | 3.208 ± 0.008 | 0.001 | 3.700 ± 0.110 | 3.083 ± 0.101 | 0.016 |
Buzas and Gibson, E | 0.865 ± 0.005 | 0.795 ± 0.009 | 0.021 | 0.840 ± 0.024 | 0.780 ± 0.012 | 0.021 |
Similarity (β diversity) | ||||||
Sørensen | 0.56 | 0.62 |
Family | Spring | Autumn | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
wi | Feeding Behavior | p-Value | wi | Feeding Behavior | p-Value | |
Amaryllidaceae | 4.460 | P | 0.159 | 2.810 | P | 0.034 |
Anacardiaceae | - | - | - | 2.000 | P | 0.371 |
Apiaceae | 7.731 | P | 0.045 | 5.579 | P | 0.000 |
Asparagaceae | 0.159 | A | 0.124 | 0.128 | A | 0.261 |
Asphodelaceae | - | - | - | 0.043 | A | 0.136 |
Asteraceae | 0.914 | I | 0.031 | 1.936 | P | 0.037 |
Boraginaceae | 0.400 | A | 0.227 | 0.385 | A | 0.529 |
Brassicaceae | 2.441 | P | 0.006 | 0.256 | A | 0.317 |
Caryophyllaceae | 2.248 | P | 0.085 | 0.612 | A | 0.064 |
Convolvulaceae | 0.015 | A | 0.048 | 0.057 | A | 0.051 |
Dipsacaceae | 1.139 | P | 0.038 | 2.128 | P | 0.177 |
Euphorbiaceae | 0.088 | A | 0.009 | 0.163 | A | 0.042 |
Fabaceae | 1.265 | P | 0.000 | 13.80 | P | 0.148 |
Gentianaceae | 0.080 | A | 0.446 | - | - | - |
Geraniaceae | 1.000 | I | 0.066 | 0.163 | A | 0.296 |
Lamiaceae | 3.480 | P | 0.036 | 0.175 | A | 0.045 |
Linaceae | 0.036 | A | 0.519 | - | - | - |
Malvaceae | 0.067 | A | 0.221 | - | - | - |
Orobanchaceae | 0.033 | A | 0.077 | - | - | - |
Plantaginaceae | 2.007 | P | 0.004 | 2.164 | P | 0.688 |
Poaceae | 1.468 | P | 0.005 | 0.832 | A | 0.006 |
Primulaceae | 0.067 | A | 0.049 | - | - | - |
Resedaceae | 0.200 | A | 0.078 | - | - | - |
Rosaceae | - | - | - | 6.575 | P | 0.038 |
Rubiaceae | 0.057 | A | 0.050 | - | - | - |
Family | Spring | Autumn | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
wi | Feeding Behavior | p-Value | wi | Feeding Behavior | p-Value | |
Amaryllidaceae | - | - | - | 8.167 | P | 0.015 |
Anacardiaceae | - | - | - | 0.179 | A | 0.428 |
Apiaceae | 0.371 | P | 0.077 | 0.673 | A | 0.023 |
Asparagaceae | - | - | - | 3.6 | P | 0.042 |
Asphodelaceae | 0.826 | A | 0.063 | 0.021 | A | 0.033 |
Asteraceae | 1.446 | P | 0.002 | 1.343 | P | 0.002 |
Boraginaceae | 1.359 | P | 0.048 | 0.648 | A | 0.442 |
Brassicaceae | 0.843 | A | 0.070 | 0.087 | A | 0.471 |
Caprifoliaceae | 0.2 | A | 0.352 | - | - | - |
Caryophyllaceae | 0.59 | A | 0.003 | 2.452 | P | 0.055 |
Convolvulaceae | 0.024 | A | 0.056 | 0.192 | A | 0.066 |
Dipsacaceae | - | - | - | 1.197 | P | 0.336 |
Euphorbiaceae | 0.048 | A | 0.053 | 1.091 | P | 0.098 |
Fabaceae | 1.37 | P | 0.000 | 3.842 | P | 0.072 |
Geraniaceae | 0.266 | A | 0.083 | - | - | - |
Lamiaceae | 0.696 | A | 0.06 | A | 0.662 | |
Linaceae | 0.086 | A | 0.228 | - | - | - |
Malvaceae | 2.385 | P | 0.154 | - | - | - |
Oleaceae | - | - | - | 0.179 | A | 0.044 |
Orobanchaceae | 0.24 | A | 0.062 | - | - | - |
Papaveraceae | 0.769 | A | 0.088 | - | - | - |
Plantaginaceae | 0.723 | A | 0.035 | 1.244 | P | 0.572 |
Poaceae | 1.205 | P | 0.017 | 1.342 | P | 0 |
Primulaceae | 0.045 | A | 0.003 | - | - | - |
Resedaceae | 0.154 | A | 0.255 | - | - | - |
Rosaceae | 0.035 | A | 0.077 | 0.161 | A | 0.05 |
Rubiaceae | 0.043 | A | 0.026 | - | - | - |
Scrophulariaceae | 0.769 | A | 0.058 | - | - | - |
Thymelaeaceae | 0.385 | A | 0.216 | 0.357 | A | 0.077 |
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Freschi, P.; Fascetti, S.; Riga, F.; Zaccaroni, M.; Giannini, F.; Langella, E.; Cosentino, C. Feeding Behavior of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus, Leu2 Haplotype) on Pianosa Island: Insights into the Absence of Trophic Competition. Vet. Sci. 2025, 12, 546. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12060546
Freschi P, Fascetti S, Riga F, Zaccaroni M, Giannini F, Langella E, Cosentino C. Feeding Behavior of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus, Leu2 Haplotype) on Pianosa Island: Insights into the Absence of Trophic Competition. Veterinary Sciences. 2025; 12(6):546. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12060546
Chicago/Turabian StyleFreschi, Pierangelo, Simonetta Fascetti, Francesco Riga, Marco Zaccaroni, Francesca Giannini, Emilia Langella, and Carlo Cosentino. 2025. "Feeding Behavior of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus, Leu2 Haplotype) on Pianosa Island: Insights into the Absence of Trophic Competition" Veterinary Sciences 12, no. 6: 546. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12060546
APA StyleFreschi, P., Fascetti, S., Riga, F., Zaccaroni, M., Giannini, F., Langella, E., & Cosentino, C. (2025). Feeding Behavior of the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus, Leu2 Haplotype) on Pianosa Island: Insights into the Absence of Trophic Competition. Veterinary Sciences, 12(6), 546. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12060546