Alberto Meriggi

A review of wolf predation in southern Europe : does the wolf prefer wild prey to livestock ?

The recent recovery of the wolf in southern Europe has not yet removed the risk of local extinction. Wolf populations are fragmented and often comprise fewer than 500 individuals. In North America, northern and eastern Europe, wolves feed mainly on wild herbivores. In southern Europe, this canid has apparently adapted to feed also on fruit, rubbish, livestock, small and medium-size mammals. The main conservation problem lies with predation on domestic ungulates, which leads to extensive killing of wolves. The reintroduction of wild large herbivores has been advocated as a means of reducing attacks on livestock, but predation on the latter may remain high if domestic ungulates are locally abundant. Our synthesis of 15 studies, published in the last 15 years, on food habits of the wolf in southern Europe, has shown that ungulates have been the main diet component overall. A significant inverse correlation was found between the occurrence (%) of wild and domestic ungulates in the diet. The presence of relatively few wild ungulate species was necessary to reduce predation on livestock. Selection of wild and domestic ungulate prey was influenced mainly by their local abundance, but also by their accessibility. Feeding dependence on rubbish was local and rare. In Italy, the consumption of rubbish/fruit and that of ungulates was significantly negatively correlated. Diet breadth increased as the presence of large prey in the diet decreased. The simultaneous reintroduction of several wild ungulate species is likely to reduce predation on livestock and may prove to be one of the most effective conservation measures.

Changes of wolf (Canis lupus) diet in Italy in relation to the increase of wild ungulate abundance

We reviewed 20 studies on wolf diet in Italy, to relate the changes in diet composition to the increase of wild ungulate population in Italy. Researches covered the period from 1976 to 2004 and the whole range of wolves from southern Apennines to western Alps. We used the frequency of occurrence of seven food categories and of the wild ungulate species occurring in the diet. Estimates of wild ungulate populations were obtained from the literature and we extrapolated their trend in the period considered. Differences among geographic areas (south-central Apennines, northern Apennines, and western Alps) were tested by nonparametric multivariate analysis of variance, while the trends of the wild ungulate and livestock use and of diet breadth were analysed by regression and curve-fit analyses. We used the same method to support the relationships between the use and availability of wild ungulates. Wolves preyed on wild herbivores more in the northern Apennines and in the western Alps than in the southern Apennines; the contrary was the case for livestock. Among wild ungulate species, wild boar, roe deer and red deer were the main prey of the wolf. The occurrence of wild ungulates in the wolf diet increased from 1976 to 2004 together with a decrease of livestock; the increase was mainly due to roe deer, red deer and chamois. The results of scat analysis in the province of Genoa showed an increase of the occurrence of wild ungulates from 1987 to 2005, in particular roe deer and fallow deer. Wolves in Italy seem to select wild ungulates over domestic ones where the former are available with rich and diversified guilds and abundant populations.

Habitat requirements of wild boars in the northern Apennines (N Italy): A multi‐level approach

Abstract Habitat selection by wild boars was studied in a 20 km2 study area located in the northern Apennines (N Italy) and covered mainly by broad‐leaved woods. Wild boar tracks and signs were searched for along transects (49 km) and mapped from January to December 1990. Habitat selection was analysed on three levels: i) macro‐habitat, i.e. the influence of general features of habitat on the attendance of the study area, by dividing the area into 25‐ha sample squares and performing multiple regression analyses of the attendance index vs the habitat variables; ii) medium‐habitat, by the distribution of signs in the different habitat types (types of woods, scrubs, crops, etc.) and in comparison with the availability of habitats; iii) micro‐habitat, by measuring 20 micro‐habitat variables in a 5‐m plot in observation and control points and by carrying out logistic regression analyses to find out the most important variables characterizing the two types of points. The results of the analyses at the three levels were consistent in showing the great importance of the woody habitats and in particular of those with a higher degree of naturality such as broad‐leaved mature Woods, old coppices and mixed woods that provide food and shelter for wild boars. Some seasonal differences in habitat selection were found in relation to the changes in food and shelter availability and to the particular requirements of the wild boars (reproductive and farrowing periods). Generally all the analyses showed a habitat use with feeding and antipredatory meaning.

Using harvest data to predict habitat-population relationship of the wild boar Sus scrofa in Northern Italy

The relationships between the wild boarSus scrofa, Linnaeus 1758 density and the habitat characteristics were investigated by collecting bag records in 18 hunting areas during the 1995 and 1996 hunting seasons. The study areas were located in the Northern Apennines (N-Italy) from 470 to 1160 m a.s.l. In each study area a Density Index (DI) was calculated by weighting the number of wild boar culled in each hunting season on the number of hunting days and on the surface of the study areas. Moreover 16 habitat variables were measured in each study area. Correlation and regression analyses were performed considering the DI as a dependent variable. Mixed deciduous woods were positively correlated with wild boar density together with chestnuts woods and conifer reafforestations. No significant negative correlations were found. Twelve multiple regression models each including three habitat variables were ranked by the information-theoretic approach (modified Akaike’s information criterion). The study stressed the importance of mixed woods for wild boar and the usefulness of hunting data as a mean to predict the habitat suitability for the species.

Carrion dependence and food habits of the red fox in an Alpine area

Abstract The food habits and trophic niche breadth of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) were studied across a wide altitudinal range in a protected Alpine area (Gran Paradiso National Park) through the analysis of 922 scats, collected monthly along fixed itineraries. Small mammals and insects prevailed in the warm season and were replaced by chamois in the cold season, as soon as carcasses became available. The overwhelming importance of the latter, clumped, nutritious and abundant resource suggests opportunistic feeding behaviour of red foxes in harsh climatic conditions. As a consequence, the trophic niche was quite narrow in winter. Accordingly, ungulate density directly influenced the use of carcasses.

Factors affecting Brown hare density in northern Italy

Factors affecting Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) density were studied in protected areas of northern Italy with the aim of evaluating the influence of vegetation type on the distribution of animals in arable farmland. Drive censuses were used on sample plots to assess autumn and spring hare densities. Correlations and multiple regression analysis showed that ploughed fields in spring, and maize and rice crops in autumn have a negative effect on density, while the grass edges and meadows in spring, and poplar groves and wheat in autumn, have a positive effect. Lucerne crops, in which farming practices induce a high death rate of leverets, reduce density. The effect of natural vegetation is not clear. Landscape diversity, which in the study areas depends on certain unfavourable crops, is inversely correlated with autumn density.

Selection of wild ungulates by wolves Canis lupus (L. 1758) in an area of the Northern Apennines (North Italy)

We investigated the patterns of wild ungulate selection by wolves in an 860 km2 study area of the Northern Apennines (North Italy), in order to detect seasonal variation in wolf diet and changes of feeding habits in relation to the increased abundance of wild ungulates. From June 2007 to May 2008 we collected wolf scats and recorded the signs of presence of wild ungulate species along 25 transects, representative of the different habitat types within the study area. We analysed the scats to identify the main food items used by wolves in each season and we compared the proportions of biomass of wild ungulate species in the diet (use) to those calculated from the signs of presence (availability). We recorded significant seasonal changes in wolf feeding habits, but the main food items were wild ungulates, mainly wild boars, and medium-sized mammals. Livestock (sheep, goats, and calves) were used only in summer and early autumn, during the grazing period, in small quantities. Comparing the current diet of wolves to that recorded in the past in the same study area highlighted significant differences for wild ungulates and livestock, the former being more used nowadays and the latter less. Our study showed that, in the Northern Apennines, the feeding behaviour of wolves has evolved towards a greater use of wild prey, so reducing the impact on livestock and consequently wolf-human conflicts. Moreover, predation by wolves was directed towards the most abundant species of wild ungulates.

Biochemical Analysis of Relationships of Mediterranean Alectoris Partridges

-The Mediterranean Alectoris (including A. rufa, A. graeca, A. chukar, and A. barbara) comprise a group of closely related and morphologically uniform partridges with largely allopatric distributions and instances of natural hybridization in parapatric contact zones. Their taxonomic status and evolution are controversial. We have used multilocus protein electrophoresis to estimate the extent of genetic divergence among nominal Alectoris species and within A. chukar, A. graeca and A. rufa. The average Neis (1978) genetic distance among conspecific populations (D = 0.008; range 0.003-0.021) was 26 times smaller than among species (D = 0.208; range 0.071-0.312). The most genetically similar species were A. rufa and A. graeca (D = 0.081); A. barbara and A. chukar were the most divergent (D = 0.303). The Fs, values among species (Fs, = 0.75) were more than eight times larger than among conspecific populations (Fs, = 0.09). The gap in D and Fs, values for intraspecific and interspecific comparisons indicates a prolonged interruption of gene flow among species and independent evolution of their gene pools. Dendrograms summarizing genetic distance matrices and cladistic analyses of discrete character states suggested that A. rufa and A. graeca are sister species of recent origin, followed by the most distantly related and ancient A. chukar and A. barbara. Because protein electrophoresis results are concordant with biogeographical and paleontological information, we construct a hypothesis for the evolution of the Mediterranean Alectoris. Received 2 May 1991, accepted 13 January 1992. THE ALECTORIS partridges (Galliformes, Phasianidae) are distributed widely in the Palaearctic (Fig. 1). They present intriguing and challenging questions with regard to taxonomic and evolutionary relationships. Peters (1934) included graeca, chukar, and magna as subspecies of A. graeca, a taxonomy that was followed by Dementiev and Gladkov (1952). Voous (1960) largely accepted this classification, but questioned the separate species rank assigned to A. rufa. From ethological evidence, Menzdorf (1984) agreed that graeca, chukar, and rufa had not yet attained true species status. Vaurie (1959), on the contrary, argued that these forms comprised separate species owing to diagnostic differences in facial plumage and vocalizations. This view was supported by Watson (1962a, b), who offered additional evidence of species-specific plumage characters, and of behavioral and ecological separation among parapatric populations. The Vaurie (1959) and Watson (1962a, b) view of seven closely related Alectoris species is now widely accepted (Cramp and Simmons 1980, Johnsgard 1988). Most Alectoris species are very similar morphologically, differing only with respect to subtle but diagnostic face and throat plumage patterns (Johnsgard 1988). Their natural ranges (Fig. 1) are largely allopatric, except for sympatry between melanocephala and philbyi in southern Arabia. Parapatric contact zones exist between chukar and graeca at the border of Greece and Bulgaria, between rufa and graeca in the French Alps, and probably between magna and chukar in central China (Watson 1962a, Bernard-Laurent 1984). Only two zones of overlap and hybridization (sensu Short 1969) have been reported: a well-documented rufa and graeca hybrid zone in the southern French Alps (Bernard-Laurent 1984); and an unconfirmed graeca and chukar hybrid zone in Thrace south of the Rhodope Mountains (Dragoev 1974). Extant Alectoris populations of Mediterranean and North Atlantic islands probably resulted from human introductions (Watson 1962b, Blondel 1988). The present pattern of only one species per island may represent the outcome of competitive exclusion among two or more species

The reintroduction of grey and red‐legged partridges (Perdix perdix and Alectoris rufa) in central Italy: a metapopulation approach

The grey partridge became extinct in the province of Siena (central Italy) in the late seventies, whereas the red‐legged partridge had already disappeared by the beginning of the twentieth century. Some reintroduction attempts of both species carried out in the 1980s gave encouraging but not definitive results, and failed after an initial success. This was probably due to the low number of birds released, the small size of the re‐introduction areas, their isolation, the farm‐bred origin of the partridges, and hunting. In the province of Siena, for the first time in Italy, a large‐scale reintroduction program of grey and red‐legged partridges was experimented. The project started up in 1995 with seven reintroduction areas for grey and four for red‐legged partridge, and was extended to 19 areas (22,562 ha) for grey and 7 (6858 ha) for red‐legged partridge in 2002. Population viability analyses for both species showed that if reintroduced populations were isolated they would be extinct in a few years. Therefore, a metapopulation approach was adopted (contemporary releases in reintroduction areas close to each other). In each area, 100–1000 partridges per year were released for a minimum of 3 years, from different farms in order to achieve the maximum initial genetic diversity. Releases were effected in late summer (August–September) in acclimatization pens containing 10–20 aviaries. The reintroduced population showed marked variability of some demographic parameters, such as pair density and brood production rate; instead, average brood size was relatively constant across the study areas, but with annual variations. Reintroduction success was limited to a few areas only, mainly depending on the habitat characteristics of the areas, their surface area and isolation, and on the degree of care for the birds during the acclimatization period.

Habitat use by partridges (perdix perdix and alectoris rufa) in an area of northern apennines, Italy

Abstract Habitat selection by grey and red‐legged partridges was studied in an area of 94.5 km2 in northern Italy. A total of 376 observations of grey partridges and 211 of red‐legged partridges were collected during two years of study (1984 and 1985). Habitat overlap and breadth were similar in the two species; both species avoided woods and chose hedgerows in spring and summer but in autumn‐winter selection of permanent cover differed: grey partridges selecting hedgerows and red‐legged partridges calanques and landslides, the driest habitats in the study area. Significant differences were also found for nesting site selection: grey partridges preferred the edges of habitats and hedgerows, while red‐legged partridges selected the centre of habitats, vineyards and uncultivated land. In general, grey partridges seemed to be more linked to crops and open land than did red‐legged partridges and this latter species needs a similar habitat in cover structure and micro‐climate to those of its zones of origin. T...