What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians
The wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important port...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9236239/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1818215258584514560 |
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| author | Nuno F. Guimarães Francisco Álvares Jana Ďurová Peter Urban Jozef Bučko Tomáš Iľko Jaro Brndiar Jozef Štofik Tibor Pataky Miroslava Barančeková Rudolf Kropil Peter Smolko |
| author_facet | Nuno F. Guimarães Francisco Álvares Jana Ďurová Peter Urban Jozef Bučko Tomáš Iľko Jaro Brndiar Jozef Štofik Tibor Pataky Miroslava Barančeková Rudolf Kropil Peter Smolko |
| author_sort | Nuno F. Guimarães |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important portion of the European wolf population; however, it has been markedly understudied. We evaluated winter diet composition and prey selection of Slovak wolves based on 321 scat samples collected between September–April within four different study areas during 2015–2017. The winter diet of wolves in the Slovak Carpathians was characterized by a 98% occurrence of wild large-sized and medium-sized ungulates with red deer occurring in wolf scats most often, consistent with their highest density among other wild ungulates. However, by comparing the consumption with availability of wild prey, we found that wolves in fact selected for wild boar especially in areas with higher altitudinal range, while selected for red deer in areas with low altitudinal range where this prey species was more spatially predictable. Although wolves showed the potential to switch between red deer and wild boar when their density increases, we found that this variation can be rather linked to changing prey vulnerability, which is dependent on particular environmental conditions at local scale such as topography and snow accumulation. The present study provides valuable insights into the winter foraging ecology of Slovak wolves in a multi-prey system of the Carpathians and allows for practical implications in the management of the rapidly increasing populations of wild ungulates across Europe. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:33:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77e37be91e8d4208ba127551cd8d2635 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:33:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-77e37be91e8d4208ba127551cd8d26352022-12-22T00:34:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01176What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak CarpathiansNuno F. GuimarãesFrancisco ÁlvaresJana ĎurováPeter UrbanJozef BučkoTomáš IľkoJaro BrndiarJozef ŠtofikTibor PatakyMiroslava BarančekováRudolf KropilPeter SmolkoThe wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important portion of the European wolf population; however, it has been markedly understudied. We evaluated winter diet composition and prey selection of Slovak wolves based on 321 scat samples collected between September–April within four different study areas during 2015–2017. The winter diet of wolves in the Slovak Carpathians was characterized by a 98% occurrence of wild large-sized and medium-sized ungulates with red deer occurring in wolf scats most often, consistent with their highest density among other wild ungulates. However, by comparing the consumption with availability of wild prey, we found that wolves in fact selected for wild boar especially in areas with higher altitudinal range, while selected for red deer in areas with low altitudinal range where this prey species was more spatially predictable. Although wolves showed the potential to switch between red deer and wild boar when their density increases, we found that this variation can be rather linked to changing prey vulnerability, which is dependent on particular environmental conditions at local scale such as topography and snow accumulation. The present study provides valuable insights into the winter foraging ecology of Slovak wolves in a multi-prey system of the Carpathians and allows for practical implications in the management of the rapidly increasing populations of wild ungulates across Europe.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9236239/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Nuno F. Guimarães Francisco Álvares Jana Ďurová Peter Urban Jozef Bučko Tomáš Iľko Jaro Brndiar Jozef Štofik Tibor Pataky Miroslava Barančeková Rudolf Kropil Peter Smolko What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians PLoS ONE |
| title | What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians |
| title_full | What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians |
| title_fullStr | What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians |
| title_full_unstemmed | What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians |
| title_short | What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians |
| title_sort | what drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates insights from a multi prey system in the slovak carpathians |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9236239/?tool=EBI |
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