Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Sokos, Christos; Andreadis, Konstantinos; Papageorgiou, Nikolaos

doi:10.1186/s40555-014-0095-2

Zoological Studies

Table 1 Mean frequency of occurrence (F%) and percentage of hare stomachs containing a certain plant taxa ( n %)

From: Diet adaptability by a generalist herbivore: the case of brown hare in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Species or group of species	Dry season ( n = 26)		Wet season ( n = 22)		Total ( n = 48)
Species or group of species	F%	n%	F%	n%	F%	n%
Monocotyledons	36.34	100	50.57	100	42.86	100
Grasses	32.38	100	49.52	100	40.24	100
Winter grasses	17.31	84.62	43.44	100	29.29	91.67
Summer grasses	6.63	61.54	0.12	18.18	3.65	41.67
Cynodon dactylon	2.12	53.85	3.49	81.82	2.75	66.67
Brachypodium sp.	3.02	15.38	1.18	9.09	2.18	12.50
Setaria sp.	1.94	15.38			1.05	8.33
Cynosurus echinatus	0.35	15.38	1.03	18.18	0.66	16.67
Sorgum halepense	0.19	23.08			0.10	12.50
Unidentified grasses	0.82	46.15	0.26	18.18	0.56	33.33
Other monocotyledons	3.96	38.46	1.05	27.27	2.62	33.30
Cyperus rotundus	2.67	7.69			1.45	4.17
Allium roseum	0.48	23.08	0.95	36.36	0.69	29.16
Unidentified monocotyledon	0.81	7.69	0.1	9.09	0.48	8.33
Dicotyledons	36.29	100	43.4	90.91	39.55	95.80
Medicago sp.			20.24	45.45	9.28	20.83
Convolvulus arvensis	5.27	46.15	7.96	36.36	6.50	41.67
Amaranthus sp.	9.30	46.15			5.04	25.00
Urospermum picroides	2.76	7.69	0.92	9.09	1.92	8.33
Brassicaceae			2.77	36.36	1.27	16.67
Malva sp.	0.63	7.69	0.82	18.18	0.72	12.50
Cichoriaceae	1.37	23.08			0.74	12.50
Sonhcus sp.			1.49	9.09	0.68	4.17
Solanum nigrum	0.66	3.84			0.36	4.17
Verbascum sp.	0.50	7.69	0.219	18.18	0.37
Senecio vulgaris	0.33	3.84	1.05	27.27	0.66
Trifolium sp.	0.33	7.69	0.05	9.09	0.20	8.33
Vicia sp.	0.08	7.69	0.14	9.09	0.11	8.33
Ornithopus compressus	0.22	7.69			0.12	4.17
Anthemis arvensis	0.16	7.69			0.09	4.17
Daucus carota			0.18	9.09	0.08	4.17
Calendula arvensis			0.10	4.54	0.05	4.17
Oxalis pes-caprae			0.06	4.54	0.03	4.17
Unidentified dicotyledon 1	0.11	3.84	0.05	4.54	0.08	8.33
Unidentified dicotyledon 2	6.74	15.38	0.28	18.18	3.78	16.67
Unidentified dicotyledon 3	1.07	23.07			0.58	12.50
Unidentified dicotyledon 4			0.96	4.54	0.44	4.17
Unidentified dicotyledon 5	0.75	23.07	0.33	4.54	0.55	16.67
Unidentified dicotyledons	6.01	76.92	5.78	90.91	5.90	83.33
Fruits, seeds, and barks	25.91	92.31	5.54	81.82	16.57	87.50
Pyrus amygdaliformis	4.56	15.38	1.72	18.18	3.26	16.67
Vitis vinifera	2.70	7.69			1.46	4.17
Olea europaea	0.27	7.69			0.15	4.17
Unidentified dicotyledons	8.47	76.92	3.30	63.64	6.10	70.83
Grasses	9.91	38.46			5.37	20.83
Unidentified	1.47	69.23	0.49	18.18	1.02	45.83
Taxa number	29		27		36
Mean ± SE of taxa number	7.07 ± 0.4		6.54 ± 0.54		6.83 ± 0.33
H΄	1.247		0.86		1.188
Mean ± SE of H΄	0.68 ± 0.023		0.56 ± 0.048		0.63 ± 0.027
B	12.84		4.1		8.46
Mean ± SE of B	3.76 ± 0.19		3.03 ± 0.31		3.42 ± 0.18
BA	0.36		0.106		0.186
Mean ± SE of BA	0.34 ± 0.017		0.27 ± 0.027		0.31 ± 0.016
B΄	0.177		0.076		-^a
Mean ± SE of B΄	0.136 ± 0.032		0.114 ± 0.025		0.126 ± 0.021

Mean frequency of occurrence (F%) and percentage of hare stomachs containing a certain plant taxa (n%) in the dry and wet seasons. Diversity and food niche breadth indices were calculated according to the mean frequencies of occurrence. Hurlbert’s niche breadth (B΄) was applied only to herbs.
^aB΄ was not calculated for the pooled data, due to the difference of availability of herb species between the two seasons.

Back to article page