Martsiv,
M., I. Dykyy. 2023. Seasonal features of the diet of predatory
mammals in the western regions of Ukraine. Theriologia
Ukrainica, 25: 203–212. [In English,
with Ukrainian summary]
title |
Seasonal
features of the diet of predatory mammals in the
western regions of Ukraine
|
author(s) |
Mariia Martsiv (orcid: 0000-0003-4020-7367),
Ihor Dykyy (orcid: 0000-0003-3625-8567) |
affiliation |
Ivan Franko National
University of Lviv (Lviv, Ukraine) |
bibliography |
Theriologia Ukrainica.
2023. Vol. 25: 203–212. |
DOI |
http://doi.org/10.53452/TU2516 |
|
|
language |
English, with Ukrainian summary,
titles of tables, captures to figs |
abstract |
The article
analyses feeding specifics depending on the season
of five species of predatory mammals belonging to
two families: Mustelidae and Canidae. It was established
that the largest number of food objects in the red
fox’s diet is characteristic for the winter period
(44 objects). In winter, this species enriches its
diet with invertebrates, fish, domestic mammals,
and ungulates in small quantities. The main objects
of food during this period are rodents (19%) and
birds (16.6%). Rodents are also the basis of the
weasel’s winter diet (50%). Both species of marten
also consume rodents and birds in the winter, however,
the pine marten hunts birds more often (17.4%) compared
to rodents (13%), whereas the stone marten rarely
hunts birds in the winter and the basis of its diet
is made up by rodents (23.1%). The spring period
is characterised by a sharp decrease in objects
of plant origin in the diet of all carnivorous mammals
considered. In spring, the stone marten consumes
the largest share of animal feed (80%). The share
of animals in the pine marten’s diet also increases,
but this species actively hunts invertebrates (37.1%).
Birds were not detected in the diet of the pine
marten in spring, but they are present in the diet
of the weasel in this period (5.9%). Almost half
of the summer diet of all species considered consists
of plant objects. All predators are characterised
by the consumption of a large number of invertebrates
during this period, with the lowest share of them
in the diet of the stone marten (5.6%), whose main
food in the summer is plants (55.6%), rodents (22.2%)
and birds (16.7%). In autumn, the share of plant
components in the diet of predators is more than
50%, and this period is characterised by having
the highest share of juicy fruits in the diet throughout
the year, except for the weasel, in the diet of
which plants are rarely found during this period
(21.4%). The basis of the diet of this species during
this period is mammals (64.3%). The share of rodents
(15.5%) and birds (8.3%) in the red fox’s diet increases
in the autumn period. Inedible objects were recorded
in food samples of two species: red fox and pine
marten. For the marten, the largest number of these
objects was registered in the summer period, and
for the fox, non-food objects were absent only in
the summer diet. |
keywords |
carnivorous mammals,
trophic relationships, diet of predators, seasonal
variability of nutrition, diversity of forage base,
Ukraine |
|
|
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