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Competition Between European Hare and European Rabbit in a Lowland Area, Hungary: a Long-Term Ecological Study in the Period of Rabbit Extinction

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Competition Between European Hare and European Rabbit in a Lowland Area, Hungary: a Long-Term Ecological Study in the Period of Rabbit Extinction Folia Zool. – 53(3): 255–268 (2004) Competition between European hare and European rabbit in a lowland area, Hungary: a long-term ecological study in the period of rabbit extinction Krisztián KATONA1*, Zsolt BÍRÓ1, István HAHN2, Miklós KERTÉSZ3 and Vilmos ALTBÄCKER4 1 St. Stephen University, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Department of Wildlife Biology and Management, Páter K. u. 1, H-2103 Gödöllő, Hungary; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] 2 Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Plant Taxonomy and Ecology, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; e-mail: [email protected] 3 Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Alkotmány u. 2–4, H-2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; e-mail: [email protected] 4 Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Ethology, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; e-mail: [email protected] Received 27 November 2003; Accepted 11 August 2004 A b s t r a c t . Abundance of the European hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) has been declining dramatically in Europe. In the framework of our long-term ecological studies in the juniper forest at Bugac, Hungary, we have also monitored its population abundance. At the beginning of our researches the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linné, 1758) had been the dominant herbivore species there, but as a result of two diseases in 1994 and 1995 they disappeared. Earlier studies had showed competition between these two species, therefore we expected a significant increase in the local hare abundance after the extinction of rabbits. Our results, however, did not comply with this supposition. Nonetheless, experimental comparison of the vegetation in grazed and ungrazed plots proved that rabbits had been significantly decreasing the vegetation cover, especially that of grasses; meanwhile hares did not. Although grasses were the main food components of both species, their moderate diet overlap throughout the year does not suggest a food competition between them. All these findings show that population size of hares was not significantly limited by rabbits due to trophic overlap. Competitive effect of rabbit on sympatric hares had been low or it was expressed by the depreciation of other non-investigated population characteristics. Key words: Lepus europaeus, Oryctolagus cuniculus, population abundance, vegetation, diet Introduction In Europe (Mitchell-Jones et al. 1999, E d w a r d s et al. 2000) and also in Hungary (K o v á c s & H e l t a y 1993, C s á n y i 1996) the number of European hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) has declined continuously during the last decades. To stop this process and to elaborate a suitable management we need to gather more knowledge about the habitat and resource use of this species (V a u g h a n et al. 2003) and its interactions in the ecosystems (Broekhuizen 1975). Food shortage is one of the main components in limiting the density of small herbivorous mammals, such as leporids (G i b b 1981). Density of leporids was found positively correlated with the biomass of herbaceous vegetation (M a c C r a c k e n & H a n s e n * Corresponding author 255 1982). Consequently, a competitive interaction could take shape between leporids and other sympatric herbivorous species for the limited food resources (v a n d e r V a l et al. 1998, H u l b e r t & A n d e r s e n 2001). Several studies focused on the food competition between the European hare and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linné, 1758) (H o m o l k a 1987a, C h a p u i s 1990). Besides that, the investigations also emphasize the importance of behavioural characteristics (F l u x 1993, S t o t t 2003) and parasites (Broekhuizen 1975, G i l b e r t et al. 2001) in the competitive interactions between rabbits and hares. Numerous investigations noted a general increase in hare populations following the decline of rabbit population infected by myxomatosis (M o o r e 1956, M o r e l 1956, R o t h s c h i l d 1961), which clearly suggests the interaction between them. In our study area, in Bugac Juniper Forest of Hungary, we have carried out long-term ecological studies since 1990 (A l t b ä c k e r 1998). There the European hare uses both the forest and the adjacent open field (B í r ó & A l t b ä c k e r 1996). According to radio telemetry studies of individuals caught in the forest, two different ranging strategies exist. Some individuals leave the forest for the open field during the nights to feed, while others always remain inside the continuous woody area. Nevertheless, the European rabbit was the dominant species of this ecosystem. Its significant browsing effect on junipers in our study area has already been published (M á t r a i et al. 1998). Heavy impact of its grazing was also clearly visible on the large open sandy grasslands between junipers (K e r t é s z et al. 1993). In contrast to hares, rabbits never left the juniper forest; no occurrence of rabbits in the open field was detected (V. A l t b ä c k e r , unpubl.). In 1994 and 1995 there were two diseases (myxomatosis and haemorrhagic disease) in the forest, followed by a very cold snowy winter. These facts together led to the extinction of the rabbit population in our study area. Our long-term studies provided an opportunity to describe the spatiotemporal distribution of the European hare in the light of the changes in population density of the European rabbit. We investigated whether the local abundance of hares could have been limited by the presence of rabbits and primarily by the negative competitive effects due to significant trophic overlap. According to that our questions were: – Did the abundance of the European hare increase after myxomatosis of rabbits? – Did rabbits have a significant impact on the availability of plant species consumed by hares? – How large was the overlap between the diet composition of hares and rabbits? Study Area The study area is located in the Bócsa-Bugac sandhill region belonging to the Kiskunság National Park, central Hungary (46°38’N, 19°40’E). It is basicaly covered by a juniper forest extending to 168 ha (1200 x 1400 m) and neighbouring open grassy areas (Fig. 1). Bugac Juniper Forest consists of a mosaic of woods, shrubs and xeric grasslands lying on a sand dune system (K e r t é s z et al. 1993). Woody areas are covered by planted black pine (Pinus nigra) and Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) forests or by differently composed stands of juniper (Juniperus communis), poplar (Populus alba, P. canescens), birch (Betula pendula) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). Shrub patches are dominated by privet (Ligustrum vulgare), hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), common barberry (Berberis vulgaris), sloe (Prunus spinosa), blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) and sallow (Salix rosmarinifolia). In 256 Fig. 1. Aerial photo of the study area. The mosaic of the juniper forest is represented on the upper half of the map, while the open sandy grassland on the lower one. Wide white lines show the permanent census lines (white – spotlighting transects, white with dark spots – track census lines). Study area in the forest, where faecal samples were collected, is located in the eight part of forest block bordered by dirty roads (thin white lines) between the two track census lines. Small square shows the site of permanent quadrates in the juniper forest. Large white blocks on the grassland are cultivated fields. 257 between woody patches intermediate open grassy patches are laid. Their typical herbaceous plant species are shown in Table 1. Open areas are mainly sandy grasslands (K a t o n a et al. 2002), where the most common grasses are cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and fescues (Festuca vaginata, F. rupicola). Herbaceous plant species are similar to a great extent to those in the juniper forest. Some small patches of cultivated fields can also be found, mainly covered by alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Grasslands are intensively grazed by Hungarian gray cattle, sheep and horses. Consequently vegetation is generally short; grass height can range between 5 and 40 cm over the year. Material and Methods Population abundance estimations Track density estimation In every season of a given year between 1994 and 2000 track density estimation (P r a d a 2001) was carried out using one permanent dirt-road in the juniper forest and one at the forest-meadow boundary. We conducted estimations in the forest in every year and at the boundary in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Censuses were made for three consecutive days in the middle of January, April, July and October. The length of the forest line was 1400 m, while the edge line was 350 m. Censuses always started in early morning just after sunrise. The roads had been flatten the previous evening before sunset; therefore we could estimate the local track densities based on the night movements. All foottracks crossing the roads were recorded and the mammal species (European hare, rabbit, red fox, badger, polecat, roe and red deer, wild boar, dog and domestic cat) were identified. Although track density estimation is not a suitable technique for determining absolute population size, by this mean significant changes in population abundance can be easily detected in standardized conditions (L a n g b e i n et al. 1999). Track densities of hares and rabbits were normalised to 1 km line length during the three days and averaged for obtaining seasonal data.
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