herbivores do not have this problem as they can European rabbits have been intensively studied, move to areas where more food is available. especially with relation to social interactions and The central-place foragers’ dilemma can be re- disease ecology little was known about their for- solved when free-ranging large herbivores lower aging behaviour. This is even more the case for the vegetation height, resulting in a higher intake almost all other species of central-place forag- by rabbits, creating a facilitative effect (Chapter ing herbivores. This thesis therefore represents 5). Dekker models this relationship in space, i.e. an important contribution in understanding the he predicts that facilitation only occurs in areas ecology of this group of mammals. which sustain a high plant production. When pro- duction is too low central-place foragers do not Liesbeth Bakker benefit from the presence of free-ranging large herbivores as they are competing for the same Department of Plant-Animal Interactions limited food source. Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-CL) In the synthesis (Chapter 8), Dekker expands P.O. Box 1299 on this facilitation effect. Facilitation of small 3631 AC Maarssen herbivores by large ones has been shown to oc- The Netherlands cur in the field, but only in the sense of increased e-mail:
[email protected] patch use by rabbits or other small herbivores. However, it would be very interesting to know whether this increased patch use eventually leads Pollutants and hedgehogs to increased numbers of rabbits, i.e. facilitation at the population level. Dekker’s model ad- dresses and predicts this issue, which is a highly Nondestructive exposure and risk assess relevant question for nature conservation.