| 1. |
- Carpio, Antonio J., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of wild boar predation on nests of wading birds in various Swedish habitats
- 2016
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Ingår i: European Journal of Wildlife Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1612-4642 .- 1439-0574. ; 62:4, s. 423-430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The wild boar has, over the past few decades, undergone an expansion in Europe, which may have negatively affected ground-nesting bird populations and particularly those of wading birds. The aim of this study was to evaluate predation on waders’ nests by wild boar in Sweden, where this species has been increasing since its reintroduction. This was done by placing artificial nests in seven different study areas. A comparison was then made of predation rates of the nests placed on control plots (areas in which no wild boar were present but other predators were) and plots containing different abundances of wild boar. Contrary to our expectations, the proportion of nests predated was significantly lower in those areas in which wild boar were present, with a predation rate of 54 %, whereas the predation rate was 87.5 % in the others. The wild boar was identified as the second most important nest predator in the plots in which it was present, accounting for 18 % of the predated nests. The main predator on both types of plots was the red fox, which was responsible for 28 and 38.5 % of the predated nests on plots with/without wild boar, respectively. Interestingly, predation by badgers occurred principally in areas in which the wild boar was absent (34.5 % of the predated nests), whereas only one nest was predated by this predator in areas containing wild boar. It is not, however, possible to state whether predation by badgers was lower because of the presence of wild boar or whether this was owing to the fact that badgers do not select those particular patches because of habitat features.
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| 2. |
- Carpio, Antonio J., et al.
(författare)
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Hunting as a source of alien species : a European review
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biological Invasions. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1387-3547 .- 1573-1464. ; 19:4, s. 1197-1211
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hunting activities are responsible for the translocation and restocking of millions of animals throughout Europe, including the introduction of alien species. In a context of the growing use of game translocations and of increasing concern about the impact of biological invasions, our goal is to review the role of alien species introduced primarily for hunting purposes on the European scale. In particular, we explore: (1) the relative importance of game species in the context of alien species introductions; (2) the temporal evolution of the number of species introduced for hunting purposes; (3) the contribution of different taxa; (4) the pattern of introduced game species composition across countries (in terms of similarity), and (5) the underlying human demographic factors driving the diversity of introduced game species per country. According to our results, 24.3% of the mammals and 30.2% of the birds introduced into Europe during the last century were released primarily for hunting purposes, in total, 93 species (63 birds and 36 mammals), the most important taxa being Artiodactyls, Anseriformes and Galliformes. The species composition differed among countries, with a higher diversity of introduced game species in larger countries and in those with a higher human population density and proportion of hunters. This review stresses that hunting was a significant pathway for the introduction of invasive species into Europe in the last century. Since some of the game species introduced have had severe environmental impacts on many European regions, and introductions of non-native game species are still occurring, it is essential to improve regulations and increase public awareness regarding invasive game animals. This will help to preserve biodiversity and improve the sustainability of current hunting schemes in increasingly managed European ecosystems.
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| 3. |
- Carpio, Antonio J., et al.
(författare)
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Wild boar effects on fungal abundance and guilds from sporocarp sampling in a boreal forest ecosystem
- 2022
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Ingår i: Animals. - : MDPI. - 2076-2615. ; 12:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Native wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations are expanding across Europe. This is cause for concern in some areas where overabundant populations impact natural ecosystems and adjacent agronomic systems. To better manage the potential for impacts, managers require more information about how the species may affect other organisms. For example, information regarding the effect of wild boar on soil fungi for management application is lacking. Soil fungi play a fundamental role in ecosystems, driving essential ecological functions; acting as mycorrhizal symbionts, sustaining plant nutrition and providing defense; as saprotrophs, regulating the organic matter decomposition; or as plant pathogens, regulating plant fitness and survival. During autumn (Sep–Nov) 2018, we investigated the effects of wild boar (presence/absence and rooting intensity) on the abundance (number of individuals) of fungal sporocarps and their functional guilds (symbiotic, saprotrophic and pathogenic). We selected eleven forested sites (400–500 × 150–200 m) in central Sweden; six with and five without the presence of wild boar. Within each forest, we selected one transect (200 m long), and five plots (2 × 2 m each) for sites without wild boar, and ten plots for sites with boars (five within and five outside wild boar disturbances), to determine the relationship between the intensity of rooting and the abundance of sporocarps for three fungal guilds. We found that the presence of wild boar and rooting intensity were associated with the abundance of sporocarps. Interestingly, this relationship varied depending on the fungal guild analyzed, where wild boar rooting had a positive correlation with saprophytic sporocarps and a negative correlation with symbiotic sporocarps. Pathogenic fungi, in turn, were more abundant in undisturbed plots (no rooting) but located in areas with the presence of wild boar. Our results indicate that wild boar activities can potentially regulate the abundance of fungal sporocarps, with different impacts on fungal guilds. Therefore, wild boar can affect many essential ecosystem functions driven by soil fungi in boreal forests, such as positive effects on energy rotation and in creating mineral availability to plants, which could lead to increased diversity of plants in boreal forests.
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| 4. |
- Guerrero-Casado, José, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of the suitability of latrine counts as an indirect method by which to estimate the abundance of European rabbit populations at high and low abundance
- 2020
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Ingår i: European Journal of Wildlife Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1612-4642 .- 1439-0574. ; 66:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Monitoring European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations using suitable methods is crucial, especially in those areas in which endangered predators remain and rabbits occur at low densities. We first counted the number of rabbits, the number of scattered pellets, and the number of latrines counted within 16 plots established in areas of low rabbit density, showing that the number of rabbits counted inside the plots was more closely correlated with the number of pellets counted than with the number of latrines. In addition, no latrines were found in 8 plots. In 53 walking transects, the number of pellets m−2 and the number of latrines km−1 had a positive relationship, but no significant correlation was obtained between the two methods when only the transects with a low rabbit abundance were selected. These results suggest that although counting latrines can be useful to compare areas with different abundances, it may underestimate rabbit abundance at low abundances where counting scattered pellets is, therefore, the most accurate alternative. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
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