Kidawa Dorota, Kowalczyk Rafał
Acta Theriol (Warsz). 2011 Jul;56(3):209-218. doi: 10.1007/s13364-011-0031-3. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
The diet of the red fox Vulpes vulpes was investigated in five regions of northeastern Poland by stomach content analysis of 224 foxes collected from hunters. The red fox is expected to show the opportunistic feeding habits. Our study showed that foxes preyed mainly on wild prey, with strong domination of Microtus rodents, regardless of sex, age, month and habitat. Voles Microtus spp. were found in 73% of stomachs and constituted 47% of food volume consumed. Other food items were ungulate carrion (27% of volume), other mammals (11%), birds (9%), and plant material (4%). Sex- and age-specific differences in dietary diversity were found. Adult males and juvenile foxes had larger food niche breadths than adult females and their diets highly overlapped. Proportion of Microtus voles increased from autumn to late winter. Significant habitat differences between studied regions were found. There was a tendency among foxes to decrease consumption of voles with increasing percentage of forest cover. Based on our findings, red foxes in northeastern Poland can be recognized as a generalist predators, consuming easily accessible and abundant prey. However, high percentage of voles consumed regardless of age, sex, month, or habitats may indicate red fox specialization in preying on Microtus rodents.
通过对从猎人处收集的224只狐狸的胃内容物进行分析，对波兰东北部五个地区赤狐（Vulpes vulpes）的饮食进行了调查。预计赤狐会表现出机会主义的觅食习性。我们的研究表明，无论性别、年龄、月份和栖息地如何，狐狸主要捕食野生猎物，其中以田鼠类啮齿动物为主。在73%的胃中发现了田鼠属（Microtus spp.），其占所消耗食物总量的47%。其他食物包括有蹄类动物尸体（占食物总量的27%）、其他哺乳动物（11%）、鸟类（9%）和植物性物质（4%）。发现了饮食多样性方面的性别和年龄差异。成年雄性狐狸和幼年狐狸的食物生态位宽度比成年雌性狐狸大，且它们的饮食高度重叠。从秋季到冬末，田鼠的比例有所增加。研究区域之间存在显著的栖息地差异。随着森林覆盖率的增加，狐狸有减少田鼠消费量的趋势。根据我们的研究结果，波兰东北部的赤狐可被视为泛化捕食者，食用容易获取且数量丰富的猎物。然而，无论年龄、性别、月份或栖息地如何，田鼠在被消耗食物中所占的高比例可能表明赤狐专门捕食田鼠类啮齿动物。
