Department of Animal Production, Research Group on Game Species Breeding and Management, University of León, León, Spain.
Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ciudad Real, Spain.
Integr Zool. 2021 Mar;16(2):226-239. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12496. Epub 2020 Nov 29.
Provision of food and water is a widespread tool implemented around the world for the benefit of game and other wildlife, but factors affecting the use of food and water by non-target species are poorly known. We evaluated visits to feeders and water troughs by non-game species using camera-traps in two separate areas of Spain. Feeders and water troughs were either "protected" (when surrounded by more than 50% of shrubs/forest) or "open" (in the opposite case). A total of 18 948 photos from 5344 camera-trapping days depicted animals, and 75 species were identified. Feeders and water troughs were visited by target species (partridges and lagomorphs, 55.3% of visits) and non-target species (44.7% of visits). Among the latter, corvids were the most common (46.1% of visits), followed by rodents (26.8%), other birds (23.6%, mainly passerines), columbids (1.9%), and other species at minor percentages. The highest proportion of visiting days to feeders and water troughs was from corvids (0.173) followed by other-birds (0.109) and rodents (0.083); the lowest proportion was recorded for columbids (0.016). Use intensity and visit frequency of water troughs tripled that recorded in feeders, and visits to open feeders/troughs were approximately twice those to protected ones. In summary: feeders and water troughs targeting small game species are also used regularly by non-target ones; they should be set close to cover to optimize their use by non-target species that are not competitors of target species (though corvids may visit them); water availability should be prioritized where drought periods are expected.
提供食物和水是一种在全球范围内广泛使用的工具，旨在造福猎物和其他野生动物，但对于非目标物种使用食物和水的影响因素知之甚少。我们使用相机陷阱在西班牙的两个不同地区评估了非猎物物种对喂食器和饮水槽的访问情况。喂食器和饮水槽要么是“受保护的”（当它们被超过 50%的灌木/森林包围时），要么是“开放的”（在相反的情况下）。总共 5344 天的相机陷阱拍摄了 18948 张照片，其中有 75 种动物被识别出来。喂食器和饮水槽被目标物种（鹧鸪和兔形目动物，占访问量的 55.3%）和非目标物种（占访问量的 44.7%）访问。在后者中，鸦科动物最为常见（占访问量的 46.1%），其次是啮齿动物（占 26.8%）、其他鸟类（主要是雀形目，占 23.6%）、鸽形目（占 1.9%）和其他占比较小的物种。访问喂食器和饮水槽的天数中，鸦科动物的比例最高（0.173），其次是其他鸟类（0.109）和啮齿动物（0.083）；记录到的鸽形目动物的比例最低（0.016）。与喂食器相比，饮水槽的使用强度和访问频率增加了两倍，而开放的喂食器/饮水槽的访问量约为受保护的喂食器/饮水槽的两倍。总之：针对小型猎物物种的喂食器和饮水槽也经常被非目标物种使用；它们应该设置在靠近掩护物的地方，以优化非目标物种的使用，而这些非目标物种不是目标物种的竞争者（尽管鸦科动物可能会访问它们）；在预期干旱时期，应优先考虑水的供应。
