Freschi Pierangelo, Fascetti Simonetta, Riga Francesco, Rizzardini Gabriella, Fortebraccio Mario, Ragni Marco, Paolino Rosanna, Cosentino Carlo
School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences (SAFE), University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy.
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), 00144 Rome, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Mar 9;12(6):687. doi: 10.3390/ani12060687.
This study was focused on the diet and feeding behaviour of in two protected coastal areas of Latium, Castelporziano Presidential Estate (CPE) and Circeo National Park (CNP). Plant frequency was assessed by the quadrat method, while diet composition was determined by microhistological analysis of faecal samples. Over the year, the Italian hare fed on 185 of the 229 plant species identified in vegetation, with most of them ingested in low percentages (≤1%). During the dry season (DS), in both areas, , , and were among the most consumed species. In the wet season (WS) the most common plant species in diet were , , and in CPE and , , and in CNP. In both sites, considering the annual selection of life forms, grasses and leguminous forbs were preferred, while non-leguminous forbs and shrubs were used less than expected according to their availability. ANOSIM analysis showed significant differences between sites in DS and WS diets. Our study evidenced that the Italian hare behaved as generalist, revealing its capability for exploiting several plant species and to adapt its diet preferences to space-time variation of food availability.
本研究聚焦于意大利野兔在拉齐奥两个受保护沿海地区——卡斯泰尔波尔齐亚诺总统庄园（CPE）和奇尔切奥国家公园（CNP）的饮食及觅食行为。通过样方法评估植物出现频率，同时通过粪便样本的微观组织学分析确定饮食组成。在这一年里，意大利野兔取食了植被中鉴定出的229种植物中的185种，其中大多数的摄入量较低（≤1%）。在旱季（DS），在这两个地区，[此处原文缺失部分物种信息]都是最常被食用的物种。在雨季（WS），CPE地区饮食中最常见的植物物种是[此处原文缺失部分物种信息]，CNP地区是[此处原文缺失部分物种信息]。在这两个地点，考虑到全年对生活型的选择，禾本科植物和豆科杂草更受青睐，而非豆科杂草和灌木的食用量低于根据其可获得性预期的量。ANOSIM分析表明，旱季和雨季饮食在不同地点之间存在显著差异。我们的研究证明，意大利野兔表现为广食性，显示出其利用多种植物物种以及根据食物可获得性的时空变化调整饮食偏好的能力。
