Institute of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Str, 02-776, Warsaw, Poland.
Institute of Agriculture, Department of Biometry, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Str, 02-776, Warsaw, Poland.
Environ Monit Assess. 2023 Aug 11;195(9):1033. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11605-y.
Free-ranging grazers are increasingly being introduced to areas of high natural value, such as wetlands. There is also growing attention that has been paid to the historical role of herbivores in shaping ecosystems and landscapes. Even though studies on the grazing of free-range horses were carried out in different regions and climates, still little is known about their habitat selection on heterogeneous marshy areas in the temperate region of Europe. The aim of this study was to investigate the habitat use by contemporary Konik horses during the growing season on the basis of three-year GPS data for a semi-feral herd kept on wetlands. Almost 68% of the occurrence of Konik horses were in open habitats. The assessment of habitat selection by the horses confirmed their strong preferences for grasslands on mid-forest dunes and forest avoidance. Konik horses somewhat preferred mowed fen meadows, but the animals displayed differences in the selection of habitat, probably depending on its humidity and weather conditions in a given year which may limit the role of grazing in protecting these communities. Horses need different habitats in wetlands such as fen meadows, forest, and grasslands on the mineral hills. This should be taken into consideration for landscape management in areas where the introduction of wild or semi-wild horse populations is planned.
自由放养的食草动物越来越多地被引入到具有高自然价值的地区，如湿地。人们也越来越关注食草动物在塑造生态系统和景观方面的历史作用。尽管在不同的地区和气候条件下对自由放养的马的放牧进行了研究，但对于温带欧洲沼泽地区的异质栖息地选择，人们仍然知之甚少。本研究的目的是基于在湿地饲养的半野生马群三年的 GPS 数据，调查当代波兰马在生长季节的栖息地利用情况。Konik 马的出现率有近 68%发生在开阔的栖息地。对马的栖息地选择的评估证实了它们对中森林沙丘上的草地以及对森林的强烈偏好。Konik 马对割草的沼泽草甸有一定的偏好，但动物对栖息地的选择存在差异，这可能取决于其湿度和当年的天气条件，这可能限制了放牧在保护这些群落中的作用。马在湿地中需要不同的栖息地，如沼泽草甸、森林和矿物质丘陵上的草地。在计划引入野生或半野生马群的地区，这应该在景观管理中加以考虑。
