Food quality and quantity are more important in explaining foraging of an intermediate-sized mammalian herbivore than predation risk or competition.

ABSTRACT: During times of high activity by predators and competitors, herbivores may be forced to forage in patches of low-quality food. However, the relative importance in determining where and what herbivores forage still remains unclear, especially for small- and intermediate-sized herbivores. Our objective was to test the relative importance of predator and competitor activity, and forage quality and quantity on the proportion of time spent in a vegetation type and the proportion of time spent foraging by the intermediate-sized herbivore European hare (Lepus europaeus). We studied red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as a predator species and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a competitor. We investigated the time spent at a location and foraging time of hare using GPS with acce

SUBMITTER: Weterings MJA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6144975 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature