Lepus europaeus (European hare): diet and food availability in the Hyper-arid Monte desert

REUS LAURA M.; LASPINA ANABEL; CAMPOS VALERIA; ANDINO NATALIA; GIANNONI STELLA; CAMPOS CLAUDIA

Congreso; SECOND JOINT MEETING OF THE BIOLOGY SOCIETIES FROM ARGENTINA; 2011

Lepus europaeus is an exotic herbivore that can affect plant communities and compete with native herbivores. We analysed the diet and dietary changes in relation to food availability in the Ischigualasto Provincial Park (San Juan). Collections of faeces for microhistological analysis and plant cover were made in wet and dry seasons in a mesquite woodlands. Plant species were classified in: trees, shrubs, herbaceous, grasses, cactaceae, and epiphytes. We applied MANOVA and the Kruskal Wallis test. The highest plant covers were shrubs and trees. In both seasons the main food included in the diet was shrubs (Prosopis torquata, Cyclolepis genistoides, Atriplex sp., Bulnesia retama). Grasses (Tricloris crinita, Cottea pappophoroides) and herbaceous (Tribulus sp.) were also consumed in the wet season and cactaceae (Tephrocactus sp., Echinopsis sp.) in the dry season. The diet and food availability showed differences between the wet and dry seasons in shrub and cactaceae, and only in the wet season for grasses and epiphytes. The hare has been considered a generalist and opportunistic herbivore because is adapted to using a wide array of food resources and consume herbaceous and grasses when availability are in the wet season. However, diets were primarily based on shrub consumption in both season (higher 50%) in a stable and poor environment in terms of plant availability (21%).