What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68081766%3A_____%2F22%3A00571407" target="_blank" >RIV/68081766:_____/22:00571407 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265386" target="_blank" >https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265386</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265386" target="_blank" >10.1371/journal.pone.0265386</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
What drives wolf preference towards wild ungulates? Insights from a multi-prey system in the Slovak Carpathians
Original language description
The wolf is a generalist-opportunistic predator that displays diverse and remarkably adaptable feeding strategies across its range with local adaptations to certain prey species depending on their availability and vulnerability. The multi-prey system of the Slovak Carpathians supports important portion of the European wolf population, however, it has been markedly understudied. We evaluated winter diet composition and prey selection of Slovak wolves based on 321 scat samples collected between September-April within four different study areas during 2015-2017. The winter diet of wolves in the Slovak Carpathians was characterized by a 98% occurrence of wild large-sized and medium-sized ungulates with red deer occurring in wolf scats most often, consistent with their highest density among other wild ungulates. However, by comparing the consumption with availability of wild prey, we found that wolves in fact selected for wild boar especially in areas with higher altitudinal range, while selected for red deer in areas with low altitudinal range where this prey species was more spatially predictable. Although wolves showed the potential to switch between red deer and wild boar when their density increases, we found that this variation can be rather linked to changing prey vulnerability, which is dependent on particular environmental conditions at local scale such as topography and snow accumulation. The present study provides valuable insights into the winter foraging ecology of Slovak wolves in a multi-prey system of the Carpathians and allows for practical implications in the management of the rapidly increasing populations of wild ungulates across Europe.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10613 - Zoology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2022
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
PLoS ONE
ISSN
1932-6203
e-ISSN
1932-6203
Volume of the periodical
17
Issue of the periodical within the volume
6
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
19
Pages from-to
e0265386
UT code for WoS article
000970019800001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85132950245