The feeding habits of the stone marten (Martes foina) were studied by scat analysis in a village (n = 423 samples) and its surrounding agricultural environment (n= 572), during a six-year study (three periods), in southwest Hungary. Birds (relative frequency 20%, mainly small perching birds) and plants (35%, mainly orchard fruit) were the most important foods for the martens living in the village. Small mammals (29%, mainly voles) and plants (34%, mainly fruit) were the main food resources for the stone martens living in the agricultural environment. With respect to diet composition environment-dependent difference proved significant, but intra-environment difference did not. In comparison with those living in the agricultural environment the stone martens studied living in the village consumed more frequently: 1) heavier prey (greater consumption of domestic animals), 2) arboreal prey (e.g. birds) and 3) prey associated with human settlements (e.g. house mouse, house sparrow, domestic animals).
To estimate the size of fish taken as prey by piscivorous predators, linear or non-linear relationships between bone measures (pharyngeal, opercula, cleithra, anal and dorsal spine bones, otoliths) and body length were elaborated for eleven Eurasian cyprinid fish species captured in three lakes of Turkey: rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus, Baltic vimba Vimba vimba, Danube bleak Chalcalburnus chalcoides, gibel carp Carassius gibelio, roach Rutilus rutilus, silver bream Blicca bjoerkna, common carp Cyprinus carpio, chub Leuciscus cephalus, Dnieper chub Petroleuciscus borysthenicus, tench Tinca tinca and tarek Alburnus tarichi (endemic species for Lake Van). All calculated regressions were highly significant, with coefficients of determination >81% in most of cases. The results suggest that the biometric relationships between fish length and some bones (pharyngeal, opercula, cleithra) are well suited for use in prey-predator studies of all the studied species, but otoliths and the dorsal and anal spines can be used for some fish species only (rudd, Baltic vimba, roach, silver bream, gibel carp).
White-tailed deer were introduced into the Czech Republic about one hundred years ago. Population numbers have remained stable at low density despite almost no harvesting. This differs from other introductions of this species in Europe. We presumed that one of the possible factors preventing expansion of the white-tailed deer population is lack of high-quality food components in an area overpopulated by sympatric roe, fallow and red deer. We analyzed the WTD winter diet and diets of the other deer species to get information on their feeding strategy during a critical period of a year. We focused primarily on conifer needle consumption, a generally accepted indicator of starvation and on bramble leaves as an indicator of high-quality items. We tested the following hypotheses: (1) If the environment has a limited food supply, the poorest competitors of the four deer species will have the highest proportion of conifer needles in the diet ; (2) the deer will overlap in trophic niches and will share limited nutritious resource (bramble). White-tailed, roe, fallow, and red deer diets were investigated by microscopic analysis of plant remains in their faeces. The volume of bramble decreased in the diet of all four deer species from November to March. The content of conifer needles in the diet of white-tailed and roe deer was negatively correlated with bramble and in spring made up 90 % of their diet volume. On the other hand conifer needles in the diet of red and fallow deer occurred only in January with snow cover. Fallow and red deer started the compensation of winter starvation at least one monthearlier than both roe and white-tailed deer. a high content of conifers in white-tailed deer diet in the second half of the winter fully support the presumption about low nutritional food supply and its diet. It can lead to a markedly impaired condition for white-tailed and roe deer and negatively affect their condition. The dietary overlap of four sympatric deer species was extensive in winter. All species share a limited good quality food supply (bramble) when food is scarce, suggesting that interspecific competition may occur.