The population density of the Eurasian otter, as in many other carnivores, is difficult to estimate in the wild. Spraint (otter scat) counts are usually used as an indirect indicator of abundance but its reliability is poorly known. In this work two methods of estimation (direct observations, DO, and track sampling, MNT) are compared in Central Spain. A new approach is applied to correct inherent biases to track sampling. Furthermore, the influence of sample size on MNT estimations was tested. The results indicate a highly significant relationship between the estimations of abundance derived from DO and MNT methods, although MNT could underestimate the density of otters when it is under 0.01 otters/km. The application of the new track sampling method could result in a successful reduction or removal of the biases. On the basis of current knowledge, it is argued that both MNT and DO could provide a realistic picture of the otter populations and facilitate their estimation and monitoring with sufficient reliability.
Abundance of the European hare (Lepus europaeus Pllas, 1778) has been declining dramatically in Europe. In the framework of our long-term ecological studies in the juniper forest at Bugas, Hungary, we have also monitored its population abundance. At the ginning of our researches the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus Linné, 1758) had been the dominant herbivore species there, but as a result of two diseases in 1994 and 1995 they disappeared. Earlier studies had showed competition between these two species, therefore we expected a significant increase in the local hare abundance after the extinction of rabbits. Our results, however, did not comply with this supposition. Nonetheless, experimental comparison of the vegetation in grazed and ungrazed plots proved that rabbits had been significantly decreasing the vegetation cover, especially that of grasses; meanwhile hares did not. Although grasses were the main food components of both species, their moderate diet overlap throughout the year does not suggest a food competition between them. All these findings show that population size of hares was not significantly limited by rabbits due to trophic overlap. Competitive effect of rabbit on sympatric hares had been low or it was expressed by the depreciation of other non-investigated population characteristics.