strategic management planning tools by m. scilly

Because of these reintroductions, there are some areas in Italy where the Italian hare and the European hare occur in sympatry 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25.Ĭurrently, the most conspicuous populations of the Italian hare are living in association to protected areas, thanks to safeguarding policies active in these territories. Moreover, the Italian hare is also threatened by ecological competition with native and exotic lineages of the European hare, a cosmopolitan species intensively restocked as a game species 19, 20, 21. The status of the species is affected mainly by habitat fragmentation, low population density, as well as the presence of small and isolated subpopulations 18, 19.

The Italian hare is classified as vulnerable (C2a1 category) according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List 17. In fact, despite the present allopatric distribution, both due to sharing of a common ancestor during the late Pleistocene 12 or to hybridization and introgression events 11, they could be considered two important evolutionary units 13 to be preserved. castroviejoi, the broom hare, endemic of the Cantabrian Mountains of the Iberian Peninsula 16, might be conspecific and sister taxa. Furthermore, some studies based on genetic 11, 12, 13, 14 and ecological 15 data, suggested that L.

After morphometric 8, 9 and molecular evidence 10, it was re-evaluated as a true species, showing a long-lasting history of independent evolution from the European hare. The species was firstly stated as true by 6, but later it was reconsidered to be a subspecies of the European hare ( L. The Italian hare ( Lepus corsicanus) is an endemism of Central-Southern Italy and Sicily 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and shows a controversial but intriguing evolutionary history. Our contribution adds important information to broaden the knowledge on the environmental (spatial and trophic) requirements of the Italian hare, representing effective support for fitting management actions in conservation planning. The Spring/Summer diet showed richness (N = 266) and diversity index values (Shannon: 2.329, Evenness: 0.03858, Equitability: 0.4169) higher than the Autumn/Winter diet (N = 199, Shannon: 1.818, Evenness: 0.03096, Equitability: 0.3435). Fabaceae (60.70%) and Fagaceae (67.47%) were the most abundant plant items occurring in the Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter diets, respectively. The Fagaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Solanaceae (counts > 20,000) represented the 90.22% of the total diet. The variation in the observed altitudinal distribution is statistically significant between the two species.The diet of the Italian hare all year around includes 344 plant taxa accounted by 62 families. The most relevant environmental variables affecting the potential distribution of the Italian hare are shared with the European hare, suggesting a potential competition.

The dietary habits were obtained for the Italian hare with DNA metabarcoding and High-Throughput Sequencing on faecal pellets. We generated a habitat suitability model using maximum entropy distribution model for the Italian hare and its main competitor, the European hare. All data derived from genetically validated presences. We provided some key traits of the ecological niche of the Italian hare as well as its potential distribution in the Italian peninsula. Despite this status, only few and local studies have explored its ecological features. The Italian hare ( Lepus corsicanus) is endemic to Central-Southern Italy and Sicily, classified as vulnerable due to habitat alterations, low density and fragmented populations and ecological competition with the sympatric European hare ( Lepus europaeus).

Strategic management planning tools by m. scilly