The goal of many agri-environment schemes (AES) is to increase biodiversity in agroecosystems. AES effects are often measured on invertebrates and birds; mammals as indicator species are infrequently targets of such researches. Our goal was to evaluate the local-scale effects of the Hungarian Agri-Environmental Measures (AEM) on the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus), which shows decreasing population trends across Europe. We compared hare abundances and their dropping numbers in AEM and control agricultural arable and grassland fields of 17 game management units in two seasons. We also examined the quality of arable fields based on their margin width and vegetation cover. We found that margin quality was higher in AEM than in the control fields. Control grasslands had higher vegetation quality than the AEM grasslands. We found a significant difference in hare counts between AEM and control arable fields in spring but no difference in autumn. The dropping densities did not differ in any season, treatment category or agroecosystem type. We conclude that the AEM program (2009-2014) in Hungary was not effective for the hare, and this might have been caused by the inadequate or weak application of AEM practices. We provide recommendations for future AEM programs to enhance biodiversity.

Changes in the distributional range of European red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) during the Quaternary and the recolonization of Europe from different refugia, created a clear phylogeographical pattern. In Central Europe, two distinct - Iberian and Balkan - lineages of European red deer are present; however, this suture zone has not yet been studied in detail. The sequences of the complete mitochondrial control region were used to investigate the genetic structure of the red deer in the Carpathian Basin, a region where both lineages are expected to be present. We sequenced the complete control region of 96 red deer samples, discovered 39 haplotypes, and found high levels of haplotype diversity (H = 0.806 for the southwestern and H = 0.954 for the northeastern population). We discovered a high number of haplotypes belonging to both lineages, as well as unique haplotypes, which do not fit into described haplotypes. This is in accordance with previous assumptions that the Carpathian Basin is a suture zone between the Iberian and the Balkan red deer haplogroups.

Abstract Crossing water bodies (like lakes or rivers) by European roe deer Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758 is a known phenomenon. However, there is scarce information about the reasons for and patterns of this activity. We analysed 4-year localization data of 13 Global Positioning System-Global System for Mobile Communications (GPS-GSM) collared roe deer living in the floodplain forests of the river Tisza in the Hungarian Great Plain in order to describe such behaviour. Initially, we assumed that this river may represent a barrier for roe deer and we studied the frequency of river crossing occasions, between and within the studied animals. Our questions were: (1) Does the Tisza River act as a barrier to the movements of roe deer? (2) Are there any seasonal or daily variations in the crossing patterns? (3) Is there any difference between males and females regarding the water crossing patterns? (4) Does the water level or the increase in human presence (disturbance by hunting) have any impact on crossings? According to our data, 10 of the 13 individuals crossed the river at least twice, and eight of them did so several times or regularly. The periods spent on the different sides of the river varied from a few hours to several months. During the study period, animals of both sexes crossed the river without difference. There were crossings in all seasons, in daytime and nighttime also. We could not find any difference between the seasons, but there were more crossings in the daytime when we excluded the data of an outlier animal. Water level or human disturbance (live brown hare capture) had no impact on crossings. We conclude that the Tisza River does not represent a real barrier to the movements of roe deer, and our assumption was not supported.

Crossing water bodies (like lakes or rivers) by European roe deer Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758 is a known phenomenon. However, there is scarce information about the reasons for and patterns of this activity. We analysed 4-year localization data of 13 Global Positioning System-Global System for Mobile Communications (GPS-GSM) collared roe deer living in the floodplain forests of the river Tisza in the Hungarian Great Plain in order to describe such behaviour. Initially, we assumed that this river may represent a barrier for roe deer and we studied the frequency of river crossing occasions, between and within the studied animals. Our questions were: (1) Does the Tisza River act as a barrier to the movements of roe deer? (2) Are there any seasonal or daily variations in the crossing patterns? (3) Is there any difference between males and females regarding the water crossing patterns? (4) Does the water level or the increase in human presence (disturbance by hunting) have any impact on crossings? According to our data, 10 of the 13 individuals crossed the river at least twice, and eight of them did so several times or regularly. The periods spent on the different sides of the river varied from a few hours to several months. During the study period, animals of both sexes crossed the river without difference. There were crossings in all seasons, in daytime and nighttime also. We could not find any difference between the seasons, but there were more crossings in the daytime when we excluded the data of an outlier animal. Water level or human disturbance (live brown hare capture) had no impact on crossings. We conclude that the Tisza River does not represent a real barrier to the movements of roe deer, and our assumption was not supported.

Az Európai Unió számos tagországában hoztak létre agrár-környezetgazdálkodási programokat, melyek az intenzív mezőgazdaság káros hatásait hivatottak mérsékelni. Eredményességüket komoly szakmai vita kíséri, mely pusztán gazdasági jelentőségük miatt is kiemelt fontossággal bír. Hazánkban 2014-ben zárult le az Agrár-környezetgazdálkodási Támogatási Rendszer (AKG) 5 éves ciklusa. Ennek apróvadfajokra gyakorolt hatásának felmérésével a Vadvilág Megőrzési Intézetet bízta meg a Nemzeti Élelmiszerlánc-biztonsági Hivatal. Az apróvadfajok – kiemelten a mezei nyúl (Lepus europaeus) – kiváló bioindikátorai a hasonló programoknak, illetve a mezei ökoszisztémáknak, az extenzív gazdálkodási módoknak. Állományváltozásuk számos egyéb, sok esetben veszélyeztetett, nehezen megfigyelhető faj állományalakulását is jelzi. Az AKG és az apróvad- állományok kapcsolatát kis és nagy térléptékű elemzésekkel is vizsgáltuk, előbbiek magukba foglalták a széles körben alkalmazott állománybecslési, területhasználat-elemzési módszereket, utóbbiak pedig az Országos Vadgazdálkodási Adattár állománybecslési- és terítékadatait vetették össze az AKG-ben résztvevő mezőgazdasági parcellák adataival. Ezen adatsorok kiértékelése által lehetővé vált az AKG gyakorlati eredményeinek minél pontosabb felmérése, valamin kialakításra került egy, a jövőben is jól használható monitoring-rendszer a későbbi programok ellenőrzésére.