In this research, the diet composition and feeding selection of the Italian hare were evaluated and compared in two sites of Haute-Corse region localised in the territories of Tallone and Aleria. The present study is the first considering feeding selection of Lepus corsicanus. The considered period ranged from June to October. Quadrat method was used to assess plant frequency, while diet composition was determined by microhistological analysis of faecal pellets collected monthly. Grasses represented the basis of the diet, with frequencies around 50% in both study areas, followed by non-leguminous forbs with an incidence of 29% in Aleria and over 31% in Tallone. Leguminous forbs and shrubs complemented its diet. Poaceae resulted to be the most preferred and selected family in the diet in both sites. In the diet, we observed 79 species, but only a few of them were in percentages greater than 5%. The most utilised species in the diet were Brachypodium sylvaticum, Briza maxima, and Trifolium angustifolium in Aleria and Digitaria sanguinalis, Briza maxima, and Daucus carota in Tallone. Our study evidenced that in the considered areas, characterised also in the dry period by wide plant diversity, the Italian hare behaved as generalist. Significant differences in the diet composition and in the diversity index between the two sites showed the adaptability of the Italian hare to different habitats and the influence of the vegetation on feeding habits of the species.

The Italian roe deer is classified as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, as the few specimens of this endemism may have a high risk of extinction. Conservation efforts for the Italian roe deer cannot prescind from the study of the feeding habits of the taxon. Therefore, in the present study, the spring diet composition of the Italian roe deer from two protected areas was estimated by using the micro-histological technique of faecal analysis. Univariate measures of alpha and beta diversity were computed to assess spatial differences in diet composition between the sites. A total of 79 different species of plants were identified, with few species (mainly woody plants) comprising over a quarter of the diet. The most consumed species were Rubia peregrina, Quercus suber and Osyris alba in Site 1, and Q. cerris, Carpinus betulus and Crataegus monogyna in Site 2. Alpha diversity analysis showed that diet composition was quite rich and diverse in both sites, with nearly all the shared species eaten to an equal extent. Moreover, the values of alpha diversity indices were not significantly different between the sites. The degree of dietary overlap ranged from “low” to “high”, as most of the identified plants were unshared, whereas the consumption of some shared plants differed between the sites. In conclusion, our results showed that that this subspecies of Capreolus is capable of exhibiting both a generalist and an opportunistic behaviour in relation of food resource availability.

In this study, activity patterns of the European hare ( Lepus europaeus ) were analyzed during winter using global positioning system (GPS) collars on 24 hares in two study areas located in central Italy. We programmed the collars to collect 12 location points per day, for a duration of three months. Results show two distinct phases of activities related to the day-night cycle. The daytime phase is characterized by inactivity at the form while the second phase is characterized by movements. Males were more active than females, showing a constant locomotor activity during the whole night. Females showed two peaks of activity during the night with a reduction in the middle of this time period. The comparison between females of the two study areas showed difference in interfix distance in particular around sunset and sunrise. In fact the minimum daily movement between the two areas shows that foraging sites of area B are more distant than those of area A. The recent possibility to apply GPS collars on small-medium mammals provides a powerful instrument to study the behavioral ecology of the European hare, and consequently promote an effective population management strategy for the species conservation.

The effects of removal on the structure of a coypu population were investigated during a three-year trapping program in the Val Campotto wetlands (northern Italy). The investigation was conducted on 267 specimens collected from March to December 1996. Winter severity index values indicated a sequence of cold winters, which may explain the unusual lack of individuals in the 0-4 months age class. Nevertheless, the demographic changes due to cold winters were counterbalanced by a high birth rate, the presence of pregnant females throughout the year and a low rate of embryo resorption (suggesting a high recruitment rate). Despite the intensive trapping campaign from 1994 to 1996 (8600 animals removed), no reduction of coypus was observed. Control campaigns and cold winters temporarily affected the sex ratio and age structure of the population, but did not limit coypu abundance. These results were compared with data collected during similar coypu control programs carried out in Italy and abroad.

We report results of a project aimed at analysing genetic diversification in Lepus corsicanus (italian hare), carried out at the INFS as part of an ongoing project on the biology of L. corsicanus. Samples of Italian hare were collected in different localities in central-southern Italy and Sicily. Moreover samples of L. europaeus (brown hare), as well as other species of the genus Lepus, were collected in Italy and Europe in order to define the phylogenetic relationships of the Italian hare. Results show a clear genetic distinction of the Italian hare. Consequently the status of true species is warranted at the molecular level. Phylogenetic relationships among species suggest the presence of two distinct groups, the Italian hare belonging to an evolutionary lineage including species which probably originated in a glacial refugia in southern Europe before colonization by the brown hare. On the other hand the brown hare belongs to a different lineage including species of African origins.

The Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus De Winton, 1898), formerly considered a subspecies of the European brown hare (L. europaeus Pallas, 1778), is an endemic species recently revalidated by genetic analyses. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to assess morphological discrimination between L. corsicanus and L. europaeus. A clear morphological discrimination in body and skull measurements between Italian hares and European hares was evident. Our results are consistent with the morphological observations in the historical specimens and with mtDNA data. Furthermore, no morphological hybrid was found even in areas where viable populations of the two species coexist in sympatry. Despite the original distribution of the Italian hare, it is impossible to determine a clear boundary between the two species because of human introduction of L. europaeus for hunting. Populations of L. corsicanus have been recorded from central Italy to Sicily, with a fragmented distribution and sometimes in sympatry and syntopy with populations of L. europaeus. However, in Sicily the Italian hare is continuously distributed, locally abundant and no stable European hare populations have been found. Although the conservation of the Italian hare needs to be understood better, urgent conservation and management strategies are required to avoid the threat of extinction for local populations.

We conducted a radio‐telemetry study of translocated brown hares Lepus europaeus during March 1992 ‐ November 1994 in a mid‐elevation mountain site in central Italy. Of 44 hares released in the study area, 38 died during our field studies. Most hares (68.2%) died within 10 days after release, 7.89% died within 11–20 days, 2.63% within 21–30 days and 21.05% later than 30 days after release. We found no difference in mortality rates between sexes. Most of the hares were preyed upon by red foxes Vulpes vulpes or beech marten Martes foina, but a few died of coccidiosis and various natural diseases. Some hares disappeared during the monitoring period. The average survival time was 52.7 days for males (N = 20), and 66.8 days for females (N = 21). We found no significant effect of sex, season or weight (g) on individual survival. Nearly all of the hares dispersed randomly from the release site within a radius of 1,200 m. We found no significant effect of survival time on dispersal rates, nor did we find any significant intersexual difference in the maximum distances moved by translocated individuals. We did not observe this trend among females. Season, survival time and individual weight did not influence individual dispersal, whereas sex had a significant effect, as males tended to disperse farther than females.

The taxonomic status of the Italian hare Lepus corsicanus has been uncertain since its first description by W. E. de Winton in 1898 (de Winton WE. Annual Magazine of Natural History, London, 1898, 1, 149-158). The distribution range of this species has shrunk severely over the last few decades owing to overhunting and restocking with nonindigenous brown hares (L. europaeus) in central and southern Italy and Sicily. Recently, scanty populations of Italian hares were rediscovered, and samples for morphological and molecular analyses were collected. Nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and cytochrome b indicate that L. corsicanus is a phylogenetically distinct species, which can be identified by concordant morphological and mtDNA traits. It seems to be reproductively isolated and apparently does not hybridize with sympatric brown hares. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that Italian and brown hares are not closely related sister taxa, but belong to distinct evolutionary lineages that dispersed in western Europe in different periods during the early Pleistocene, The Italian hare probably differentiated in isolated refuges in southern Italy during the last glaciation. Comparative analyses of mismatch distributions suggest that hares have had different demographic histories during the Pleistocene, which resulted in phylogeographical structuring in Italian hares, but not in brown and mountain (L. timidus) hares. The Italian hare is an endangered endemism and needs urgent conservation efforts.

In this study, activity patterns of the European hare (Lepus europaeus) were analyzed during winter using global positioning system (GPS) collars on 24 hares in two study areas located in central Italy. We programmed the collars to collect 12 location points per day, for a duration of three months. Results show two distinct phases of activities related to the day–night cycle. The daytime phase is characterized by inactivity at the form while the second phase is characterized by movements. Males were more active than females, showing a constant locomotor activity during the whole night. Females showed two peaks of activity during the night with a reduction in the middle of this time period. The comparison between females of the two study areas showed difference in interfix distance in particular around sunset and sunrise. In fact the minimum daily movement between the two areas shows that foraging sites of area B are more distant than those of area A. The recent possibility to apply GPS collars on small–medium mammals provides a powerful instrument to study the behavioral ecology of the European hare, and consequently promote an effective population management strategy for the species conservation.

Widespread and easy to study taxa are ideal models for analyses of life-history divergence, because they permit comparisons that are not confounded by genetically-coded divergence in other morphological, behavioral and ecological traits (Luiselli et al. 1996a, 1996b). The problem, however, is to find species whose life history traits have been adequately studied in different portions of their range. In general, Palearctic owls have a great deal of potential in this area because several aspects of their biology such as food habits have been studied in detail (Herrera and Hiraldo 1976, Cramp 1985). The exception to this is the Mediterranean Islands, especially islands in the Aegean and East Mediterranean Seas, where virtually nothing is known concerning the food habits of owls (Uttendtrfer 1952, Niethammer 1989). In particular, the diet of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) is little known. There are some dietary data available for islands in the western Mediterranean (Contoli et al. 1988, Lo Verde and Massa 1988) but nothing is known about what Little Owls eat in the Aegean and East Mediterranean Seas. In the present paper, we report detailed information on the summer diet of the Little Owl from a Mediterra-