Effects of wild boar predation on nests of wading birds in various Swedish habitats
2016 (English)In: European Journal of Wildlife Research, ISSN 1612-4642, E-ISSN 1439-0574, Vol. 62, no 4, p. 423-430Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Resource type
Text
Abstract [en]
The wild boar has, over the past few decades, undergone an expansion in Europe, which may have negatively affected ground-nesting bird populations and particularly those of wading birds. The aim of this study was to evaluate predation on wadersâ nests by wild boar in Sweden, where this species has been increasing since its reintroduction. This was done by placing artificial nests in seven different study areas. A comparison was then made of predation rates of the nests placed on control plots (areas in which no wild boar were present but other predators were) and plots containing different abundances of wild boar. Contrary to our expectations, the proportion of nests predated was significantly lower in those areas in which wild boar were present, with a predation rate of 54 %, whereas the predation rate was 87.5 % in the others. The wild boar was identified as the second most important nest predator in the plots in which it was present, accounting for 18 % of the predated nests. The main predator on both types of plots was the red fox, which was responsible for 28 and 38.5 % of the predated nests on plots with/without wild boar, respectively. Interestingly, predation by badgers occurred principally in areas in which the wild boar was absent (34.5 % of the predated nests), whereas only one nest was predated by this predator in areas containing wild boar. It is not, however, possible to state whether predation by badgers was lower because of the presence of wild boar or whether this was owing to the fact that badgers do not select those particular patches because of habitat features.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. Vol. 62, no 4, p. 423-430
Keywords [en]
Colony-living vs. isolated species, Nest predation, Sus scrofa, Wading birds, Wetland
National Category
Biological Sciences
Research subject
Innovative Learning
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-21503DOI: 10.1007/s10344-016-1016-yISI: 000380127300005Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84964196273OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-21503DiVA, id: diva2:929066
2016-05-172016-05-172025-10-02Bibliographically approved