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Summer food of sympatric red fox and pine marten in the German Alps

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Abstract

Based on fecal analyses, we compared summer diet composition and trophic niche breadth for the sympatric red fox Vulpes vulpes (n=55 scats) and pine marten Martes martes (n=64) in the foothills of the German Alps. Mammals accounted for 41 and 51% of the consumed biomass by pine martens and red foxes, respectively, and no single mammal species exceeded 8% of the diet. The larger red fox consumed a wider range of prey sizes than the smaller pine marten, and both consumed large amounts of plants and also insects. Whereas the Levins index suggested that both predators have specialist feeding niches, the Shannon-Wiener index showed that both predators were relatively generalist. Despite its preliminary nature, our study suggests that a strict distinction between generalist and specialist trophic niches is not justified for medium-sized carnivores in the Alps, particularly as results greatly depend on the indices used.

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Acknowledgments

First and foremost, we would like to thank Martin Lauterbach, Christine Pfeifle, and Karin Wojtech for their help with the collection and analysis of samples. Advice and assistance were also provided by Bernhard Gum, Felix Knauer, Ralph Kuehn, Lena Lieckfeld, Evi Tschunko, and A.R.’s new coworkers at Michigan State University. The Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture provided financial support. Without the help of the local forest administrator, Mr. Huber of Forstamt Siegsdorf, our accommodations on Teisenberg would also have been much less comfortable.

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  1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 16 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI , 48823, USA

    Aaron J. M. Russell

  2. Linderhof Research Station, Technische Universität München, 82488 , Ettal, Germany

    Ilse Storch

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  1. Aaron J. M. Russell
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  2. Ilse Storch
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Correspondence to Ilse Storch.

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Russell, A.J.M., Storch, I. Summer food of sympatric red fox and pine marten in the German Alps. Eur J Wildl Res 50, 53–58 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-004-0037-0

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