RT Journal Article
T1 The Dynamics of Lepus granatensis and Oryctolagus cuniculus in a Mediterranean Agrarian Area: Are Hares Segregating from Rabbit Habitats after Disease Impact?
A1 Prenda Marín, José
A1 Rodríguez Rodríguez, Eduardo José
A1 Negro, Juan José
A1 Muñoz Pichardo, Juan Manuel
AB The genera Oryctolagus and Lepus (order Lagomorpha) are essential elements in the trophicchain in the Iberian Peninsula, being the main prey of many predators, including some highlyendangered predators such as the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). Myxomatosis, a disease producingtumorations in conjunctive tissues, and produced by the Myxoma Virus, has caused mass mortalitiesin rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) for decades. Recently, the virus has jumped interspecifically fromrabbits to hares, and this has created a depletion in hare populations, generating great concern. Weanalyzed the population dynamics and distribution of both lagomorph species in a Mediterraneanagricultural area of the south of Spain since the 1990s with a combination of systematic and nonsystematic data. The appearance of the outbreak in the Iberian hare (Lepus granatenis) in 2018 enabledus to undertake an opportunistic analysis of its effects on the spatial structure and assemblages,as well as on the niches of both species using PCA analyses and ordination techniques. Analysisof the mortality effect on daily and seasonal cycles was also conducted, and relations with thetemporal dimension was tested using generalized lineal models (GLMs). In our results, in addition topopulation and temporal patterns, we could observe a restructuring in hare distribution after themortality event, highlighting that prior to the outbreak, rabbit and hare populations were spatiallydifferentiated, although with some overlaps and niche similarities. However, since the outbreak, harepopulations have been excluded from rabbit areas, suggesting that in the absence of rabbits, the virushas more difficulties to infect hares. We also provide an overview of the effect of this populationdepletion on the ecological and socio-economic dimension of this region, pointing out the importanceof this situation for the area
PB MDPI
SN 2076-2615 (electrónico)
YR 2022
FD 2022-05
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/21096
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/21096
LA eng
NO Prenda, J., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, E. J., Negro, J. J., & Muñoz-Pichardo, J. M. (2022). The Dynamics of Lepus granatensis and Oryctolagus cuniculus in a Mediterranean Agrarian Area: Are Hares Segregating from Rabbit Habitats after Disease Impact? In Animals (Vol. 12, Issue 11, p. 1351). MDPI AG. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12111351
NO This work was financially supported by the following projects, all belonging to the Operative FEDER Program: “Agricultura y conservación de la avifauna esteparia en Andalucía. Evaluaciónde la biodiversidad a partir de conocimiento accesible digital (DAK) y estudios in situ” (AndalusianResearch Plan 2014–2020. Ref. P20_00354); “Procesos de extinción en paisajes agrarios mediterráneos:evaluación de biodiversidad al inicio de una nueva Política Agraria Común mediante conocimientoaccesible digital (DAK) y estudios in situ” (Ref. UHU-202076)
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026