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Current issue: Volume 21, No. 1 (2021)
Martsiv M., Syrota Y., Dykyy I. 2021. Diet composition of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758 (Canidae, Carnivora) in western Ukraine. Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp., 21 (1): 71 – 81.
Abstract
Here, we examined 70 samples of foxes from western Ukraine to determine their diet composition and assess the impacts of several factors on a diet. We analysed fox faeces (22 items) and the stomach contents (48 items) of individual animals killed via hunting or traffic accident. The diet of the red fox included plants (24 items) and animals (24 items), and Poaceae (herb) and the common voles (Microtus arvalis Pallas, 1778) occurred most frequently. There was a positive correlation between invertebrates and lower vertebrates (amphibians and reptiles). The collection method and the season had significant impacts on the occurrence of some types of food in the diet, whereas latitude and longitude had no effects on the diet composition in the study.
Key words: Trophic connections, nutrition of predators, influencing factors.
Mariia Martsiv, Ihor Dykyy. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine, E-mail: marichkamartsiv@gmail.com
Yaroslav Syrota. African Amphibian Conservation Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Yaroslav Syrota. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, Kyiv, 01030 Ukraine
