Botanical composition of the diet of the hare (Lepus europaeus) in Thessaly, Greece

The hare, in contrast to other species of lagomorphs, is a species that is very selective onccerning its diet. The major part of the hare diet is constituted of the green parts of plants, mostly belonging to the Poaceae family. The variety in the diet of the hare depends on the availability of plant species in each habitat in each season. In this paper we present the results of a study on the composition of the diet of the hare in Thessaly; the study took place in the period 1997-2000. More particularly, 318 stomachs of hares were analyzed for their composition; the specimens were collected from hunters during the 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000 hunting seasons. For the identification of the plant remnants that were found in the stomachs of the samples a reference collection was created by plants of the species habitat. During the stomach content analysis 181 plant taxa were identified, of which 112 to the level of the species, 66 to the level of the genus, and 3 to the level of the family. In the total sample 58 taxa, that is 43 species and 15 genera, belonged to the Poaceae family and made up approximately 36% (frequency of occurence) of the hare diet for the period September-January. The species of the genera: Poa, Festuca, Bromus, Lolium and Triticum constituted the majority of the graminoid species that were consumed by the hare. Other important plant species that were identified were: Euphorbia sp. (13,6%), Trifolium sp., Medicago sp., Viscum album, Cerastium sp., and fruits and nuts from trees and shrubs, such as Pyrus malus, Cornus sp., Pyrus amygdaliformis and Crataegus sp. The vast majority of the plant species that constitute the diet of the hare were wild, non-cultivated species, with the exception of some cereals such as wheat, rye and some legumes.