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Identifier

000463265

Title

Μελέτη κατανομής μικρών χερσαίων θηλαστικών στην Κρήτη μέσω ανάλυσης εμεσμάτων της κουκουβάγιας Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769)

Alternative Title

Study of the distribution of small mammal in Crete: insights from Tyto alba' s pellet analysis

Author

Ορφανού, Χριστιάνα Ι.

Thesis advisor

Πουλακάκης, Νικόλαος
Λυμπεράκης, Πέτρος

Abstract

The diet of Tyto alba, a globally studied bird of prey, remains relatively unexplored in Crete, as only one paper has been published. Through the study of T.alba's prey, important information about the biocommunities of small mammals in this region is obtained, as prey preference is influenced by local abundance, nutritional value and defensive abilities. From the collections of the Natural History Museum of Crete - University of Crete, pellets from 72 sites from all over Crete were analysed, resulting in a total of 5090 prey items. The main prey group is small terrestrial mammals (98%), The main prey group is small terrestrial mammals (98%), a heterogeneous group represented by 5 species of the rodent order and 2 species of the insectivore order. In detail, Rodents with representatives from the family Muridae had 86% of the diet and Insectivores with species from the family Soricidae had 14%, while the remaining 3% is made up of Passerines, Chiroptera and Reptiles. Among Rodents, the most predominant species are Mus domesticus (61%) and Rattus rattus (15%), while Insectivores are mainly represented by Crocidura gueldenstaedtii with 12%. In addition, other species such as Apodemus sylvaticus, Acomys cahirinus and Suncus etruscus were observed in low abundance. In a second phase, the data obtained from the diet of Tyto alba were correlated with exogenous factors such as human population and land use. Although small mammals are an important part of all terrestrial ecosystems, basic questions of their distribution and ecology remain unanswered. Emulsion analysis is a useful method for studying both the diet of T . alba and the distribution of small mammals.

Language

Greek

Subject

Barn owl

Crete

Crocidura

Land cover

Mus

Rattus

Κρήτη

Πεπλογλαύκα

Χρήσεις γης