Information
- Type
- Project
- Name
- Diet composition and preferences of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) and its importance for facilitation by large herbivores
- Name @nl
- Dieetsamenstelling en voorkeuren van het wilde konijn (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) en zijn belang voor facilitatie door grote herbivoren
- Description @en
- This project is financed by:
- Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds Universiteit Gent (1 okt. 2002 t.e.m. 31 dec. 2002) BOF2002/DRMAN/059
- IWT-Vlaanderen (1 januari 2003 t.e.m. 30 sept 2003) IWT/SB/21160
- FWO-Vlaanderen (vanaf 1 oktober 2003) A132
The first aim of this project is studying the effect of introduced large herbivores on rabbit populations. Our hypothesis states that large grazers would enhance the quality of the vegetation by keeping the vegetation short. This could be very important for rabbits, because they’re expected to be dependant on high-quality food. So, large herbivores could benefit the rabbit populations. The existence of this mechanism is studied by a combination of experiments and field observations. Also, the effect of the rabbit on the vegetation is studied.
The former Institute for Nature Conservation was a partner in this project. This partnership is continued through the Research Institute for Nature and Forest - Start date
- 2003-10
- End date
- 2007-9