THE TROPHIC ECOLOGY OF WOLVES AND THEIR PREDATORY ROLE IN UNGULATE COMMUNITIES OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN EUROPE

Predation by wolves Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 in ungulate communities in Europe, with special reference to the multi-species system of Bial owieza Primeval Forest (Poland/Belarus), was assessed on the basis res ults of original research and literature. In historical times (post-gl acial period), the geographical range of the wolf and most ungulate sp ecies in Europe decreased considerably. Community richness of ungulate s and potential prey for wolves, decreased over most of the continent from 5-6 species to 2-3 species. The wolf is typically an opportunisti c predator with a highly diverse diet; however, cervids are its prefer red prey. Red deer Cervus elaphus are positively selected from ungulat e communities in all localities, moose Alces alces are the major prey only where middle-sized species are scarce. Poe deer Capreolus capreol us are locally preyed on intensively, especially where they have high density, co-exist mainly with moose or wild boar Sus scrofa, and red d eer is scarce or absent. Wild boar are generally avoided, except in a few locations; and European bison Bison bonasus are not preyed upon by wolves. Wolf predation contributes substantially to the total natural mortality of ungulates in Europe: 42.5% for red deer, 34.5% for moose , 25.7% for roe der, and only 16% for wild boar. Food niche breadth (B ) of wolves in Europe, calculated only for the ungulates considered in this study, increases with the number of ungulate species in the comm unity. There is also a significant relationship between ungulate commu nity breadth and food niche breadth of wolves. Food niche breadth of w olves, however, does not achieve very high values even in the richest ungulate communities. Wolves easily adapt to locally abundant food of anthropogenic origin (livestock, garbage). The level of predation on l ivestock may be a result of different husbandry practices (eg use of l ivestock guarding dogs) rather than of differences in availability of wild and domestic prey. Available data from Europe suggest that wolves likely limit density of red deer and moose in some areas. Poe deer de nsity can be decreased locally by wolves but is limited mainly by lynx Lynx lynx. Wild boar density is more influenced by mast crops of Quer cus spp. and Fagus silvatica (and to a lesser extent by snow depth) th an by wolf predation.