FSD 2010 - Wild Boar and Feral Pig

5th International Symposium-Workshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal (1985-2010)

Wild Boar and Feral Pig

Current knowledge about processes that generate long-distance dispersal of plants is still limited despite its importance for persistence of populations and colonization of new potential habitats. Ungulates (dear, wild boar) are presumed to be important vectors for long-distance transport of diaspores within and between forest patches via epi- and endo-zoochory. Among them wild boar and feral pig are important frugivores and seed-dispersers in the temperate as well as in tropical habitats when introduced in the latter case. In The Netherlands, the diet of wild boar has been analysed showing that composition of stomach contents depended mainly on season, mast availability, and area-specific factors, whereas sex and age were of little or no importance. In autumn, and in winters of rich mast years, mast was the main constituent of the diet. In winters of poor mast years this was replaced by broadleaved grasses in one area and by broadleaved grasses, wavy hairgrass, and roots in the other. In Germany, endozoochorous and epizoochorous dispersal of vascular plant species wild boar (Sus scrofa) has been investigated in forest areas. Fresh faecal pellets were collected, and the coats and hooves of ungulates (roe deer and wild boar) were brushed out. A total of 2,473 individuals from 77 vascular plant species has been recorded roe deer exceeding wild boar concerning seed contents in the faeces, and the significance of roe deer for epizoochorous dispersal being relatively low compared with wild boar.

Domestic pigs quite readily become feral, and feral populations often revert to a similar appearance to wild boar. After being introduced in Pantanal, although feral pigs did not appeared as a direct threat to the native peccaries due to differences in morphology and behavior indicate, nevertheless, they impact the wildlife community in other ways as predators of eggs, by destruction of vegetation through rooting. Overall, Wild boars and feral pigs both create problems in field and fruit crops, and contribute to dispersal and invasion of woody small-seeded weed species in their dung, significantly reduced the re-establishment of woody seedlings and reduce the rate and alter the trajectory of vegetation regrowth after disturbance.

Sources

Wild boar

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Gomez, J.M. and Hodar, J.A. 2008. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) affect the recruitment rate and spatial distribution of holm oak (Quercus ilex). Forest Ecology & Management 256: 1384-1389. Abstract

Middleton, BA. and Mason, D.H. 1992. Seed herbivory by Nigai, feral cattle, and wild boar in the Keoladeo-National-Park, India. Biotropica 24:538-543. Abstract.

Heinken, T., Schmidt, M., von Oheimb, G., Kriebitzsch, W.U., and Ellenberg, H. 2006. Soil seed banks near rubbing trees indicate dispersal of plant species into forests by wild boar. Basic and Applied Ecology 7:31-44. Abstract.

Matías, L., Zamora, R., Mendoza, I., and Hódar, J.A. Seed dispersal patterns by large frugivorous mammals in a degraded mosaic landscape. Restauration Ecology Abstract

Nemtzov, S.C. 2002. Management of wildlife-human conflicts in Israel: A wide variety of vertebrate pest problems in a difficult and compact environment. 20th Vertebrate Pest conference, proceedings. Proceedings – Vertebrate Pest Conference Pages: 348-353. (see 23rd conference)

Herrero, J., Garcia-Serrano, A. and Garcia-Gonzalez, R. 2008. Reproductive and demographic parameters in two Iberian wild boar Sus scrofa populations. Acta Theriologica 53: 355-364. Abstract.

Schley, L., Dufrene, M., Krier, A. and Frantz, A.C. 2008. Patterns of crop damage by wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Luxembourg over a 10-year period. European Journal of Wildlife Research 54: 589-599. PDF

Schmidt, M., Sommer, K., Kriebitzsch, W.U., Ellenberg, H., von Oheimb, G. 2004. Dispersal of vascular plants by game in northern Germany. Part I: Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). European Journal of Forest Research 123 : 167-176. Abstract.

Feral pigs

Breceda Solís-Cámara, A. Arnaud-Franco, G. Álvarez Cárdenas, S., Galina Tessaro, P. , and Montes-Sánchez, J.J. 2009. Evaluation of feral pig population (Sus scrofa) and its impact in the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserva, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Tropical Conservation Science 2 (2): 173-188 (pdf)

Desbiez, A.L.J., Santos, S.A., Keuroghlian, A., et al. 2009. Niche partitioning among white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari), collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu) and feral pigs (Sus scrofa). Journal of Mammalogy 90: 119-128. Abstract.

Herrera, H.M., Abreu, U.G.P., Keuroghlian, A, et al. 2008. The role played by sympatric collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), and feral pig (Sus scrofa) as maintenance hosts for Trypanosoma evansi and Trypanosoma cruzi in a sylvatic area of Brazi. Parasitology Research 103:619-62. Abstract.

Lynes, B.C. and Campbell, S.D. 2000. Germination and viability of mesquite (Prosopis pallida) seed following ingestion and excretion by feral pigs (Sus scrofa). Tropical Grasslands 34: 125-128. Abstract.

Sicuro, F.L. and Oliveira, L.F.B. 2002. Coexistence of peccaries and feral hogs in the Brazilian Pantanal Wetland: and ecomorphological view. Journal of Mammalogy 83:207-217. Abstract.

Wilson, D. J., Ruscoe, W.A., Buffows, L.E., McElrea, L.M., and Choquenot, D. 2006. An experimental study of the impacts of understorey forest vegetation and herbivory by red deer and rodents on seedling establishment and species composition in Waitutu Forest, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30: 191-207. Abstract.