Rewilding the Scottish Highlands: Do Wild Boar, Sus scrofa, Use a Suitable Foraging Strategy to be Effective Ecosystem Engineers?

摘要: Ecosystem engineers are increasingly being reintroduced to restore ecological processes in restoration and rewilding projects. To predict adaptively manage the impact of such species their behavioral ecology must be understood quantified. Rooting behavior by wild boar qualifies them as ecosystem due on vegetation disturbance regimes. The foraging was quantified a fenced area Scottish Highlands order provide some understanding necessary ability affect restoration. Five were monitored within 125 ha using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars monitoring over 12-month period. Their activity budget, relationship between communities, how these relationships vary seasons investigated. results indicate that invested approximately four more hours daily rooting during autumn winter than spring summer. During summer, grazing dominant (approximately 28% period) while dominated 76% period). Deep is particularly associated with bracken-dominated communities. Associations rooting, community, season will have strong influence spatial temporal distribution behavior. This variation could important implications for impacts community dynamics. These detail boar's engineering behaviors; however, further research required consider wider full reintroduction.