Habitat use by cattle, feral horses, hares, and geese in Evros Delta

Terrestrial rangelands in Evros Delta are commonly grazed by cattle, feral horses, hares and geese. This area is dominated by two vegetation communities, halophyte and grass-forb, forming a temporal dynamic mosaic due to many involved factors such as the presence and the quality of the water, the salinity level etc. The use of these communities by the said herbivores was estimated during the wintering period 2007-2008 using the pellet counts method. All herbivores used more intensively the grass-forb sites compared to halophytic sites. Conclusively, great overlap in habitat use by all herbivores was observed, indicating that there is elevated potential for habitat competition and maybe for the food since the herbivores used these sites as feeding places. The common use of grass-forb sites by the herbivores makes their coexistence in doubt, especially in cases where grazing intensity exceeds the threshold of proper use. However, grazing reduces the quantity of aboveground biomass and affects the composition and the structure of vegetation communities, which under proper management may favour vulnerable animal species such as hares and geese (e.g. protection against natural enemies).The multiple use of terrestrial rangelands in Evros Delta by cattle, feral horses, hares and geese, except of the particular importance for the stability of ecosystems and conservation of the biodiversity, is also expected to maximize the productivity of these rangelands.