This study indicates that even in the absence of overt intraspecific competition, fine-scale spatial variation in food quality can lead to individual variation in reproductive success. Life history data on individual female rednecked wallabies Macropus rufogriseus banksianus were obtained over a six-year period. Vegetation surveys were conducted to analyse the composition of vegetation in the feeding range of each female, from which individual food quality indices were derived. Females' rates of rearing offspring to permanent emergence from the pouch and to weaning were positively correlated with the quality of food in their feeding ranges. Time spent in the pouch by offspring and age at first parturition of daughters were negatively correlated with maternal food quality. It is proposed that quality of available food affects growth rates and survival of offspring through its effects on maternal lactation and/or forage intake by offspring.

A free-living population of European rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus was monitored over three years, from 1996 to 1998, following the arrival of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in 1995. The survey was based on nocturnal observations of individually marked rabbits to determine population size and on blood collection to determine whether rabbits carried RHD antibodies. We directly confirmed RHD outbreaks by examination of dead rabbits and detection of RHD virus (RHDV). Only one further recurrence of RHD was detected by this method, in 1996. Contrary to the initial outbreak, this second occurrence did not result in a major decrease in population size. No direct evidence of other outbreaks was detected in 1997 and 1998. However, the sparse data did not enable us to conclude that RHD was absent. Indeed, seroconversions in individual rabbits were noticed throughout the three years and the level of population immunity remained high, proving that either RHDV or RHD-like viruses were present in the population. The influence of age, year and quarter on the serological status of the rabbits were analysed using a log-linear model. The selected model showed that the proportion of rabbits with RHD antibodies varied with year and period of the year. Three years after the first occurrence of RHD, the population had not recovered to its level prior to the first outbreak. We assumed that predation by red foxes could be partly responsible for keeping the population low.

The effect of ad libitum supplemental feeding upon the diet and foraging behaviour of red squirrels Sciurus vulgaris was studied in a coniferous habitat during May 1994 - July 1996. Although supplemental feeding in the form of peanuts was widely available, the animals continued to exploit natural foods such as pine seed, buds and flowers. The degree to which pine seed was exploited was a function of pine cone availability. In contrast, peanut consumption was not correlated with peanut availability, but was determined by the abundance of pine cones. During late winter and spring when seed was becoming scarce, peanuts contributed 30–56% of the dietary items. In addition, increasing amounts of alternative ‘low energy’ foods such as buds and flowers were also exploited. These foods are calcium rich and their ingestion would compensate for the high phosphorus content of peanuts. The nutritional composition of peanuts appears to have restricted the degree to which they could be included in the diet. Nevertheless peanuts were an important dietary component, and seasonally contributed 25–181% of the animals' basic daily energy requirements. Supplemental feeding was associated with relatively large amounts of activity occurring on the ground (annual mean estimates were 47 and 50% of total foraging time). The animals continued to exhibit ‘scatter-hoarding’ behaviour, with peanuts accounting for 90% of the identified cached items. This stored resource could satisfy 344 (1994/95) and 198 (1995/96) days of the animals' basic energy requirements.

Effects of sampling/observation area size on correlations between hunter moose Alces alces observation rates and moose density estimates have been evaluated. Each correlation between observation rates and moose density estimates was examined to discover extreme values strongly influencing correlations due to small sample sizes. The results of my study suggested that hunter observation rates were affected by sampling area size. Correlations between observation rates and moose densities indicate that there is a positive asymptotic relationship between hunter observation rate accuracy and sampling area, i.e. as the sampling area increases, so does the accuracy of the hunter observation rate. It was concluded that the accuracy of density estimates could be improved by using hunter observation rates obtained in sampling areas larger than 500 km². The concordance between moose counts and densities at this sampling area size was intermediate (r_s = 0.5–0.7). It is suggested that estimates of smaller management units may be improved when using year-to-year surveys at sampling within homogeneous management units. However, the confidence intervals are generally wide, and moose regulation authorities using hunter observation rates as a moose density estimator will have to accept estimates with a relatively low precision.

An alternative to the so-called ‘marker substance’ method used to estimate daily food intake in geese is presented. Based on the assumption that a grazing bird takes one leaf per peck, the daily food intake rate can be calculated by multiplying mean bite weight, peck rate and total daily foraging time. Wintering pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus feeding on pastures and winter wheat fields were collected and samples of leaves in the oesophagus were measured, dried and weighed individually. We measured leaf lengths in unexploited areas of the same fields upon which geese had been feeding. Peck rates of winter wheat feeding geese were measured. Daily foraging time was obtained from observations of activity budgets of flocks of geese. Daily food intake of winter wheat feeding geese was estimated at 159–229 g ash free dry weight (AFDW) during late winter and at 188–212 g AFDW in early spring. For geese feeding on pastures in early spring food intake was estimated at 170 g AFDW. Averages were generally in accordance with estimates derived by the ‘marker substance’ method. Bite length was positively related to primary leaf length of winter wheat, suggesting that geese adjust bite size to available leaf lengths. There was a negative relationship between peck rate and length of all leaf types, but the relationship was only significant for primary leaves. Based on the assumption that bite length was identical to primary leaf length and the relationship between primary leaf length and peck rate, a quadratic relation between primary leaf length and instantaneous intake rates was derived, yielding a peak intake rate of 0.62 g AFDW min^-1 at a primary leaf length of 8.4 cm. In the beginning of the winter, bite lengths were close to this optimal leaf length, but decreased during winter.

We conducted a radio-telemetry study of translocated brown hares Lepus europaeus during March 1992 - November 1994 in a mid-elevation mountain site in central Italy. Of 44 hares released in the study area, 38 died during our field studies. Most hares (68.2%) died within 10 days after release, 7.89% died within 11–20 days, 2.63% within 21–30 days and 21.05% later than 30 days after release. We found no difference in mortality rates between sexes. Most of the hares were preyed upon by red foxes Vulpes vulpes or beech marten Martes foina, but a few died of coccidiosis and various natural diseases. Some hares disappeared during the monitoring period. The average survival time was 52.7 days for males (N = 20), and 66.8 days for females (N = 21). We found no significant effect of sex, season or weight (g) on individual survival. Nearly all of the hares dispersed randomly from the release site within a radius of 1,200 m. We found no significant effect of survival time on dispersal rates, nor did we find any significant intersexual difference in the maximum distances moved by translocated individuals. We did not observe this trend among females. Season, survival time and individual weight did not influence individual dispersal, whereas sex had a significant effect, as males tended to disperse farther than females.

Finland and Russian Karelia belong to the same biogeographical entity, lying on the same Precambrian bedrock. During the last half century there has been an enormous ‘natural experiment’, in which forestry in Finland has been very intensive, whereas in Karelia forestry has been negligent leaving large primaeval areas untouched. As a result, Russian forests have a much greater diversity of wildlife. In particular, rare species and species favouring old forests are more abundant in Karelia than in Finland. Typical dominant species in Finland are those characteristic of younger successional stages as well as many vole-dependent small carnivores. Finland is situated on the eastern margin of a vast coniferous taiga. The future of the taiga fauna in Fennoscandia is dependent on the condition of the taiga forests in Russia and on the connectivity of Fennoscandian forest areas to the intact taiga, i.e. connectivity at the border between Russia and Finland. In this paper, we focus our attention on the narrow isthmus between the White Sea and Lake Onega, which is an extremely important connection for the northern element of the taiga fauna. The capercaillie Tetrao urogallus may be a good focal species, with its large spatial requirements for lek areas depicting the need for connectivity to maintain viable populations. We suggest that large-scale connections should be planned, ‘forest bridges’ intruding into Finland and even into Sweden, where the proportion of mature forests would be high enough (as much as ⅓ of the total area) to guarantee the connectivity between subpopulations. We argue that this may not necessarily represent additional costs for forestry, provided that actions are taken for a careful large-scale planning of forest harvesting to satisfy the requirements of these corridors. We believe that large-scale preservation of ecosystems will be a better strategy in the future than species-specific conservation programmes for wildlife species.