Ábrahám Levente: Biomonitoring a Dráva folyó magyarországi szakasza mentén 2000-2004 - Natura Somogyiensis 7. (Kaposvár, 2005)

Heltai, Miklós, Szemethy, László, Szabó, László - Szőcs, Emese: Small and medium sized predators monitoring along River Dráva - Kis- és közepesméretű ragadozó emlősök monitoringja a Dráva mentén

158 NATURA SOMOGYIENSIS The lack of information is proved by the facts of BÁLDI et al. (1995), who were considering the given species' status of protection and research as an independent point of view, when working out the appraising system of the national vertebrate species. They estimated -among others- whether there is or not information about the nationwide spreading and the changes in number of individuals, and furthermore the number of publications about the studies on the given specie. In their system the specie about every information is available got 0 points in principle, while about nothing is known got 45. The studied predator species - except the red fox (15 points) - got 28 points or higher rates, but the 40 points of the common polecat and the lynx, or the 38 points in case of the weasel means total lack of information virtually. This incognizance enforced the working out of monitoring predator species to be completed as part of the National Biodiversity Monitoring System. (TÖRÖK et al. 2001). László Szemethy and Miklós Heltai, the colleagues of St. István University's Department of Wildlife Biology and Management suggested two different types of data collecting methods. On the one part they suggested a continuous data collection based on a nationwide survey with questionnaires, on the other part a survey on fields on appointed monitoring points based upon live trapping. Their suggestions were confirmed with their earlier experiences (SZEMETHY and HELTAI 2002). The nationwide survey with questionnaires was started in 1987 and they have been continuing it with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Wildlife Management Fund ever since. HELTAI (2002) gave a summary of the results found till now in his PhD thesis. The testing of the survey on fields was also started, but because the lack of the nature conservation support first of all it served the following of the populations of the fair games or of those species which are important in game management (SZEMETHY et al. 2000). The nature protective monitoring of river Dráva, that started in 1999 gave the opportunity to try the monitoring on fields based on trapping that had been worked out for the predator species and make an alteration in it if necessary. So our purpose was dual, on the one hand monitoring of the mammal predators' stock on the indicated research areas on the other hand testing the applied methods. We carried out our researches on the increased protected soft-wooded grove forests of a floodplain area and on artificially renovated oak forests, bordered by the River Dráva and the Stream Zsdála, situated on the south by the village Bélavár, on the monitoring points that were appointed by the Duna-Dráva National Park. Methods Description of the basic status The predator species which might be found on the area, their present status and their stock alteration were defined upon the bag data of the National Database of Game Management and upon wide extended faunistical works (LANSZKI and PURGER 2002, HELTAI 2002) that can be related to the area. Trapping according to the original protocol According to the original sampling method the work was continued three times a year with 100 small sized "stone marten" traps. The trapping periods were: winter (JanuaryFebruary), summer (June-July), autumn (October-November). One or other trapping campaign stood about a one week long accustoming after outplacement and about an