Preučevanje rastlin in nevretenčarjev v prehrani divjih prašičev s pomočjo metabarkodiranja okoljske DNA (eDNA)

The wild boar, Sus scrofa L., is an omnivorous ungulate with highly plastic feeding habits.The dietary flexibility of the species is challenging in ecological studies because it depends on multiple factors, such as the season, geographical location, local flora and fauna etc.As wild boar populations increase it is important to understand their ecological features, as high boar populations can have a huge impact on local habitats and ecosystem functions.The rooting behaviour of wild boar greatly influences the composition of the soil, affecting plant and invertebrate communities.DNA metabarcoding has been recognised as an effective method for mammalian dietary analysis, due to its precision, sensitivity, and costeffectiveness.The aims of this thesis are i) investigating the taxonomic composition of plant and invertebrate species in wild boar diet; ii) comparison of diets related to geographical location and season; iii) comparison of classification outcome by using different reference databases.The thesis includes the full process of faecal metabarcoding, from sample collection, qPCR amplification and barcoding, to bioinformatic analysis using QIIME2 and R. Results showed, that the most frequent plant genera in the samples are: Avena, Fagus, Picea, Quercus, and Spinoliva and the most abundant invertebrate genera are Pterostichus, Circulio, Drosophila, Scathophaga, Blastobasis, Habrotrocha, Limax, Lucilia, Olibrus, Poecilus, Carabus, Tipula, Cydia, Drosophila, and Rachispoda.The beta diversity and frequency of occurrence did not show a strong correlation between the FOO of detected genera and sampling season.This thesis highlights the effectiveness of the eDNA metabarcoding approach in dietary studies of omnivore mammals.