Authors: De Barba, Marta; Beaumelle, Camille;García-Rodríguez, Alberto;Albrecht, Jörg;Boyer, Frédéric;Coissac, Eric;Groff, Claudio;Konec, Marjeta;Lionnet, Clement;Miquel, Christian;

Under increasing anthropogenic pressures, dietary studies are crucial for the conservation of wildlife species and the ecosystem services they provide. We assessed the diet of brown bears (Ursus arctos) by DNA metabarcoding in two areas with different levels of human activities and disturbance, in the Polish Carpathians and in the Italian Alps. In both areas, brown bears' diet showed a marked seasonality, characterized by a wide variety of natural foods, mostly plants and insects. In the Carpathians, fleshy-fruited plants were present in 56% of faeces, suggesting that brown bears are important seed disperses. In the Alps, females had a more diverse diet than males, especially older males, and occurrence of major food items differed among bear sex and age categories. Occurrence of anthropogenic food was limited in both areas, but lower in the Carpathians than in the Alps. Low incidence of food associated to human activities was found also for wolves in Slovenia and brown bears in the Pyrenees using the same approach. Our results suggest that large carnivores can play their ecological role through the maintenance of key trophic interactions also in human-modified ecosystems. Appropriate management is fundamental for preserving the ecosystem services these animals provide.