Autumn-winter diet overlap of fallow, red, and roe deer in forest ecosystems, Southern Poland

Artur Obidziński1, Piotr Kiełtyk2, Jakub Borkowski3,4, Leszek Bolibok5, Karolina Remuszko4,6
1Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
2Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw, Poland
3Department of Forestry and Forest Ecology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland
4Department of Forest Ecology, Forest Research Institute, Sękocin Las, Poland
5Department of Silviculture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
6Forest Directorate Wielbark, Wielbark, Poland

Tóm tắt

The wild population of fallow deer in Central Europe has grown considerably over the last decade. However, information on feeding habits of this alien species in relation to the indigenous red deer or roe deer, in areas of their co-occurrence, is scarce. A prevailing view maintains that their food-niches are distinct, although direct comparative studies have not been carried out. Therefore, the aim of the research was to compare the diets of fallow, red, and roe deer feeding in the same habitat. Research was based on the rumen contents of 242 animals hunted in the autumn-winter season in the forests of Southern Poland. The analyses demonstrated that fallow deer are moderate grazers in such conditions and eat more graminoids in comparison to red or roe deer (36.4% vs. 16.1% or 5.5%, respectively). On the other hand, it feeds on less browse (17.2% vs. 41.4%) or dwarf shrubs (8.4% vs. 19.0%) than red deer, and on less bramble (10.9% vs. 34.6%) or forbs (4.0% vs. 7.6%) in comparison to roe deer (P=0.05). Although the diets of the three deer species differ in terms of the proportion of each food type in their diet, overlapping of their food-niches is high (52.6%).

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