Competition between wild herbivores: reintroduced red deer and Apennine chamois

Ferretti, Francesco; Corazza, Marcello; Campana, Ilaria; Pietrocini, Venusta; Brunetti, Claudia; Scornavacca, Davide; Lovari, Sandro

doi:10.1093/beheco/aru226

Cited by 60 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Ecological theory predicts that as interspecific competition increases, species increasingly specialize on the resources they use most efficiently (Namgail et al 2009;Anderwald et al 2016). Consequently, an overlap of diet and realized ecological niches between species may foster niche contraction, leading to a decline in population density and fitness of less competitive species (Forsyth and Hickling 1998;Ferretti et al 2015). Interactions between herbivores, including feeding behaviour, dietary plasticity and diet selectivity, therefore need to be studied to generate reliable predictions of the grazing and browsing pressures in multi-ungulate ecosystems.…”

Section: Multi-ungulate Communities and Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

et al. 2017

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Wildlife management systems face growing challenges to cope with increasingly complex interactions between wildlife populations, the environment and human activities. In this position statement, we address the most important issues characterising current ungulate conservation and management in Europe. We present some key points arising from ecological research that may be critical for a reassessment of ungulate management in the future.

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Section: Multi-ungulate Communities and Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

et al. 2017

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“…Perco et al 1976), whereas at that time no mixed herd was present in Area C, with a maximum number of 4-6 male individuals (S. Lovari, personal observation). During our study, red deer used extensively our 'poor' areas, but deer presence was sporadic in the 'rich' one (Ferretti et al 2015), hereafter 'deer-free'. During our study, red deer used extensively our 'poor' areas, but deer presence was sporadic in the 'rich' one (Ferretti et al 2015), hereafter 'deer-free'.…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The depletion of nutritious pasture has been shown to affect survival of kids of Apennine chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata, leading to a heavy winter mortality Ferretti et al 2015). Interspecific competition with red deer Cervus elaphus, the spread of unpalatable, tall grass in secondary meadows, as well as the negative effects of temperature rising on the preferred vegetation for chamois, have been suggested as factors underlying pasture depletion Ferretti et al 2015;Corazza et al 2016). Interspecific competition with red deer Cervus elaphus, the spread of unpalatable, tall grass in secondary meadows, as well as the negative effects of temperature rising on the preferred vegetation for chamois, have been suggested as factors underlying pasture depletion Ferretti et al 2015;Corazza et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This ruminant is a mountain-dwelling ungulate which relies on high-quality, cold-adapted, legume-dominated patches of vegetation, growing on terrain subject to prolonged snow cover (Ferrari et al 1988). The negative effects of pasture depletion on food availability, volume of nutritious plants in diet and feeding intensity (indexed by the bite rate) of adult female chamois in summer-early autumn have been published elsewhere (Ferretti et al 2015). The negative effects of pasture depletion on food availability, volume of nutritious plants in diet and feeding intensity (indexed by the bite rate) of adult female chamois in summer-early autumn have been published elsewhere (Ferretti et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pasture Quality Affects Juvenile Survival through Reduced Maternal Care in a Mountain‐Dwelling Ungulate

et al. 2016

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Lactation exerts heavy energetic and physiological costs to mothers, whilst determining early growth and survival of offspring. To mountain ungulates, access to high-quality forage during nursing and weaning is crucial for reproductive success. We have evaluated the effects of pasture quality on suckling behaviour and winter survival of Apennine chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata kids, across three areas. Areas A-B (‘poor’ areas) were characterised by a reduced availability of nutritious forage, thus a lower diet quality for female chamois and kids; Area C (a ‘rich’ area) included a much greater availability of nutritious forage. In poor areas, pasture quality has been reduced by climatic and plant composition changes, as well as the presence of a herbivore competitor (red deer Cervus elaphus). In poor areas, we recorded a significantly (1) lower suckling success of chamois kids (number of suckling bouts/number of suck attempts); (2) lower frequency of suckling bouts (n. suckling bouts/kid/h); and (3) lower suckling intensity (suck duration/kid/h) in respect to the rich area. Conversely, frequencies of suckling rejections and those of suckling attempts (n. events/kid/h) were the lowest in the rich area. Winter survival of chamois kids was c. 2 times greater in the rich area (45%) than in poor areas (20–26%). In the poor areas, resource scarcity induced adult female chamois to decrease maternal cares and favour their own maintenance, ultimately affecting population dynamics through kid winter mortality

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“…Therefore, detailed knowledge about the effects of red deer grazing on biodiversity and trait-based species assemblage of pastures are needed to achieve a broader ecosystem perspective of grazing by wild herbivores (Mysterud, 2006). In this regard, detecting in which direction wild herbivores change the plant species assemblage is still a partially open question, since it depends on several factors such as herbivore species (Albon et al, 2007) and density (Putman, 2011;Ferretti et al, 2015), plant community type, productivity and composition (Bullock et al, 1996). Competition among sympatric wild herbivores (Lovari et al, 2014) and land use history (Gustavson et al, 2007) are key factors as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Red Deer Grazing on Alpine Hay Meadows: Biodiversity and Management Implications

Catorci¹

2016

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. Large mammalian herbivores are keystone species affecting the biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems, since herbivory directly influences plant species competitive ability. Thus, when managing habitats for conservation it is crucial to understand the selection patterns of large herbivores and their effect on plant diversity and assemblage. With this aim, we studied a pastoral system placed in centraleastern Alps, comparing late mowing with grazing by red deer. We found that, with high stocking rates, red deer significantly affects the species and functional composition of alpine productive pastures, mostly by competitive exclusion of subordinate species due to the spread of poorly palatable, competitive, stress-tolerant tall grasses with strong avoidance strategies. We argued that grazing by red deer with high stocking rates is harmful when acts on formerly managed meadows, while it has a positive impact on plant diversity of long-term abandoned grasslands. Our results indicated that grazing by red deer with high stoking rates hinders the spread of successional/ruderal species, but allows the establishment of competitive dominant tall grasses. Our findings also confirmed the hypothesis that the impact of red deer on grassland biodiversity follows the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.

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Competition between wild herbivores: reintroduced red deer and Apennine chamois

Cited by 60 publications

References 71 publications

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

Pasture Quality Affects Juvenile Survival through Reduced Maternal Care in a Mountain‐Dwelling Ungulate

Effect of Red Deer Grazing on Alpine Hay Meadows: Biodiversity and Management Implications

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