Feeding Preferences of the Italian Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus italicus Festa, 1925) in a Coastal Mediterranean Environment

Abstract

The present study was aimed to deepen the knowledge on diet and on feeding preferences of the Italian roe deer. The research was carried on in the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected area of Latium coast. Quadrat method was used to assess plant frequency, whereas diet composition was determined by fecal micro-histological analysis. A total of 143 plant species were identified in the site and 109 of them were found in the feces of the Capreolus capreolus italicus. All over the year, most of the taxa were ingested in low percentages (≤5%) and the most utilized plant species were Quercus suber, Prunus spinosa, Rubia peregrina, and Crateaegus monogyna. Fagaceae and Rosaceae plant families represented the bulk of the diet and were positively selected. In addition, a positive selection on Fabaceae and Oleaceae families was found in wet season but not in dry one. In both periods the Italian roe deer showed a positive selection for deciduous woody plants and evergreen woody plants, instead avoided wild forbs and wild graminoids. Our results confirmed that this subspecies behaved as a generalist highly selective feeder.

Diet Selection by the Italian Hare (Lepus corsicanus de Winton, 1898) in Two Protected Coastal Areas of Latium

“…Circeo National Park (CNP) covering 8.917 ha (41 • 14 06 N. 13 • 03 50.4 E) is situated further South. Its mean annual rainfall is 963 mm with precipitation mainly concentrated in autumn and early winter (October-December) and the range of mean monthly temperatures is 7-25 • C [14]. Both areas contain several land-cover types representative for the Mediterranean area: natural oak woods with evergreen (Quercus ilex and Quercus suber) and deciduous (Quercus cerris and Quercus frainetto) species, broad-leaved mixed oaks forest, pasture, Mediterranean maquis, pseudo steppe, and mixed or pure forest of domestic pine (Pinus pinea) [15].…”

“…In addition, there are nitrophilous spiny species (Cirsium strictum and Galactites tomentosa) whose presence is due to the grazing of cattle [16]. A fallow area, characterised by annual growing grasses (in prevalence, A. fatua, C. dactylon, Dasypyrum villosum, Lagurus ovatus, and P. trivialis), completes the vegetation mosaic of the site [14].…”

“…A total of 40 composites samples were analysed for L. corsicanus (8 months × 5 sites). Our consolidated experience in the microhistological technique made us prefer this method to others, perhaps faster (e.g., DNA metabarcoding) but also not without drawbacks [4,14].…”

“…Faecal pellets were processed according to the method described in Freschi et al [11,14]. For each composite sample, 10 microscope slides were mounted.…”

The Quality of Roe Deer (Capreolus Capreolus) Diet in the Winter and Spring Periods Based on Rumen Contents

“…Roe deer are very picky and choose the food of higher quality for grazing. If the incidence of family plants in the diet is less than or greater than 60%, mammalian herbivores can be considered specialists or generalists according to their feeding behavior (Shipley et al, 2009;Freschi et al, 2021). On the basis of the digestive tract morphology, Hofmann (1989) described roe deer as a "typical concentrate selector" and the most widespread species of deer in Europe.…”