Hábitos alimentarios del venado cola blanca <i>Odocoileus virginianus</i> (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) en el Parque Natural Sierra Nanchititla, Estado de México

Abstract

Food habits of the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) in Nanchititla Natural Park, Mexico. White-tailed deer is a species with a large behavioral plasticity and adaptation to different habitats, including their food habits. This study was conducted with the aim to determine the food habits of this species in the cloud (BMM) and pine-oak (BPE) forests. Deer scats and plant samples were obtained following standard methods, from Sierra Nanchititla Park in the State of Mexico, from June 1990 to May 1992. A total of 104 deer pellet-groups were collected, and histological analysis for herbivores was used and compared with stock samples of plant tissues collected from the study area. We applied the Spearman correlation and Morisita index to determine alimentary preference. The results showed that the deer consumes 79.44% of plant species from BMM and 20.56% of the BPE. There is a selectivity tendency for 12 of the 14 plant species located in the BMM, while for BPE no tendency was observed. Key species that are part of the elemental diet of the deer in these areas were: Acalypha setosa, Smilax pringlei, Psidium sartorianum and Dendropanax arborea. The consumption of plants did not differ significantly between the dry and rainy seasons in terms of biological form, however, during the dry season there is a tendency to consume trees, and by the end of the rainy season to consume herbs. The data indicate that the deer can be selective with BMM plants, while for the BPE tends to be opportunistic. Rev. Biol. Trop. 61 (1): 243-253. Epub 2013 March 01.

Dieta y disponibilidad de forraje del venado cola blanca Odocoileus virginianus thomasi (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) en un campo experimental de Campeche, México

“…Diversos estudios reportan que el venado cola blanca selecciona especies arbustivas (Galindo-Leal & Weber, 1998) e indican que estas especies, además de alimento, le proporcionan al venado cobertura (Gallina et al, 2010;Aguilera-Reyes et al, 2013), y que a diferencia de las herbáceas, las arbustivas mantienen una producción de biomasa relativamente constante a través del año. Al respecto, Clemente (1984) reporta que el cambio en la composición nutricional de las arbustivas es menor al de las plantas en los otros estratos vegetativos, lo que explica su alta frecuencia en la dieta durante la época seca.…”

Manejo del venado caramerudo (odocoileus cariacou gymnotis) en cautiverio en Venezuela

“…El venado al alimentarse percibe la calidad de una planta con base en su palatabilidad, consumiendo aquellas partes que son altamente digeribles y le brindan mayores nutrimentos. Para tener acceso a estas características pueden verse obligados a consumir ciertas plantas, aún con el costo que les representa la ingestión de compuestos secundarios, que pueden ser tóxicos en menor o mayor medida (Aguilera Reyes et al, 2013).…”

Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve

“…In the Sierra Nanchititla Natural Reserve (SNNR), central Mexico, 10 years of trophic niche studies have determined that the cougar (P. concolor) is an generalist predator, consuming 21 different mammal species, of which the armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is the most highly predated (54% occurrence in cougar scats), followed by coati (Nasua narica, 16% occurrence) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, 8% occurrence), with other species contributing less than 5% (Monroy-Vilchis et al 2009a;Gómez-Ortiz et al 2011). Here, we assess the relative influence of top-down and bottom-up controls on these mammals in the endangered pineoak woodland food web, based on three a priori biological hypotheses: (1) Given that the cougar is a strict carnivore, dependent on prey availability, is dominant over resources in the environment, and shows territorial behavior (Sunquist and Sunquist 2002), we predicted that the per capita changes in cougar abundance (pca) would be positively affected by increasing relative abundance of their main prey species (interspecific interactions) and negatively by individuals of the same species (intraspecific interactions/self-regulation); (2) since focal prey species are herbivorous/insectivorous, depending on vegetation directly or indirectly (Valenzuela 1998;Aguilera-Reyes et al 2013), we predicted that seasonal normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), as an approximation of primary productivity in SNNR, will affect the pca of prey species, resulting in bottom-up control of intermediate consumers. This index has been found to provide a strong vegetation signal and is a good indicator of plant biomass (Oindo and Skidmore 2002); and (3) the pca of the three prey species, D. novemcinctus, N. narica, and O. virginianus, will be affected by the relative abundance of cougar, indicating top-down control.…”