Influence of oak mast on feeding behaviour of red deer (Cervus elaphus L)

Picard, Jean-François; Oleffe, P.; Boisaubert, B.

doi:10.1051/forest:19910505

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In moorland, Red Deer never ate conifers, while in forests they represented 11% of the diet. Concerning the significant seasonal effect, the multiple comparisons did not show significant differences between each season, but there was a tendency for conifers to be eaten more in winter (13.9%) and spring (11.7%). For twigs & bark there was a habitat effect which represented a higher intake in mixed‐deciduous woodland (11.1%). The consumption of leaves of deciduous trees & shrubs was different for each habitat with a maximum in mixed‐deciduous forest and a minimum in moorland. Rubus was eaten only in deciduous forest habitats. Concerning the food item seeds & fruits, there was a seasonal significant difference for the study of Picard, Oleffe & Boisaubert (1991) where Red Deer ate 45.9% forest fruits during the hunting period in comparison to other studies in other seasons where seeds & fruits were only eaten in small quantities. Forbs were eaten more in moorland than in forest habitats. Although we obtained a habitat effect for ferns (no consumption in moorland), this item was always minor in Red Deer diet (1.3%). We did not obtain significant differences in habitat or in season for the total amount of concentrate food.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 60%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Variations of diet composition of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.) in Europe

Gebert¹,

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To define the food resources of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.) in Europe and to detect the principal sources of variations in their diet, we reviewed field studies based on stomach content analysis. The study areas were classified into three main habitat groups (mixedconiferous forest, mixed-deciduous forest, moorland), the food items into 13 plant categories, and we used five seasonal classes (winter, spring, summer, autumn, hunting season) for analysing the data set. For statistical analyses we used correspondence analysis and analysis of variance.Red Deer eat a varied diet comprising at least 145 plant species. The main sources of diet variation were due to habitat, leading us to identify three habitat types characterized by the consumption of a few key species. Clear seasonal variation was observed only for the seed and fruit items which were used mainly during the hunting season.Our results confirm that Red Deer can be classified among the intermediate feeders, with a mixed diet of grass & sedges (29%) and concentrate food items (63%). However, they also show Red Deer to be primarily a concentrate feeder (max. 75%) with no significant seasonal variation between the quantities of grass or sedges and concentrate food in the diet.In the light of these results, we discuss potential competition with other sympatric ungulates (wild and domestic). We suggest that it may be useful to take into account key food resources in modelling population dynamics and in taking management decisions.

show abstract

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 60%

“…Concerning the food item seeds & fruits, there was a seasonal significant difference for the study of Picard, Oleffe & Boisaubert (1991) where Red Deer ate 45.9% forest fruits during the hunting period in comparison to other studies in other seasons where seeds & fruits were only eaten in small quantities.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of diet composition of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.) in Europe

Gebert¹,

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In our study site, acorns were available not only in the forest but also in the more open landscape, where oaks often occurred as isolated trees in fields, hedgerows and woodlots. Acorns, when available, are a major food resource for cervids (red deer, Picard et al 1991;sika deer, Weerasinghe and Takatsuki 1999;white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Feldhamer 2001). Their availability has a marked impact on habitat use (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape fragmentation generates spatial variation of diet composition and quality in a generalist herbivore

Abbas¹,

Morellet²,

Hewison³

et al. 2011

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forest fragmentation may benefit generalist herbivores by increasing access to various substitutable food resources, with potential consequences for their population dynamics. We studied a European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) population living in an agricultural mosaic of forest, woodlots, meadows and cultivated crops. We tested whether diet composition and quality varied spatially across the landscape using botanical analyses of rumen contents and chemical analyses of the plants consumed in relation to landscape metrics. In summer and non-mast winters, roe deer ate more cultivated seeds and less native forest browse with increasing availability of crops in the local landscape. This spatial variation resulted in contrasting diet quality, with more cell content and lower lignin and hemicellulose content (high quality) for individuals living in more open habitats. The pattern was less marked in the other seasons when diet composition, but not diet quality, was only weakly related to landscape structure. In mast autumns and winters, the consumption of acorns across the entire landscape resulted in a low level of differentiation in diet composition and quality. Our results reflect the ability of generalist species, such as roe deer, to adapt to the fragmentation of their forest habitat by exhibiting a plastic feeding behavior, enabling them to use supplementary resources available in the agricultural matrix. This flexibility confers nutritional advantages to individuals with access to cultivated fields when their native food resources are depleted or decline in quality (e.g. during non-mast years) and may explain local heterogeneities in individual phenotypic quality.

show abstract

“…A major factor in resource productivity in northern temperate and boreal forests is the masting, or seed production, by forest trees. This is very variable from year to year (e.g., Hilton and Packham, 2003) and aVects human foragers not only directly, through variation in the production of edible nuts, but also indirectly, by impacting the physical condition and reproduction of major game animals such as pig (e.g., Fournier-Chambrillon et al, 1995;Herrero et al, 2005), moose (Selås et al, 2001), and, in some circumstances, red deer (Picard et al, 1991), whose diets incorporate mast to a signiWcant extent. The spatial scale of correlated or synchronous mast production is extremely large, in dramatic contrast to the territories of apparently independently Xuctuating reindeer herds.…”

Section: Hunter-gatherers In Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Envimentioning

confidence: 98%