In Hungary the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is the most widespread big game, estimated population in 2016 exceeded three hundred and fifty thousand 1. The aim of this research is to find out what ...kind of differences and resemblances can be found in feeding strategies on the examined agricultural plain habitats. The feed selection habit of one of the most important big game in our homeland has not been researched yet in detail in the counties Csongrád and Békés, where the roe deer population is numerous and excellent. The detailed knowledge of the related specific feeding strategies contributes not only to the better cognition of this kind but also provides a developed opportunity for the game managers to reach better game husbandry results. Beyond the practical significance of the theme there are some other peculiarities to be cleared up in connection with the nourishment of roe deer: what kind of feeding strategies would be typical for the roe deer living on the plain at different food supply?
•Physical barriers comprising deadwood decrease roe deer browsing pressure.•Rodents contribute substantially to browsing in the shelter of deadwood.•Anthropogenically induced fear decreases roe deer ...browsing pressure in forests.•Logging residuals should remain in forests as physical barriers for roe deer and to promote forest biodiversity.
Humans have widely extirpated large carnivores and simultaneously promoted overabundance of deer. The intense pressure imposed by these herbivores in forests has led to extremely low rates of natural forest regeneration. In natural old-growth forests, deadwood functions as a key driver of biodiversity and promotes ecosystem functioning, such as water retention and nutrient recycling. An as yet unappreciated function of deadwood is its ability to act as a physical barrier, excluding large herbivores from the obstructed patches and thereby reducing browsing pressure. However, this benefit may be minimized by an increase in rodent herbivory in the sheltered patches. In this study, a field experiment was conducted in a total of 384 plots in which tree crowns (0–4) from logging residuals were used as increasingly dense physical barriers to shelter five newly planted saplings of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.). Generalized linear mixed-effects models were applied to determine whether sapling browsing by roe deer and rodents was differentially affected by these barriers. The probability of roe deer browsing decreased from 26% (no crowns) to 2% (4 crowns) while that of rodent browsing increased from 1% to 17%, respectively, as the number of deadwood crowns used in barrier construction increased. In broadleaf stands, browsing by roe deer and rodents was generally higher than in coniferous stands. In forests with high numbers of visitors, browsing by roe deer was reduced, but browsing by rodents was not influenced. The retention of large amounts of deadwood or active deadwood increments may thus provide an effective barrier to roe deer browsing but promote the browsing activity of rodents. The landscape-level heterogeneity of browsing patterns associated with the presence of deadwood suggests that deadwood shelters in homogenized forests may encourage both natural forest regeneration and forest biodiversity, despite an overabundance of roe deer.
•We explored how small scale-food availability, forest structure and landscape heterogeneity influenced habitat use of by roe deer.•Variables of forest structure like canopy openness, trees species ...richness and vertical complexity influenced roe deer habitat use more than small-scale food abundance, and landscape-scale forest matrix variables such as forest-edge density and forest cover.•Lying deadwood reduced roe deer habitat use, possibly due to physical obstruction of movement.•Manipulating local forest structure may provide a means by which to manipulate roe deer habitat use and thus control where damages occur.
Browsing damages to young trees can have lasting impacts on forest structure. Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), the most common and widespread large herbivore in central Europe, create a vast majority of this damage. To lessen the impact, it is important to understand the relationship between roe deer and the landscape matrix, and which factors such as food availability and cover will drive the use of habitat by roe deer. In this study, we explored how small scale-food availability (5 × 5 m2), forest structure (100 × 100 m2) and landscape heterogeneity (500 m radius) influenced the use of habitat by roe deer in an intensively managed temperate mountainous mixed forest with implemented retention forestry practices. Using camera-trap detections of roe deer from 130 study plots in the southern Black Forest, monitored for 2.5 years, we found that local forest structure had the strongest influence on roe deer habitat use. Contrary to our expectations, landscape features, such as edge density between forest and non-forest, did not affect roe deer detections, probably because overall anthropogenic pressure is high and homogenous throughout our study system. Small-scale food availability also had little influence, which is likely due to widespread availability throughout the study area. Roe deer were also detected less where there were higher amounts of lying deadwood in autumn, indicating that retention forestry methods may have a negative impact on roe deer habitat use. Since forest structure was the strongest driver of roe deer habitat use, this study supports earlier claims that forests may be managed by affecting roe deer habitat use, thereby browsing damage intensity, through manipulation of food availability and cover.
•Roe deer browsing impact was investigated in temperate hardwood coppice forests.•Browsing effects were monitored for 11 years in an exclusion experiment.•High browsing impact in the early years ...after coppicing on more palatable species.•Coppice forests showed significant post-browsing recovery in the medium term.•Long-term monitoring is key to assess browsing impact and management implications.
In southern European temperate forests, coppicing is a traditional form of forest management that shaped the present cultural landscape, providing multiple ecosystem services. Roe deer densities have been growing notably during the last decades mainly due to the abandonment of rural areas, changes in human land use and restocking.
The impact of roe deer on coppice forests can affect the resprouting and, in turn, compromise the products and ecosystem services provided by these forests. During coppicing, stems are cut down close to the ground, where the growing shoots are exposed to deer browsing, especially during the early years following cutting.
In this study, using a browsing exclusion experiment, we investigated the impact of browsing on temperate mountain hardwood coppice forests in the western Italian Alps over a period of eleven years following coppicing.
We found that the impact of browsing was highest in the first two years following coppicing, with Quercus pubescens and Castanea sativa being the most affected tree species. The height of shoots was the variable that showed the biggest difference between fenced and unfenced areas. A significant negative effect of browsing on shoot height was found at the beginning of the experiment, with shoots growing in unfenced area showing the lowest height increments. After the third year, when the browsing intensity diminished, we observed the opposite trend, with shoots growing in unfenced areas showing higher height increments compared with fenced areas. A similar trend was observed also for the diameter of shoots over the course of the experiment. Eleven years after coppicing, however, the structural characteristics of the natural regeneration converged at all sites and in both fenced and unfenced areas.
This study shows that coppice forests are resilient to browsing and are capable to recover growth loss within a few years after browsing has naturally diminished and stopped. The research conducted also points out the importance of medium- to long-term monitoring to assess post-disturbance dynamics and evaluate implications for management.
The purpose of this study is to examine the status of roe deer population in the hunting grounds of Central Serbia, and perform a SWOT analysis of its management. The data used herein on the number ...of roe deer individuals and culling events were obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management - Forest Administration and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Moreover, the Law on Game and Hunting was used for analysis purposes. The status of roe deer population in the hunting grounds of Serbia is quite unsatisfactory, depending on the geographical area and wildlife management practices. In 2021, a total of 86,755 individuals were recorded in the area of Central Serbia, which accounts for 97.54% of the optimal population. However, the number of roe deer in the individual hunting grounds of the Central and Eastern hunting areas was above the optimal density, whereas the number of roe deer accounted for 88.58% and 89.12% of the optimal density in the individual hunting grounds of the Southern and Western hunting areas, respectively. The largest number of individuals per unit area (km2) was recorded in the Eastern (2.06) and Belgrade (2.02) hunting areas, whereas the smallest number of individuals per unit area (km2) was recorded in the Southern (1.02) and Western (1.34) hunting areas. The following issues were identified as major impediments to the management of roe deer population in the hunting grounds considered: legislative and regulatory instruments, non-compliance and non-enforcement of a large number of regulations, roe deer monitoring issues, poor hunting ground control, inapplicability of certain regulations in the field of veterinary medicine, environmental protection, unresolved issues of trophy and game meat export, lack of strategic planning (namely the hunting development strategies of the Republic of Serbia), lack of deer habitat monitoring methodology and rating methodology, and unprofessional planning and development of hunting ground management plans. The SWOT analysis performed emphasized the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of roe deer population management in Serbia.
Animals exhibit a diversity of movement tactics 1. Tracking resources that change across space and time is predicted to be a fundamental driver of animal movement 2. For example, some migratory ...ungulates (i.e., hooved mammals) closely track the progression of highly nutritious plant green-up, a phenomenon called “green-wave surfing” 3–5. Yet general principles describing how the dynamic nature of resources determine movement tactics are lacking 6. We tested an emerging theory that predicts surfing and the existence of migratory behavior will be favored in environments where green-up is fleeting and moves sequentially across large landscapes (i.e., wave-like green-up) 7. Landscapes exhibiting wave-like patterns of green-up facilitated surfing and explained the existence of migratory behavior across 61 populations of four ungulate species on two continents (n = 1,696 individuals). At the species level, foraging benefits were equivalent between tactics, suggesting that each movement tactic is fine-tuned to local patterns of plant phenology. For decades, ecologists have sought to understand how animals move to select habitat, commonly defining habitat as a set of static patches 8, 9. Our findings indicate that animal movement tactics emerge as a function of the flux of resources across space and time, underscoring the need to redefine habitat to include its dynamic attributes. As global habitats continue to be modified by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change 10, our synthesis provides a generalizable framework to understand how animal movement will be influenced by altered patterns of resource phenology.
•Ungulates moved to track forage in landscapes with wave-like spring green-up•Patterns of green-up explained where migratory behavior occurred in many ecosystems•At the species level, migrants and residents received equivalent foraging benefits•Movement tactics represent behavioral adaptations to specific landscapes
Using GPS-tracking from 61 populations of four ungulate species, Aikens et al. provide evidence that the dynamic nature of forage resources generates the diversity of movement tactics used by animals. Specifically, patterns of spring green-up shaped how closely animals tracked resources and where migration occurred across temperate ecosystems.
1. We tested the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors in structuring temperate forest communities by comparing tree recruitment after 7 years inside 30 pairs of exclosure (excluding ...ungulates: red deer, roe deer, bison, moose, wild boar) and control plots (7 x 7 m each) in one of the most natural forest systems in Europe, the Białowieża Primeval Forest (eastern Poland). The strictly protected part of that forest hosts the complete native variety in trees, ungulates and their carnivores and excludes human intervention. 2. We analysed whether the exclosure effect interacted with abiotic factors, relevant for tree recruitment (canopy cover, ground vegetation cover, soil fertility and soil wetness) at different stages of tree regeneration (seedlings, saplings less-than or equal to 50 and > 50 cm). 3. Contrary to our expectations, a single factor dominated at each stage of tree regeneration. Herbaceous vegetation cover was the main factor determining the number of seedlings with an optimum at 38% of cover. Soil fertility determined the density of saplings less-than or equal to 50 cm, with on average three times higher density on eutrophic than on oligotrophic soils. Herbivory was the main factor determining recruitment rate of trees into > 50 cm size classes only. 4. The density of saplings that grew into the > 50 cm size class was more than three times higher in the exclosures than in the control plots during 7 years. In the absence of ungulates, on average 3.1 species recruited into the > 50 cm size class compared to 1.7 in control plots. Tree species occurred in more equal proportions inside exclosures, whereas species composition was pushed towards strong dominance of a preferred forage species, Carpinus betulus, in the presence of ungulates. This suggests that preference of species by ungulates can coincide with tolerance to browsing. 5. Synthesis. The study showed that abiotic conditions dominated the early stages and ungulate impact the later stages of tree regeneration, indicating the context-dependence of herbivore top-down effects. Heterogeneity in abiotic and biotic conditions may, therefore, have an important influence on the strength of top-down effects and the role that herbivores play in natural ecosystems.
It has now been established that two species of roe deer live in Eastern Europe – the European (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758) and the Siberian (C. pygargus Pallas, 1771). At the same time, as a ...result of artificial and natural colonization, a zone of sympatric habitat with a possible blurred "hybrid zone" was formed in the area from the Right Bank Volga to Eastern Poland. The purpose of the article was to study the genetic status and polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA of roe deer (Capreolus sp.) caught in the Penza region. The material for the article was collected in the hunting grounds of the Penza region with the direct participation of the Department for the Protection, Supervision and Regulation of the Use of Wildlife of the Ministry of Forestry, Hunting and Nature Management of the Penza Region. The analytical sample consisted of 18 individuals from different regions of the Penza region. An analysis of the variability of two mtDNA markers was carried out: the control region (CR) and the Cyt b gene. Sequencing of fragments of the CR mtDNA (n = 18) and the Cyt b gene (n = 18) was performed on an ABI 3500 sequencer (Applied Biosystems). Nucleotide sequences were studied using BioEdit 7.0, Mega7.0.21, PopArt and DnaSP 5.10.01 software. All results were verified by statistical tests (STATISTICA 13.3). Analysis of the nucleotide sequences of fragments of the control region (CR) and a fragment of the Cyt b gene of roe deer from the Penza region using the ML method indicates that they all correspond to the mtDNA of the Siberian roe deer (C. pygargus). Only 2 samples of the cytochrome b gene fragment form a separate haplogroup, without a direct association with samples of the European roe deer (C. capreolus). Comparison of genetic distances of formalized groups of Siberian roe deer (CP), European roe deer (CC) and roe deer from the Penza region (CPR) shows that for the control region the distance of the Penza roe deer group is minimal with the C. pygargus group, and for the Cyt b gene – with group of C. capreolus. The identified genetic spatial groupings of roe deer in the region are not spatially determined. The obtained positive values of the T'sD indicator (1.221) reveal the process of weak fluctuations in the total number associated with the uneven intensity of hunting exploitation of roe deer populations and reproduction activities. Of the entire sample of roe deer in the Penza region, 6 CR mtDNA haplotypes (33.3 %) and 6 haplotypes of the Cyt b gene (42.8 %) are regionally specific. The analysis of species identity based on two mitochondrial markers of roe deer from the Penza region, which most reliably identifies them as Siberian, can hardly be called definitive. We are probably faced with cases of interspecific crossing of two species of Eurasian roe deer or the fact of widespread introgression of C. pygargus mtDNA into the aboriginal population of C. capreolus. To clarify this situation, it is necessary to conduct additional genetic studies using nuclear markers, including microsatellite DNA markers.
Many animals restrict their movements to a characteristic home range. This constrained pattern of space use is thought to result from the foraging benefits of memorizing the locations and quality of ...heterogeneously distributed resources. However, due to the confounding effects of sensory perception, the role of memory in home-range movement behavior lacks definitive evidence in the wild. Here, we analyze the foraging decisions of a large mammal during a field resource manipulation experiment designed to disentangle the effects of memory and perception. We parametrize a mechanistic model of spatial transitions using experimental data to quantify the cognitive processes underlying animal foraging behavior and to predict how individuals respond to resource heterogeneity in space and time. We demonstrate that roe deer (
) rely on memory, not perception, to track the spatiotemporal dynamics of resources within their home range. Roe deer foraging decisions were primarily based on recent experience (half-lives of 0.9 and 5.6 d for attribute and spatial memory, respectively), enabling them to adapt to sudden changes in resource availability. The proposed memory-based model was able to both quantify the cognitive processes underlying roe deer behavior and accurately predict how they shifted resource use during the experiment. Our study highlights the fact that animal foraging decisions are based on incomplete information on the locations of available resources, a factor that is critical to developing accurate predictions of animal spatial behavior but is typically not accounted for in analyses of animal movement in the wild.
Non‐consumptive effects of predators result from the cost of responses to perceived risk. Prey modulate risk exposure through flexible habitat selection at multiple scales which, in interaction with ...landscape constraints, determines their use of risky habitats. Identifying the relative contributions of landscape constraints and habitat selection to risk exposure is a critical first step towards a mechanistic understanding of non‐consumptive effects. Here, we provide an integrative multi‐scale study of roe deer spatial responses to variable hunting pressure along a landscape gradient of open habitats and dispersed refuges. Between low‐risk and high‐risk periods, we investigated shifts in 1) home‐range location, 2) probability of using risky habitats (between‐habitat scale) and 3) distance to the nearest refuge (within‐habitat scale). For 2) and 3), we disentangled the contributions of landscape constraints and habitat selection to risky habitat use. We found that when risk was high, roe deer did not shift their home‐range, but generally decreased their use of risky habitats, and sometimes reduced their distance to cover (particularly older animals). There was a functional response in between‐habitat selection, with animals living in more open landscapes responding more than those living in landscapes with more refuges. However, individuals living in more open landscapes avoided open risky habitat less. Finally, we found that among‐individual variation in risk exposure was generally, but not always, minimized by habitat selection across gradients of landscape constraints. To our knowledge, this is the first study simultaneously documenting prey responses to risk at the within‐habitat, between‐habitat and home‐range scales. Our results support the view that between‐habitat selection acts at a higher hierarchical level than within‐habitat selection, and provide a framework for disentangling the contributions of habitat selection and landscape constraints to risk exposure. Selection cannot always compensate for landscape constraints, indicating a need for further investigation of the processes underlying habitat selection.
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