Variability in deer diet and plant vulnerability to browsing among forests with different establishment years of sika deer.

ABSTRACT: Increased ungulate browsing alters the composition of plant communities and modifies forest ecosystems worldwide. Ungulates alter their diet following changes in availability of plant species; however, we know little about how browse selection and plant community composition change with different stages of deer establishment. Here, we provide insight into this area of study by combining multiple approaches: comparison of the understory plant community, analysis of records of browsing damage, and DNA barcoding of sika deer feces at 22 sites in forests in northern Japan varying in when deer were first established. The coverage of vegetation and number of plant species were only lower at sites where deer were present for more than 20 years, while the difference in plant coverage among deer es

SUBMITTER: Sakata Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8451445 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature