Competitor densities,habitat,and weather:effects on interspecific interactions between wild deer species  

作　　者：Francesco FERRETTI NiccolòFATTORINI 

机构地区：[1]Research Unit of Behavioural Ecology,Ethology and Wildlife Management,Department of Life Sciences,University of Siena,Siena,Italy

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2021年第5期670-684,共15页整合动物学（英文版）

摘　　要：There is a growing interest on the potential interplay between weather,habitat,and interspecific competition on population dynamics of wild herbivores.Favorable environmental conditions may buffer the negative effects of competition;conversely,competition may be expected to be stronger under harsh environmental conditions.We investigated relationships between competitor abundance,weather,and habitat cover on density and local distribution of a medium-sized herbivore,the roe deer Capreolus capreolus,as well as its spatial overlap with fallow deer Dama dama in a Mediterranean protected area.Over 11 years(2007–2017),roe deer density was not affected by spring–summer rainfall in the previous year and decreased with increasing density of fallow deer in the previous year.Hence,over the considered temporal scale,results supported a major role of competition over weather in influencing population trends of roe deer.At a finer spatial scale,roe deer occupancy was negatively affected by local abundance of fallow deer,especially in“poorer”habitats.We found a slight support for a positive effect of fallow deer density on interspecific spatial overlap.Moreover,fine-scale spatial overlap between deer species increased with decreasing rainfall in spring–summer.Fallow deer were introduced to our study area in historical times and their role as superior competitors over roe deer has been found also in other study areas.We suggest a potential role of harsh weather conditions during the growing season of vegetation(i.e.scarce rainfall)in triggering the potential for ecological overlap,emphasizing the negative effects of interspecific competition.

关 键 词：interspecific competition DEER niche partitioning rainfall UNGULATES Dama dama Capreolus capreolus 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]