A continuous feast of bramble: Rubus fruticosus agg. is a key cross‐seasonal dietary resource for a fallow deer population

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dc.contributor.authorGresham, Amyen
dc.contributor.authorPillay, Kirthanaen
dc.contributor.authorHealey, John R.en
dc.contributor.authorEichhorn, Markus P.en
dc.contributor.authorEllison, Amy M.en
dc.contributor.authorLowe, Abigailen
dc.contributor.authorCordes, Line S.en
dc.contributor.authorCreer, Simonen
dc.contributor.authorShannon, Graemeen
dc.contributor.funderNatural Environment Research Councilen
dc.contributor.funderWales Biodiversity Partnershipen
dc.contributor.funderEuropean Regional Development Funden
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-14T09:41:14Z
dc.date.available2025-02-14T09:41:14Z
dc.date.issued2025-02-09en
dc.description.abstractContext: Deer (Cervidae) populations are increasing in many global regions, leading to concerns about their impacts on temperate forests. Advancing evidence-based management requires a detailed understanding of the dietary habits of deer and how these are shaped by resource availability. Methodology: We studied the diet of fallow deer (Dama dama) in North Wales (United Kingdom), using faecal DNA metabarcoding. Samples were collected monthly from three woodlands during 2019–2021. Tree surveys and seasonal ground flora surveys were conducted in these woodlands and seven additional woodlands. Preference analyses were used to assess the consumption of plant taxa relative to their availability. Results: The fallow deer consumed high proportions of bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.) across the seasons, especially in the winter months. Diet diversity was significantly lower in winter compared to the other seasons, suggesting that the deer were bulk foraging on a widely available, predictable resource to conserve energy during winter. Grasses did not form a major component of the diet in any season. The preference analysis showed that spatially clustered woody taxa (e.g. Betula sp., Corylus sp. and Fraxinus sp.) occurred less often than expected in the diet, while widespread woody species occurred in the diet more often than expected (e.g. Rosa sp., Prunus sp. and Quercus sp.). Practical implication: The expansion of deer populations in the United Kingdom has occurred alongside the recovery and maturation of degraded or planted forests since the middle of the 20th century. Despite reduced light availability in these closed-canopy forests and increased herbivory pressure, bramble has remained a dominant understory plant compared to other less herbivory-tolerant plant species. Perhaps as a consequence, bramble has become the winter survival resource for this fallow deer population, remaining a prominent dietary component throughout the year. With increasing disturbance from extreme weather and tree diseases leading to a more open canopy structure, bramble cover is set to increase in European forests, which could support further expansion of deer populations. As we work to expand tree cover and enhance forest resilience and biodiversity, we should seek to understand the dynamic interactions of increasing deer populations with rapidly changing treescapes.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Environment Research Council (Grant code: NE/L002604/1); Wales Biodiversity Partnership (Biodiversity and Ecosystem Evidence and Research Needs (BEERN) Programme); European Regional Development Fund (Supercomputing Wales project)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleide70008en
dc.identifier.citationGresham, A., Pillay, K., Healey, J. R., Eichhorn, M. P., Ellison, A., Lowe, A., Cordes, L. S., Creer, S. and Shannon, G. (2025) 'A continuous feast of bramble: Rubus fruticosus agg. is a key cross‐seasonal dietary resource for a fallow deer population', Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 6(1), e70008 (14pp). https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70008en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70008en
dc.identifier.eissn2688-8319en
dc.identifier.endpage14en
dc.identifier.issn2688-8319en
dc.identifier.issued1en
dc.identifier.journaltitleEcological Solutions and Evidenceen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/17037
dc.identifier.volume6en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.en
dc.relation.ispartofEcological Solutions and Evidenceen
dc.rights© 2025, the Authors. Ecological Solutions and Evidence published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,provided the original work is properly cited.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectCervidaeen
dc.subjectDeeren
dc.subjectDiet analysisen
dc.subjectFaecal DNA metabarcodingen
dc.subjectHerbivoryen
dc.subjectResource availabilityen
dc.subjectUngulateen
dc.titleA continuous feast of bramble: Rubus fruticosus agg. is a key cross‐seasonal dietary resource for a fallow deer populationen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
oaire.citation.issue1en
oaire.citation.volume6en
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