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Big game or big loss? High deer densities are threatening woody plant diversity and vegetation dynamics

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Abstract

Land-use change and current game management have favored an increasing population of wild ungulates (especially deer) in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we assess the impact of high deer densities (>30 ind km−2) on the highly diverse woody vegetation of Mediterranean ecosystems, where big game have been favored for the last decades. We examine whether prolonged deer browsing (over 30 years) affected plant composition, diversity and dynamics of the original (non-browsed) vegetation. Deer browsing led to an average decrease of 30.4 % in woody plant diversity (species richness), due to a lack of regeneration for the most preferred plant species. Species belonging to early stages of succession (mostly Labiatae and Cistaceae) were non-preferred by deer. Conversely, the most preferred species belonged mainly to late stages of plant succession. Deer impact on Mediterranean shrublands is causing biotic homogenization of plant communities and is threatening vegetation dynamics by forcing it to return to earlier succession stages. Strict deer population control favouring larger trophies but lower offspring numbers together with an adequate habitat management (increasing grass and acorn availability) would be the most efficient measures to reverse this diversity loss. Restoration work seems only appropriate for the most vulnerable species. We highlight the need of sampling deer-free areas with low or null historical browsing to assess the real impact of deer on woody plant diversity and vegetation dynamics.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Irene Moreno for her help in the fieldwork and many land owners for giving us permission to collect the data. Ramón Perea received a grant from the Ministry of Education (MEC-Colaboración) to initiate this research study.

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Author notes

  1. Marco Girardello

    Present address: Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Silvopascicultura, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n., 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Ramón Perea & Alfonso San Miguel

  2. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crownmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK

    Marco Girardello

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  1. Ramón Perea
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  2. Marco Girardello
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Correspondence to Ramón Perea.

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Communicated by Marcelo F. Tognelli.

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Perea, R., Girardello, M. & San Miguel, A. Big game or big loss? High deer densities are threatening woody plant diversity and vegetation dynamics. Biodivers Conserv 23, 1303–1318 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0666-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0666-x

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