Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A comparative analysis of the factors promoting deer invasion

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Invasive non-native deer can cause negative impacts at ecosystem, community and population levels. Here we aim to determine which characteristics predict success at two stages of the invasion process, establishment and spread, in introduced deer. We collected historical data on the outcomes of introduction events and compiled a dataset of species traits. Characteristics correlated to the success of invasion were identified using linear modelling methods, which control for the non-independence of the introduction events. A phylogenetic tree of the deer was reconstructed using DNA markers in order to control for the effects of common ancestry in species level analyses. At the species level, we found weaning age, age at sexual maturity and native range size are predictive of establishment, whereas weaning body mass is predictive of spread. At the population level we found that establishment success is primarily determined by the number of introduced individuals whereas breadth of habitat and diet determine which of the established populations will spread.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acevedo P, Ward AI, Real R, Smith GC (2010) Assessing biogeographical relationships of ecologically related species using favourability functions: a case study on British deer. Divers Distrib 16:515–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allendorf FW (2003) Introduction: population biology, evolution, and control of invasive species. Conserv Biol 17:24–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball MC, Pither R, Manseau M, Clark J, Petersen SD, Kingston S, Morrill N, Wilson P (2007) Characterization of target nuclear DNA from faeces reduces technical issues associated with the assumptions of low-quality and quantity template. Conserv Genet 8:577–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck B, Walkup K, Rodrigues M, Unwin S, Travis D, Stoinski T (2007) Best practice guidelines for re-introduction of great apes. SSC Primate Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union

  • Blackburn TM, Duncan RP (2001) Determinants of establishment success in introduced birds. Nature 414:195–197

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bolker BM, Brooks ME, Clark CJ, Geange SW, Poulsen JR, Stevens MHH, White JSS (2009) Generalized linear mixed models: a practical guide for ecology and evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 24:127–135

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bomford M, Darbyshire RO, Randall L (2009) Determinants of establishment success for introduced exotic mammals. Wildl Res 36:192–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle AE (1996) The Rio convention on biological diversity. In: Bowman M, Redgwell C (eds) International law and the conservation of biological diversity. Kluwer Law International, London, pp 33–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick AH, Ratcliffe PR, Abernethy K (1996) Sika deer in Scotland: density, population size, habitat use and fertility—some comparisons with red deer. Scott For 50:8–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman NG, Claydon K, Claydon M, Forde PG, Harris S (1993) Sympatric populations of muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)—a comparative analysis of their ranging behavior, social organization and activity. J Zool 229:623–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman N, Harris S, Stanford A (1994) Reeves’ Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) in Britain: their history, spread, habitat selection, and the role of human intervention in accelerating their dispersal. Mamm Rev 24:113–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clout MN, Russell JC (2008) The invasion ecology of mammals: a global perspective. Wildl Res 35:180–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke A, Farrell L (1998) Chinese water deer. Mammal Society and British Deer Society, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke AS, Farrell L (2001) Impact of muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) at Monks Wood National Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire, Eastern England. Forestry 74:241–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke AS, Lakhani KH (1996) Damage to coppice regrowth by muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) and protecting with electric fencing. Biol Conserv 75:231–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote SD, Rooney TP, Tremblay JP, Dussault C, Waller DM (2004) Ecological impacts of deer overabundance. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:113–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courchamp F, Chapuis JL, Pascal M (2003) Mammal invaders on islands: impact, control and control impact. Biol Rev 78:347–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Danilkin A (1996) Behavioural ecology of Siberian and European roe deer. Wildlife ecology and behaviour series, vol 2. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • DEFRA (2004) The sustainable management of wild deer populations in England: an action plan. DEFRA and Foresty Commission, England

  • Dolman PM, Waber K (2008) Ecosystem and competition impacts of introduced deer. Wildl Res 35:202–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan RP (2001) High predictability in introduction outcomes and the geographical range size of introduced Australian birds: a role for climate. J Anim Ecol 70:621–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich P (1989) Attributes of invaders and the invading process: vertebrates. Biological invasions: a global perspective. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Elton CS (1958) The ecology of invasions by animals and plants. University Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldhamer G, Armstrong W (1993) Interspecific competition between four exotic species and native artiodactyls in the United States. In: Transactions of the North American wildlife and natural resources conference, vol 58, pp 468–478

  • Feldhamer GA, Demarais S (2009) Free ranging and confined sika deer in North America: current status, biology and management. In: McCullough DR, Takatsuki S, Kaji K (eds) Sika deer biology and management of native and introduced populations. Springer, New York, pp 615–642

    Google Scholar 

  • Forde PG (1989) Comparative ecology of Muntiacus reevesi and roe deer Capreolus capreolus in a commercial coniferous forest. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bristol

  • Forsyth DM, Duncan RP (2001) Propagule size and the relative success of exotic ungulate and bird introductions to New Zealand. Am Nat 157:583–595

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DM, Coomes DA, Nugent G, Hall GMJ (2002) Diet and diet preferences of introduced ungulates (Order: Artiodactyla) in New Zealand. NZ J Zool 29:323–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DM, Duncan RP, Bomford M, Moore G (2004) Climatic suitability, life-history traits, introduction effort, and the establishment and spread of introduced mammals in Australia. Conserv Biol 18:557–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DM, Wilmshurst JM, Allen RB, Coomes DA (2010) Impacts of introduced deer and extinct moa on New Zealand ecosystems. NZ J Ecol 34:48–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller RJ, Gill RMA (2001) Ecological impacts of increasing numbers of deer in British woodland. Forestry 74:193–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert C, Ropiquet A, Hassanin A (2006) Mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies of Cervidae (Mammalia, Ruminantia): systematics, morphology, and biogeography. Mol Phylogen Evol 40:101–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gill RMA (1992) A review of damage by mammals in north temperate forests: 1. Deer. Forestry 65:145–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill RMA, Morgan G (2010) The effects of varying deer density on natural regeneration in woodlands in lowland Britain. Forestry 83:53–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman SJ, Barton NH, Swanson G, Abernethy K, Pemberton JM (1999) Introgression through rare hybridization: a genetic study of a hybrid zone between red and sika deer (genus Cervus) in Argyll, Scotland. Genetics 152:355–371

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hassanin A, Pasquet E, Vigne JD (1998) Molecular systematics of the subfamily Caprinae (Artiodactyla, Bovidae) as determined from cytochrome b sequences. J Mammal Evol 5:217–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemami MR, Watkinson AR, Dolman PM (2004) Habitat selection by sympatric muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a lowland commercial pine forest. For Ecol Manag 194:49–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemami MR, Watkinson AR, Dolman PM (2005) Population densities and habitat associations of introduced muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and native roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a lowland pine forest. For Ecol Manag 215:224–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme PE (2006) Beyond control: wider implications for the management of biological invasions. J Appl Ecol 43:835–847

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaksic FM, Iriarte JA, Jiménez JE, Martínez DR (2002) Invaders without frontiers: cross-border invasions of exotic mammals. Biol Invasions 4:157–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeschke JM (2008) Across islands and continents, mammals are more successful invaders than birds. Divers Distrib 14:913–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeschke JM, Strayer DL (2006) Determinants of vertebrate invasion success in Europe and North America. Glob Chang Biol 12:1608–1619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katoh K, Misawa K, Kuma K, Miyata T (2002) MAFFT: a novel method for rapid multiple sequence alignment based on fast Fourier transform. Nucleic Acids Res 30:3059–3066

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Katoh K, Kuma K, Toh H, Miyata T (2005) MAFFT version 5: improvement in accuracy of multiple sequence alignment. Nucleic Acids Res 33:511–518

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keiper RR (1985) Are sika deer responsible for the decline of white-tailed deer on Assateague Island, Maryland? Wildl Soc Bull 13:144–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolar CS, Lodge DM (2001) Progress in invasion biology: predicting invaders. Trends Ecol Evol 16:199–204

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lande R (1993) Risks of population extinction from demographic and environmental stochasticity and random catastrophes. Am Nat 142:911–927

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lever C (1985) Naturalized mammals of the world. Longman, Essex

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood JL, Cassey P, Blackburn T (2005) The role of propagule pressure in explaining species invasions. Trends Ecol Evol 20:223–228

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Long JL (2003) Introduced mammals of the world. CSIRO, Victoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe VPW, Gardiner AS (1975) Hybridization between red deer (Cervus elaphus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon) with particular reference to stocks in NW England. J Zool 177:553–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddison DR, Maddison WP (2001) MacClade 4: analysis of phylogeny and character evolution, 4.02nd edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriarty A (2004) The liberation, distribution, abundance and management of wild deer in Australia. Wildl Res 31:291–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunez MA, Bailey JK, Schweitzer JA (2010) Population, community and ecosystem effects of exotic herbivores: a growing global concern. Biol Invasions 12:297–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nylander JAA (2004) MrModeltest v2. Program distributed by the author. Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden

    Google Scholar 

  • Paradis E, Claude J (2002) Analysis of comparative data using generalized estimating equations. J Theor Biol 218:175–185

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paradis E, Claude J, Strimmer K (2004) APE: analyses of phylogenetics and evolution in R language. Bioinformatics 20:289–290

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D (2001) Economic and environmental threats of alien plant, animal, and microbe invasions. Agric Ecosyst Environ 84:1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitra C, Fickel J, Meijaard E, Groves PC (2004) Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer. Mol Phylogen Evol 33:880–895

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pocock RI (1910) On the specialized cutaneous glands of ruminants. Proc Zool Soc 80:840–845

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollard E, Cooke AS (1994) Impact of muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) on egg-laying sites of the white admiral butterfly (Ladoga camilla) in a Cambridgeshire wood. Biol Conserv 70:189–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putman RJ, Moore NP (1998) Impact of deer in lowland Britain on agriculture, forestry and conservation habitats. Mamm Rev 28:141–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2008) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Randi E, Mucci N, Pierpaoli M, Douzery E (1998) New phylogenetic perspectives on the Cervidae (Artiodactyla) are provided by the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Proc R Soc B 265:793–801

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Randi E, Mucci N, Claro-Hergueta F, Bonnet A, Douzery E (2001) A mitochondrial DNA control region phylogeny of the Cervinae: speciation in Cervus and implications for conservation. Anim Conserv 4:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe PR (1987) Distribution and current status of sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Great Britain. Mamm Rev 17:39–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed DH, Frankham R (2003) Correlation between fitness and genetic diversity. Conserv Biol 17:230–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rejmanek M, Richardson DM (1996) What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology 77:1655–1661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Relva MA, Nunez MA, Simberloff D (2010) Introduced deer reduce native plant cover and facilitate invasion of non-native tree species: evidence for invasional meltdown. Biol Invasions 12:303–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Cabal MA, Barrios-Garcia MN, Simberloff D (2009) Across islands and continents, mammals are more successful invaders than birds (reply). Divers Distrib 15:911–912

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronquist F, Huelsenbeck JP (2003) MrBayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19:1572–1574

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Senn HV, Pemberton JM (2009) Variable extent of hybridization between invasive sika (Cervus nippon) and native red deer (C. elaphus) in a small geographical area. Mol Ecol 18:862–876

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff D (1996) Hybridization between native and introduced wildlife species: importance for conservation. Wildl Biol 33:143–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Sol D, Duncan RP, Blackburn TM, Cassey P, Lefebvre L (2005) Big brains, enhanced cognition, and response of birds to novel environments. PNAS 102:5460–5465

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sol D, Bacher S, Reader SM, Lefebvre L (2008a) Brain size predicts the success of mammal species introduced into novel environments. In: Symposium of the American Society of Naturalists, Christchurch, New Zealand, pp S63–S71

  • Sol D, Vila M, Kuhn I (2008b) The comparative analysis of historical alien introductions. Biol Invasions 10:1119–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theodorou K, Couvet D (2006) On the expected relationship between inbreeding, fitness, and extinction. Genet Sel Evol 38:371–387

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walker B, Steffen W (1997) An overview of the implications of global change for natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems. Conserv Ecol 1. http://www.consecol.org/vol1/iss2/art2

  • Ward AI (2005) Expanding ranges of wild and feral deer in Great Britain. Mamm Rev 35:165–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White PCL, Ford AES, Clout MN, Engeman RM, Roy S, Saunders G (2008) Alien invasive vertebrates in ecosystems: pattern, process and the social dimension. Wildl Res 35:171–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Rory Putman for his valuable suggestions and comments on the manuscript. Sven Bacher generously provided access to the mammal introduction database, and Simon Reader kindly shared the data on brain masses. We thank William Pearse for his advice on coding in R. Edinburgh and Chester Zoos provided samples for the phylogenetic analysis. Finally, we would like to thank three anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the paper. This study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the British Deer Society, the Royal Society and the European Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK

    Richard Fautley, Tim Coulson & Vincent Savolainen

  2. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, TW9 3DS, UK

    Vincent Savolainen

Authors
  1. Richard Fautley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tim Coulson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vincent Savolainen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Fautley.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fautley, R., Coulson, T. & Savolainen, V. A comparative analysis of the factors promoting deer invasion. Biol Invasions 14, 2271–2281 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0228-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0228-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation