Relative effect of food supplementation and natural resources on female red deer distribution in a mediterranean ecosystem

Publicado en: Pérez‐González, J., Barbosa, A. M., Carranza, J., & Torres‐Porras, J. (2010). Relative effect of food supplementation and natural resources on female red deer distribution in a Mediterranean ecosystem. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 74(8), 1701-1708. https://doi.org/10.2193/2009-130

Supplementary feeding is a widespread game management practice in several red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations, with important potential consequences on the biology of this species. In Mediterranean ecosystems food supplementation occurs in the rutting period, when it may change mating system characteristics. Here we study the role of food supplementation relative to natural resources in the spatial distribution, aggregation, and mean harem size of hinds in Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) during the rut. We studied 30 red deer populations of south-western Spain, 63 % of which experienced supplementary feeding. Using multivariate spatial analyses we found that food supplementation affected the distribution of females at 95 % of the populations at which it occurs. When green meadows were present during the mating season, they acted as an important natural resource influencing hind distribution. Additionally, the level of hind aggregation and mean harem size were significantly higher in those populations where food supplementation determined hind distribution than in populations where hind distribution did not depend on supplementary feeding. Since hind aggregation and mean harem size are key elements in sexual selection, supplementary feeding may constitute an important anthropogenic element with potential evolutionary implications for populations of Iberian red deer.

Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science through project CGL2007-63594. A.M.B. received support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) through post-doctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/40387/2007.