Annual changes in roe deer ( L.) diet in the Bohemian Forest, Czech Republic/Germany

Miroslava Barančeková (1) , Jarmila Krojerová-Prokešová (1) , Pavel Šustr (2) , Marco Heurich (3)

1 Institute of Vertebrate Biology AS CR
2 NP and PLA Šumava
3 Nationalparkverwaltung Bayerischer Wald

The composition of roe deer diet in the Bohemian Forest was analysed with the aim to assess its role in forest habitat altered by bark beetle outbreaks and wind calamities. The annual diet of roe deer was studied at both, Czech and German, sides of the Bohemian Forest using microscopic analyses of faeces. On average, the largest part of the roe deer diet consisted of forbs (32%), followed by three other components—grasses (17%), coniferous trees (13%) and broadleaved trees (11%). Overall the results show that the composition of roe deer diet in the Bohemian Forest is that of a typical concentrate selector.

Mots clés: Roe deer; Diet composition; Faecal analyses

Miroslava Barančeková, Jarmila Krojerová-Prokešová, Pavel Šustr, Marco Heurich. Annual changes in roe deer ( L.) diet in the Bohemian Forest, Czech Republic/Germany. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2009, 56 (3), pp.327-333. ⟨10.1007/s10344-009-0321-0⟩. ⟨hal-00535252⟩