Effects of defoliation and digging caused by sika deer on the Oze mires of central Japan

• Igarashi Tomoyuki

  School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo

• Takatsuki Seiki

  Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Azabu University

抄録

Sika deer Cervus nippon invaded the Oze area of Japan in the 1990s and have resided there every summer. In 2000 and 2001, the effects of deer disturbance on mire vegetation were studied at Nagaike Mire, east of Ozenuma Mire. Since deer density was low there, any effects of defoliation were minor, but effects of digging were substantial. Deer dug in the mire only immediately after snowmelt, probably to forage on Menyanthes trifoliata rhizomes. Rhizomes of this species contain as much as 6.6% nitrogen and are fragrant, suggesting that they contain some attractants for ungulates. The direct effects of digging almost completely destroyed neighboring plants, although digging affected only 5 to 6% area of the mire. The effects of digging were unique: they altered water flow, indirectly influencing other plants that grew some distance from dig sites. Careful monitoring of the deer population and mire vegetation is therefore necessary.

収録刊行物

• Biosphere conservation : for nature, wildlife, and humans

  Biosphere conservation : for nature, wildlife, and humans 9 (1), 9-16, 2008

  「野生生物と社会」学会

キーワード

• digging
• Menyanthes trifoliata
• Oze mire
• sika deer
• wallow

詳細情報

• CRID: 1390282681071233920
• NII論文ID: 110006987278
• NII書誌ID: AA11499342
• DOI: 10.20798/biospherecons.9.1_9
• ISSN: 24331260
• ISSN: 13446797
• 本文言語コード: en
• データソース種別:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
• 抄録ライセンスフラグ: 使用不可