Effects of hydrology and management on food production and -quality for deer (WP7)
Deer is the main prey of tigers in Nepal. To sustain deer populations – and thus tigers – we must study what the deer feed on, which should be influenced by plant species, habitat (i.e., vegetation type), season, deer species, and vegetation management (i.e., controlled burns). Thereby, the objective of Work Package 7 is to characterize in detail deer’s diet, by answering the following research questions (RQs):
- which plants do deer eat?
- Why do deer eat them? What nutritional quality do eaten and not-eaten plants have?
- How does deer’s diet change across vegetation types?
- How does deer’s diet change across seasons?
- How does diet change across deer species?
To answer these questions, we devised a multi-methodological approach that uses direct observations in the field of deer’s feeding traces, nutritional quality analysis of plants eaten and not eaten by deer, an experimental study, and genetic analysis of deer’s faecal material.
Figure 1. Conceptual diagram, representing the research questions and the methods used to answer them in this research.
Fieldwork: Between 2022 and 2024, we conducted intensive fieldwork in Bardiya National Park, collecting observational and nutritional quality data of deer food preferences. Initial results show that deer have a nutritionally diverse diet, composed of multiple plant species and types eaten in several vegetation types. Additionally, an experiment, looking at nutritional quality changes of key plant species in relation to water availability and ashes remaining on the soil after fire, was successfully carried out and analysis of results is ongoing.
Figure 2: a) Observing deer feeding behaviour in the field (left). b) Experiment to study plant nutritional quality (right).
Future work: We are planning to include genetic analysis of deer’s faecal material to calibrate different methods and provide an in-depth analysis of deer’s diet. Genetic analysis faces some struggles in remote areas, where lab facilities are not available, but a new portable genetic screening device may change things!
Young researchers involved: PhD studentMatteo Sciumbata (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), The Netherlands); MSc students Laya Thapaliyalaya (Tribhuvan University, Nepal), Suyog Neupane (Forest Research Institute Dehradoon, India), and Sakshi Palimar (VU).
Figure 3: Part of the research team in the field.