Using high-throughput sequencing to investigate the dietary composition of the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus): a spatiotemporal comparison

The Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) is considered a vermin in Korea because it damages crops, but also listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN's red list. Therefore, it is indispensable to manage them appropriately by understanding the ecology such as food habits. Here, we aimed to apply high-throughput sequencing (HTS), a sensitive and objective method, to investigate the dietary composition of the Korean water deer inhabiting the lowland and forest areas in summer and winter. We targeted the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region for plant identification. From a total of 40 fecal samples analyzed, 63 plant genera were identified, with Morus being the most abundant, and some of the plant taxa identified by HTS were detected for the first time as the diets of Korean water deer. By type, woody plants (68.6%) were the most predominant, followed by forbs (7.0%) and graminoids (0.7%). We found that the deer in the forest area ate more woody plants (84.6%) than those in the lowland area (52.7%). It was also found that the type of woody plants that the deer ate changed by season. Overall, our results indicate that the Korean water deer is a browser that is seasonally adaptable and feeds on a wide variety of woody plants. We expect that the results and genetics methods reported here, by parallelly investigating their habitat range and reproductive behavior in the future, will help the management and conservation of the Korean water deer, which is in contradictory situations.

Status, abundance, and food habit of Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) in tropical deciduous forest of Central India

Variation in the foraging strategies of Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) with changing plant availability has received little attention. The pellet group density and seasonal vegetation availability in tropical climatic conditions of dry deciduous forest of Pench Tiger Reserve, were assessed through indirect evidences (pellet group density). Stratified random sampling was used in different habitats from 2012 to 2015 on a seasonal basis. The Sambar deer (R. unicolor) is one of the largest deer species distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent. Pellet group data were collected on 10 m radius permanent plots at every 200 m intervals on line transects. Teak forest, teak mixed and bamboo forest was the preferred habitat during summer (89.87 ± 88.36), and winter (98.19 ± 94.59) seasons respectively. Microhistological study was conducted to understand the feeding preferences of Sambar through pellet groups. A total of 57 plant species were identified in summer diet. While 51 species of plants were identified in winter diet. Sambar is predominantly a browser and for the conservation of the declining population of Sambar, long undisturbed tract should be protected with preferred browse and grass species.