Diet Analysis of Barking Deer (Muntiacus Vaginalis, Boddaert 1785) in Nagarjun Forest of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park,Nepal
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Department of Zoology
Abstract
The composition and selection of food by ungulates is a fundamental element to
understand their dietary habits. This study aimed to assess the winter diet composition,
niche breadth, and preference of forage plants for Barking Deer in the Nagarjun Forest of
Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Nepal in 2019. The line transect method along with
quadrat sampling was used for the collection of Barking Deer pellets and reference plant
species. Micro-histological technique was used to prepare micro-photographs of reference
food plants and deer pellets in the laboratory. A total of 1500 fragments of 50 fecal
samples were analyzed to identify undigested plant parts in the pellet of Barking Deer.
Diet composition was expressed in terms of percentage of occurrence, Levin’s niche
breadth was calculated for the evaluation of the degree of food selectivity and browse to
grass ratio to determine whether the Barking Deer adopts browsing or grazing strategy.
Food preference of Barking Deer was evaluated by using Ivlev’s Electivity Index and
statistical tool, Chi-square test was used for data analysis.
Barking Deer consumed 26 plant species. Of these, 18 species belonged to browse, four
species to grass, two species to fruits, and two other species to fern and herb. The
contribution of browse species was higher in the overall diet (61.13%), followed by fruits
(16.66%), grasses (10.87%), and others (1.87%). Smilaxaspera (10.33%), Litsea
chartacea (7.87%), Schima wallichii (5.4%), Prunus cerasoides (5.13%), etc. were the
other major browse plants in the diet. Choerospondiasaxillaris (15.86%) formed the
largest proportion of all the food species and was the important fruit for Barking Deer.
The important grass species present in the diet were Imperata cylindrica (4.13%) and
Carex sp. (3.2%). The Browse to grass ratio in the Barking Deer diet was 5.62 showing a
strong preference towards the browse plants. The niche breadth of the food plants
consumed by Barking Deer was found to be 0.512 indicating its generalist nature of
feeding, consuming a variety of species. Choerospondias axillaris (IEI = 0.5), Litsea
chartacea (IEI = 0.51), Prunus cerasoides (IEI =0.5) and Smilax aspera (IEI = 0.51) were
four plant species found to be strongly preferred. Castanopsis indica, (IEI = 0.07),Myrica
esculenta (IEI = 0.05) and Berberis asiatica (IEI = 0.04) were found to be used in
proportion to availability whereas Rhododendron arboreum (IEI = -0.58), Pinus
roxburghii (IEI = -0.7), Lithocarpus elegans (IEI = -0.6), etc. were some other avoided
food plants. Researches on nutritive value of important dietary species and their niche
overlap with other herbivore competitors are recommended.
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