Mori, T.; Iwagami, S.; Yamagawa, H.; Suzuki, K.K. Do Feed Plants Provide Sufficient Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium to Sika Deer in Japan? An Analysis Using Global Plant Trait Data. Animals2023, 13, 1044.
Mori, T.; Iwagami, S.; Yamagawa, H.; Suzuki, K.K. Do Feed Plants Provide Sufficient Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium to Sika Deer in Japan? An Analysis Using Global Plant Trait Data. Animals 2023, 13, 1044.
Mori, T.; Iwagami, S.; Yamagawa, H.; Suzuki, K.K. Do Feed Plants Provide Sufficient Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium to Sika Deer in Japan? An Analysis Using Global Plant Trait Data. Animals2023, 13, 1044.
Mori, T.; Iwagami, S.; Yamagawa, H.; Suzuki, K.K. Do Feed Plants Provide Sufficient Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium to Sika Deer in Japan? An Analysis Using Global Plant Trait Data. Animals 2023, 13, 1044.
Abstract
Deficient minerals in overabundant populations could act as an attractant to cull sika deer (Cervus nippon). Because selective culling of female deer is reported to be effective in reducing sika deer populations, it is particularly important to clarify the differences in mineral requirements between male and female. Here, using global plant trait data and a published list of sika deer food plants in Japan, we estimated whether food plants provide sika deer sufficient sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg), and compared the results between male and female. An analysis of 191 food plant species suggested that food plants can provide sufficient Mg, whereas sufficient Na and Ca is not always provided, especially when the intake is small or the deer large. Na deficiency was more intense for lactating females than males, suggesting that Na can be an effective attractant for selectively culling female deer. In summary, this study demonstrated that sika deer in Japan might require extra Na and Ca sources in addition to food plants, and therefore these minerals could be useful for developing effective culling methods.
Keywords
Cervus nippon; mineral requirements; sodium; TRY Plant Traits Database
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
