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A comparison of the ecology of fallow deer (Dama dama L.), cattle and sheep on a shared rangeland

Hopetoun House Deer Park is mainly utilized by fallow deer. Cattle and sheep share the range during the summer. The objective of the study was to compare the foraging ecology of fallow deer, cattle and sheep. The distribution of herbivores on the range was compared with the distribution of plant species and broad categories of habitat. All herbivores showed positive associations with Lolium. Fallow does generally preferred tree groves, and sheep grassland. Fallow bucks and cattle preferred shaded areas during summer. In all seasons herbivores spent more time grazing than resting during the day. Different herbivores showed different patterns of diurnal habitat use. Sheep during summer preferred to graze in the shaded areas and used grasslands for resting early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The diet of herbivores was determined by microhistological analysis of faecal pellets. Food plant species in the diet of herbivores were similar but their proportions differed. Cattle and sheep consumed more grasses and less forbs than fallow bucks and does. The nutritional quality of the forage plant species was determined on clipped forage samples, and the total diet quality calculated by using proportions of food plant species in the diet. The diet was considered adequate nutritionally, hence the suggestion that multiple species grazing was not adversely affecting the diet quality of herbivores on the range. It was, therefore, concluded that 'multiple species' use of'a rangeland, such as that at Hopetoun, at a suitable stocking level could result in increased utilization of the available forage and consequently increased productivity.