Spatial and Temporal Relationships Between Roe and Red Deer in an Alpine Area.

Interspecific interactions are important drivers of population dynamics and species distribution. These relationships can increase niche partitioning between sympatric species, which can differentiate space and time use or modify their feeding strategies. Roe deer and red deer are two of the most widespread ungulate species in Europe and show spatial and dietary overlap.

Temporal stability of fecal cortisol metabolites in mountain-dwelling ungulates.

Fecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) are widely used to track stress responses in wildlife and captive species. Rules of thumb suggest that samples should be collected as soon as possible after defecation, to avoid decay of FCMs. To date, however, only a few studies investigated the stability of defecated FCMs over time, and most of them were conducted in controlled laboratory conditions.

Disentangling demographic effects of red deer on chamois population dynamics.

Investigating the impact of ecological factors on sex- and age-specific vital rates is essential to understand animal population dynamics and detect the potential for interactions between sympatric species. We used block count data and autoregressive linear models to investigate variation in birth rate, kid survival, female survival, and male survival in a population of Alpine chamois monitored over 27 years within the Stelvio National Park, Central Italian Alps, as function of climatic variables, density dependence, and interspecific competition with red deer . We also used path analysis to assess the indirect effect of deer abundance on chamois growth rate mediated by each demographic parameter.