Seasonal food habits of a sika deer population in the warm temperate forest of the westernmost part of Honshu, Japan

Abstract

The rumen contents of 63 sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) shot in the westernmost part of Honshu were analyzed by the point‐frame method. The rumen contents were dominated by forbs and the majority of these were evergreen monocotyledonous plants, probably Ophiopogon spp. Evergreen browse leaves (woody leaves), such as Eurya japonica Thunb., Ilex crenata Thunb. and Trachelospermum asiaticum Nakai, were also important, constituting 20–40% of the rumen contents. Other categories accounted for only small proportions, although in summer, graminoids increased but twigs and bark decreased in importance and in fall and winter, fruits and seeds increased in importance. The diet of the deer was characterized by high‐quality foods even in winter and by a stability or less‐pronounced seasonality throughout the year than found in the northern deer. These results were compared with those from other populations, including a northern sika deer population in Japan.