Abstract
AbstractSummer food habits of Sika deer (Cervus nippon yakushimae) on Yakushima Island, southern Japan, were studied focusing in particular on Pseudosasa owatarii, a dwarf bamboo native to the island. Fecal analyses showed that the food habit of the Sika deer on Yakushima island was plastic: the dietary composition was dominated by graminoids (ca. 90%), particularly P. owatarii (50%–60%) in the bamboo grassland of the P. owatarii zone above the timber line, whereas leaves and non‐leafy parts of woody plants were important in the crytomeria forest and evergreen broad‐leaved forest below the timber line. The maximum culm age of P. owatarii was 8.5 yr, but the majority of leaves (97.8%) were younger than 2.5 yr. Since the weight contribution of the leaves is great (27.7%) and the turnover rate is high, the P. owatarii grassland affords a good foraging place for the Sika deer on Yakushima Island.
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