Red deer

Plant traces in red deer excretions

In this project in cooperation with the Bavarian Forest National Park, we are investigating how red deer will react to changing climatic conditions. It is expected that milder winters will lead to improved food availability, higher survival rates and an expansion of the wintering range. Metabarcoding analyses of red deer excretions will be used to analyze red deer's use of space, e.g., due to wolf immigration, climate, hunting, and tourism.

Image: Isiwal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Red deer (Cervus elaphus)