Intensive feeding modifies nutrient patterns in a strictly protected area

Abstract

Recovering deer populations are causing conflict across Europe, especially in the vicinity of protected areas where densities are generally higher. Consequently, a variety of management approaches, such as the provision of winter feeding, have been deployed to keep deer from foraging in undesired areas in an attempt to mitigate conflicts. However, as large ungulates play a key role in nutrient recycling and redistribution, management actions that affect their space use and introduce additional nutrients into a system may translate into changes in the biogeochemistry of protected areas. Yet, little is known about the implications of such deer-management strategies on nutrient patterns. Here, we tested the effects of intensive supplementary feeding in combination with winter enclosures on nutrient distribution in a strictly protected area in Central Europe, the Bavarian Forest National Park. We found significant effects of the current management approach on plant nutrients with elevated nutrient concentrations not only within, but, importantly, extending up to several hundred meters around the enclosures/feeding stations. The increased nutrient concentrations could have cascading consequences for soil microbial activity, plant community composition and other herbivores. Our results illustrate that management actions designed to solve a specific problem (mitigating human-wildlife conflict), may alter local landscape chemistry and influence broader ecosystem functions. Ultimately, this may compromise conservation success, highlighting the need to critically evaluate all potential consequences of common management approaches such as supplementary feeding.