Ecological Interactions of Ungulate Species
Summary
Ungulates, a diverse clade of large herbivorous mammals, shape terrestrial ecosystems through their feeding behaviour, movement patterns and social organisation. By browsing and grazing, they influence plant community composition, nutrient cycling and the spatial distribution of other consumer and predator species. Their interactions range from direct competition for food and space to subtle facilitation of plant regeneration and habitat heterogeneity. Ungulate assemblages often display complex coexistence mechanisms, including temporal, spatial and dietary partitioning, which reduce competitive exclusion and allow multiple species to thrive in shared landscapes. Human activities—land‐use change, hunting, resource management and species introductions—further modulate these interactions, creating novel ecological dynamics with implications for biodiversity, ecosystem services and conservation planning.
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Ecological Interactions of Ungulate Species publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in ecological interactions of ungulate species across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Interspecific competition: Interaction in which individuals of different species vie for the same limited resources, leading to reduced growth, survival or reproduction of one or both participants.
Niche partitioning: The process by which coexisting species use different resources or occupy distinct habitats or times, thereby minimising direct competition.
Sympatry: The condition in which two or more species occur together in the same geographic area and have the potential to interact directly.
References
- Competitor densities, habitat, and weather: effects on interspecific interactions between wild deer species. Integrative Zoology (2020).
- Habitat Selection and Activity Patterns of Japanese Serows and Sika Deer with Currently Sympatric Distributions. Animals (2021).
- There is only one winner: The negative impact of red deer density on roe deer numbers and distribution in the Słowiński National Park and its vicinity. Ecology and Evolution (2021).
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