Plant and fungus-based diet overlap of three sympatric ungulates during hot and cool periods: evidence from eDNA metabarcoding

Plant and fungus-based diet overlap of three sympatric ungulates during hot and cool periods: evidence from eDNA metabarcoding | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL Oikos This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 12 May 2026 V1 Latest version Share on Plant and fungus-based diet overlap of three sympatric ungulates during hot and cool periods: evidence from eDNA metabarcoding Authors : Thomas Large [email protected] , Grégoire Pauly 0000-0002-6795-8905 [email protected] , Sonia Saïd [email protected] , and Eric Baubet [email protected] Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/authorea.15003234/v1 Under Review Oikos Peer review timeline 8 views 3 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract In temperate Europe, forests faced climate change and at the same time an important increase of ungulates densities and sympatric context, inducing an alteration of vegetation. Ungulates usually showed diverse foraging behaviour permitting co-existence, but during shortage periods as winter, significant food competition may occur. However, hot periods can be also detrimental and are not very documented in temperate Europe. Furthermore, ungulates mostly relied on plants, but fungi may also complete the diet. In this study, we investigated the diet of three sympatric ungulates (red deer, roe deer and wild boar) during cool and hot periods using faecal eDNA metabarcoding to detect plant and fungi. We compared the diet composition and diversity of three sympatric forest ungulates and calculated diet overlap using pianka index. We observed a high overlap in the diet of roe and red deer in both periods, whereas diet overlap was lower for both deer with wild boar. Overlap tends to be higher during the hot period than cool. The composition of diet was different among ungulates, and the diet of roe deer less diverse than other ungulates. However, we did not detect any effect of the period on diet composition or diversity, but our study still represented one of the few that investigated such potential hot period resources shortage for ungulates. Nevertheless, the combined effect of increased ungulate densities and global change may be detrimental for forest stands regeneration if resources become scarce. Supplementary Material File (supporting_information.docx) supporting_information Download 18.28 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 12 May 2026 Peer review timeline Under Review Oikos 12 May 2026 Review Complete 12 May 2026 Submission Checks Completed Collection Oikos Keywords Herbivore Omnivore Red deer Roe deer Wild boar Trophic overlap Authors Affiliations Thomas Large [email protected] Office français de la biodiversité, Brieux, France View all articles by this author Grégoire Pauly 0000-0002-6795-8905 [email protected] View all articles by this author Sonia Saïd [email protected] Office français de la biodiversité, Brieux, France View all articles by this author Eric Baubet [email protected] Office français de la biodiversité, Brieux, France View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 8 views 3 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Thomas Large, Grégoire Pauly, Sonia Saïd, et al. Plant and fungus-based diet overlap of three sympatric ungulates during hot and cool periods: evidence from eDNA metabarcoding. Authorea . 12 May 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/authorea.15003234/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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