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Dominance of indirect effects of deer populations on soil biodiversity
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DOI：10.1016/j.ejsobi.2026.103823.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Deer abundances and distributions have expanded at increasing rates in several regions across the globe due to human-driven land use change, uncontrolled (re)introductions, and insufficient top-down control by human or natural predators. Yet, the impact of unsustainable deer density on the belowground component of ecosystems is understudied. Ireland is a good model for anthropogenic environmental context, where populations of large herbivores are not regulated by large predators nor by structured hunting management. Using a combination of camera trapping, soil and vegetation surveys, with phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and bioinformatic approaches, we monitored 50 sites in Irish woodlands. The effects of varying sika deer (Cervus nippon) disturbances on soil biota were then assessed using structural equation modelling. Site-level deer intensity of use correlated with vegetation through an increase in litter and moss quantity and reduction in understory vegetation. We also found that variation in deer intensity of use directly affect vertebrate communities, which shifted towards a dominance of foxes, squirrels, cats and dogs – species more commonly associated to human-dominated landscapes – and a reduction in birds and mustelids, which also cascaded on soil biota. Our results thus support the hypothesis that deer overabundance has a potential to drive the structure of soil biota but mostly through indirect effects via vertebrate fauna and vegetation, acting as an ecosystem engineer. Future studies will have to experimentally tease apart the mechanisms underpinning the patterns documented in this study.
Keywords:
Aboveground-belowground linkages
Deer overabundance
Direct and indirect effect
Soil biodiversity determinants
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