Red Deer Influenceon Natural Grasslands

Red deer(CervuselaphusL.) populations, depending on their densitycandramatically affectvegetationin theirlivingareasusing hay meadows, farmland tree plantation and orchards, leading toafinancialdeficitfor the farmers. We quantified grazing intakein natural vegetation fields that were bordered by forest and had been used as hay meadows. Grazing cages had been placed in three separate locations in Valea Mare hunting range from Bistri �c a-N��s��ud during30May � 15July period. Sampling t ook place shortly before the hay meadows were mowed with the purpose of quantifying theRed deer intake. Red deer grazing resulted in the loss of a percentagebetween11,6% and12,6% of the total producti on.