CORRELATES OF TERRITORIALITY IN RUTTING RED DEER

The mating strategy most commonly reported for male red deer, Cervus e laphus, is the defence of females (harems), territoriality having been described only in Donana, Spain. We observed rutting males at five di fferent populations in Spain and during 4 consecutive yr in Donana. Fe male defence was the only strategy observed in two of the populations, whereas territorial defence coexisted with female defence in the rema ining three populations. Territorial defence appeared to be mote costl y than female defence, in terms of rates of aggressive interaction, an d territorial males tended to gather more females per d than non-terri torial ones. Both mating strategies seemed to respond to local variati ons in habitat, which in turn affected female distribution. Females co ncentrated in areas with high-quality forage, and most territories con tained patches of high-quality food (i.e. greater quality within bound aries) or were located along main routes used by females. The results are interpreted in the light of environmental conditions in southern E urope, where the rut coincides with the less favourable season for her bivores (in terms of food resources) after the hot and dry summer. Und er such conditions of food scarcity coupled with patchy distribution, females tend to concentrate on the remaining patches of green swards, and males benefit from defending the food resources that attract femal es.