GROUPING IN ROE DEER - AN EFFECT OF HABITAT OPENNESS OR COVER DISTRIBUTION

Counts of roe deer Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) were conducted in the open fields of two reserves in Siena county (central Italy). A rea A and area B were characterized by different indices of wood dispe rsion (0.8 and 1.6 respectively). Solitary roe deer were seen signific antly more often in area B (open fields: 80%) than in area A (open fie lds: 48%). Males were significantly more solitary than females in both areas. Group size varied throughout the year, showing similar tendenc ies in both sexes and al eas. The differences in deer concentration be tween areas appeared to depend on the distribution pattern of woodland more than proportion of open habitat.