Metabarcoding in two isolated populations of wild roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) reveals variation in gastrointestinal nematode community composition between regions and among age classes.

The presence of some livestock parasite species in the Trois Fontaines roe deer population was unexpected given the isolation of this population away from grazing domestic livestock since decades. Overall, our results illustrate the influence of host traits and the local environment on roe deer nemabiome and demonstrate the power of the nemabiome metabarcoding approach to elucidate the composition of gastrointestinal nematode communities in wildlife.