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Author: Sabrina Morano Publisher: ISBN: Category : Electronic books Languages : en Pages : 376
Book Description
Changes in landscape composition have the potential to negatively influence animal populations through shifts in dominant plant communities, loss of important forage items, or changes in structural components of habitat. In the western United States, expansion of woodland vegetation into shrub dominated communities is of concern, particularly with regard to animal populations reliant on robust sagebrush and shrub vegetation. Once established, trees can out-compete shrubs and herbaceous plants resulting in declines in abundance and diversity of shrub-forb vegetation, which female mule deer are reliant on during summer months to meet nutritional demands and to provide hiding cover for young. As a result, shifts in the distribution of pinyon-juniper woodland and increases in tree densities could negatively affect mule deer population. The study had two primary objectives, (1) to determine summer habitat composition of female mule deer in the White Mountains of California and eastern Nevada, and assess implications of pinyon-juniper expansion on habitat availability, and (2) evaluate the status of the population relative to nutritional carrying capacity and determined the influence of habitat and precipitation on demographic rates. I used mixed-effects logistic regression to model summer resource selection and demographic rates of female mule deer from 2005 to 2008. Summer resource selection was modeled at two spatial scales and among three behavioral periods, related to foraging, resting, and parturition. Summer habitat consisted of sites with high productivity, greater shrub abundance, and greater proximity to riparian areas. Deer avoided high levels of tree cover at all spatial and temporal scales, but they selected areas with low to intermediate tree cover during resting periods and during parturition. Moreover, mule deer avoided areas of productive shrub-forb vegetation (riparian and shrub NDVI), when surrounded by stands of high level pinyon-juniper cover, otherwise those vegetation types were strongly selected. During parturition female mule deer selected habitat that maximized hiding cover for newborns (greater shrub densities and structural cover), while still providing foraging opportunities (greater NDVI and shrub cover). Females underutilized certain areas that contained optimal forage such as riparian corridors, high AET sites, higher elevation shrub communities, and selected areas with low to moderate tree cover, suggesting some trade-off between minimizing predation risk for offspring, and maximizing foraging opportunities. Demographic rates (body condition, survival, fetal rates, and index of recruitment) of female mule deer were sensitive to changes in resource availability resulting from variation in precipitation or habitat composition and suggestive of a population regulated to a greater degree by bottom-up processes, and likely nearing nutritional carrying capacity. Moreover, I identified a strong negative effect of pinyon-juniper cover on annual survival, only during periods of drought, otherwise individuals were able to maintain relatively high survival regardless of habitat composition. These results suggest that in productive years mule deer are able to inhabit areas of varying levels of pinyon-juniper cover with little effect on survival, and only during the drought years are negative effects evident. Results from this study emphasize the importance of productive shrub and forb vegetation to mule deer inhabiting semi-arid regions. Maintaining areas with low-to-intermediate tree cover, where there is still abundant shrub understory and sufficient concealment cover, may be beneficial to mule deer populations. Nevertheless, the strong influence of resource availability on the population suggests that conversion of sagebrush-steppe communities into large stands of PJ dominated woodlands would likely reduce the quality and abundance of available habitat for mule deer in the Great Basin.
Author: Sabrina Morano Publisher: ISBN: Category : Electronic books Languages : en Pages : 376
Book Description
Changes in landscape composition have the potential to negatively influence animal populations through shifts in dominant plant communities, loss of important forage items, or changes in structural components of habitat. In the western United States, expansion of woodland vegetation into shrub dominated communities is of concern, particularly with regard to animal populations reliant on robust sagebrush and shrub vegetation. Once established, trees can out-compete shrubs and herbaceous plants resulting in declines in abundance and diversity of shrub-forb vegetation, which female mule deer are reliant on during summer months to meet nutritional demands and to provide hiding cover for young. As a result, shifts in the distribution of pinyon-juniper woodland and increases in tree densities could negatively affect mule deer population. The study had two primary objectives, (1) to determine summer habitat composition of female mule deer in the White Mountains of California and eastern Nevada, and assess implications of pinyon-juniper expansion on habitat availability, and (2) evaluate the status of the population relative to nutritional carrying capacity and determined the influence of habitat and precipitation on demographic rates. I used mixed-effects logistic regression to model summer resource selection and demographic rates of female mule deer from 2005 to 2008. Summer resource selection was modeled at two spatial scales and among three behavioral periods, related to foraging, resting, and parturition. Summer habitat consisted of sites with high productivity, greater shrub abundance, and greater proximity to riparian areas. Deer avoided high levels of tree cover at all spatial and temporal scales, but they selected areas with low to intermediate tree cover during resting periods and during parturition. Moreover, mule deer avoided areas of productive shrub-forb vegetation (riparian and shrub NDVI), when surrounded by stands of high level pinyon-juniper cover, otherwise those vegetation types were strongly selected. During parturition female mule deer selected habitat that maximized hiding cover for newborns (greater shrub densities and structural cover), while still providing foraging opportunities (greater NDVI and shrub cover). Females underutilized certain areas that contained optimal forage such as riparian corridors, high AET sites, higher elevation shrub communities, and selected areas with low to moderate tree cover, suggesting some trade-off between minimizing predation risk for offspring, and maximizing foraging opportunities. Demographic rates (body condition, survival, fetal rates, and index of recruitment) of female mule deer were sensitive to changes in resource availability resulting from variation in precipitation or habitat composition and suggestive of a population regulated to a greater degree by bottom-up processes, and likely nearing nutritional carrying capacity. Moreover, I identified a strong negative effect of pinyon-juniper cover on annual survival, only during periods of drought, otherwise individuals were able to maintain relatively high survival regardless of habitat composition. These results suggest that in productive years mule deer are able to inhabit areas of varying levels of pinyon-juniper cover with little effect on survival, and only during the drought years are negative effects evident. Results from this study emphasize the importance of productive shrub and forb vegetation to mule deer inhabiting semi-arid regions. Maintaining areas with low-to-intermediate tree cover, where there is still abundant shrub understory and sufficient concealment cover, may be beneficial to mule deer populations. Nevertheless, the strong influence of resource availability on the population suggests that conversion of sagebrush-steppe communities into large stands of PJ dominated woodlands would likely reduce the quality and abundance of available habitat for mule deer in the Great Basin.
Author: James R. Heffelfinger Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 1000851559 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 537
Book Description
Black-tailed and mule deer represent one of the largest distributions of mammals in North America and are symbols of the wide-open American West. Each chapter in this book was authored by the world’s leading experts on that topic. Both editors, James R. Heffelfinger and Paul R. Krausman, are widely published in the popular and scientific press and recipients of the O. C. Wallmo Award, given every two years to a leading black-tailed and mule deer expert who has made significant contributions to the conservation of this species. In addition, Heffelfinger has chaired the Mule Deer Working Group sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for more than 15 years. This working group consists of the leading black-tailed and mule deer experts from each of 24 states, provinces, and territories in western North America, putting them at the forefront of all conservation and much of the research on this species. The book represents all current knowledge available on these deer, including how changing conditions such as fires, habitat alteration and loss, disease, climate change, socio-economic forces, energy development, and other aspects are influencing their distribution and abundance now and into the future. It takes a completely fresh look at all chapter topics. The revisions of distribution, taxonomy, evolution, behavior, and new and exciting work being done in deer nutrition, migration and movements, diseases, predation, and human dimensions are all assembled in this volume. This book will instantly become the foundation for the latest information and management strategies to be implemented on the ground by practitioners and to inform the public. Although this book is about deer, the topics discussed influence most terrestrial wildlife worldwide, and the basic concepts in many of the chapters are applicable to other species.
Author: Thomas Edward Kucera Publisher: ISBN: Category : Mule deer Languages : en Pages : 474
Book Description
Migratory behavior of Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) wintering on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, Inyo and Mono counties, was studied from January 1984 to November 1987. Radio-telemetry indicated no differences between years in timing of migration from the winter range, although generally females proceeded males. Upon leaving the winter range, deer moved to spring holding areas on the east slope at higher elevations. There were no year or sex differences in leaving spring holding areas for summer ranges. Summer ranges were mainly on the western slope. Summer home ranges of males were at higher elevations, nearer water, and on steeper slopes than those of females. Fill migration was influenced by snowstorms, particularly in males. Few opportunities for habitat improvement exist on either summer or winter range. Antlerless harvests of deer during periods of population growth can dampen fluctuations in animal numbers caused by variable rainfall.
Author: David G. Hewitt Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 1482295989 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 668
Book Description
Winner of the Wildlife Society Outstanding Edited Book Award for 2013! Winner of the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society Outstanding Book Award for 2011! Winner of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award for 2011! Biology and Management of White-tailed Deer organizes and presents information on the most studied large mammal species in the world. The book covers the evolutionary history of the species, its anatomy, physiology, and nutrition, population dynamics, and ecology across its vast range (from central Canada through northern South America). The book then discusses the history of management of white-tailed deer, beginning with early Native Americans and progressing through management by Europeans and examining population lows in the early 1900s, restocking efforts through the mid 1900s, and recent, overabundant populations that are becoming difficult to manage in many areas. Features: Co-published with the Quality Deer Management Association Compiles valuable information for white-tailed deer enthusiasts, managers, and biologists Written by an authoritative author team from diverse backgrounds Integrates white-tailed deer biology and management into a single volume Provides a thorough treatment of white-tailed deer antler biology Includes downloadable resources with color images The backbone of many state wildlife management agencies' policies and a featured hunting species through much of their range, white-tailed deer are an important species ecologically, socially, and scientifically in most areas of North America. Highly adaptable and now living in close proximity to humans in many areas, white-tailed deer are both the face of nature and the source of conflict with motorists, home-owners, and agricultural producers. Capturing the diverse aspects of white-tailed deer research, Biology and Management of White-tailed Deer is a reflection of the resources invested in the study of the species’ effects on ecosystems, predator-prey dynamics, population regulation, foraging behavior, and browser physiology.
Author: Rebekah A. Hellesto Publisher: ISBN: Category : Habitat selection Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Converting wildlife habitat to agricultural monoculture is one of the greatest drivers of habitat loss and can be a severe threat to many wildlife species. However, because mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) typically live in rugged, less arable landscapes, little is known about how they use habitat fragmented by agriculture. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from a partially migratory herd of 62 adult female mule deer from 2018-2022, we examined migration strategies and modeled habitat selection at three spatial scales in southeastern Washington, which is a mosaic of mostly privately owned cereal grain agriculture, shrubland, grassland, and restored cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). A minority of the mule deer population was migratory (30%), with relatively short and fast migrations. During migration, they primarily selected for shrubland and grassland in both fall and spring. Mule deer used various components of the landscape throughout the year but selected grassland as their highest-ranked habitat year-round when selecting for home ranges within the study area (second order) and in winter when selecting habitat within their home ranges (third order). During summer, mule deer focused on shrubland and forested habitats within their home range, likely because it provided increased security and thermal cover for fawn-rearing. In the winter, they selected agricultural habitats to a greater degree, which might reflect the growing winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) providing more nutrition during that time. Survival from birth to recruitment into the adult population can greatly influence population dynamics of wild ungulates like mule deer and is affected by both nutrition and cover found in high-quality habitats. We used the GPS data from our population to create resource selection function models during parturition and early fawn-rearing and for fawn bed site characteristics (fourth order). We searched for fawns and fawn bed sites in 2021 and 2022 and used a parturition model to predict birthing events of collared females for which we were unable to find fawns in 2018-2022. For parturition, fawn-rearing habitat, and fawn bed sites, vegetation types that provided more vertical structure, including shrubs and trees, were consistently selected and agriculture avoided. Both intact (i.e., never plowed) shrubland and CRP shrubland were equally selected. These vegetation types provided vertical and horizontal concealment cover for fawns that were also important characteristics of fawn bed site selection. Our research suggests that to promote sustainable populations of mule deer in a landscape dominated by agriculture, managers and landowners could increase the prevalence of quality shrubs and trees where possible to improve habitat and continue support for the CRP program that provides economic incentive to restore croplands for the benefit of wildlife like mule deer.
Author: Sabrina Morano
Author: Sabrina Morano
Author: 
Author: Alfred Ivan Rosgaard
Author: James R. Heffelfinger
Author: Heidi Behrens Youmans
Author: Harvey E. Nyberg
Author: Thomas Edward Kucera
Author: David G. Hewitt
Author: Jonathan R. Keehner
Author: Rebekah A. Hellesto