Download or read book Advantages of Habitat Selection and Sexual Segregation in Mule and White tailed Deer written by Martin Benjamin Main and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I studied sexual segregation in mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Q. virginianus) in different environments and at different population densities to test the hypothesis that sexual segregation occurs in ungulates as the result of different reproductive strategies; females select habitat and behave in manners primarily designed to promote offspring survival, while adult males act primarily to maximize energy stores prior to the rut. Data collected for both species were consistent with this hypothesis. Mule deer segregated both socially and spatially. Compared to males, female mule deer used areas that were closer to water, supported superior browse species, and provided greater security for offspring from coyotes. Locally available resources enabled females to minimize movements, the apparent consequence of which was the depletion of forb biomass, the major diet class for both sexes. Males ranged further than females, a strategy that provided a diet high in forbs and high in quality. The occurrence of mixed-sex groups in highly productive areas suggested that males responded to forage availability and not females perse, and that the effects of localized grazing pressure by females may competitively exclude males from areas. Sexual segregation was not maintained by intersexual aggression in either mule or white-tailed deer. White tailed deer segregated socially, but demonstrated broad spatial overlap. During the peak of segregation (June-October), male behaviors were consistent with a pre-rut energy saving and forage seeking strategy; males used larger areas and made longer short term movements than females, but were less active overall and were relatively more active at night. Females were less mobile and foraged in smaller areas than males, particularly during fawn rearing periods (June-October). I also tested the hypothesis that male white-tailed deer segregate and range widely to scout potential mates and rivals. Based upon comparisons of areas used by radio-collared males and females during the peak periods of segregation (June-September) with areas used during the rut, this hypothesis was rejected.
Download or read book Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates written by Kathreen Ruckstuhl and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Males and females of many species can, and do, live separately for long periods of time. This sexual segregation is widespread and can be on social, spatial or habitat scales. An understanding of sexual segregation is important in the explanation of life history and social preference, population dynamics and the conservation of rare species. Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates explores the reasons why this behaviour has evolved and what factors contribute to it.
Download or read book Sexual Segregation in Ungulates written by R. Terry Bowyer and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is about the differing spatial distribution of males and females in species of hooved mammals. This behavior, wherein males and females live separately for long periods of time, has been observed in many species, but the causes of it remain uncertain"--
Download or read book Journal of Mammalogy written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Habitat Selection of White tailed and Mule Deer in the Southern Black Hills South Dakota written by Robert P. Dubreuil and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Effects of Reproductive Status of Mountain Lions on Prey Selection of Mule Deer and White tailed Deer in Northeastern Washington written by Jonathan R. Keehner and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Land Mammals of Oregon written by B. J. Verts and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 728 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of mammals of Oregon since Vernon Bailey's THE MAMMALS AND LIFE ZONES OF OREGON was published in 1936. This new book provides a basic reference to mammalian life in the northwestern U.S., with descriptions of 136 extant or recently extirpated species. 122 color and 36 b&w photos, 140 maps, 150 drawings.
Download or read book Ecology and Management of Mule Deer and White tailed Deer in Montana written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 770 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Comparison of the Fundamental Nutritional Niche and Realized Habitat Niche of Sympatric Mule and White tailed Deer in Eastern Washington written by Anna R. Staudenmaier and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mule (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are similar species, distributed across North America in both areas of sympatry and allopatry. Potential differences in their fundamental and realized niches that might be responsible for their distribution patterns remain largely unknown. Therefore, to directly compare the fundamental nutritional niche of mule and white-tailed deer we conducted in vivo digestion and intake tolerance trials using 7 tractable mule and 6 white-tailed deer, raised under similar conditions in captivity, across 6 diets ranging in fiber, protein, and plant secondary metabolite (PSM) content. We found that compared to white-tailed deer, mule deer had higher fiber, energy, and dry matter digestibility, produced glucuronic acid (a byproduct of PSM detoxification) at a slower rate when consuming the monoterpene [alpha]-pinene, and required 50% less digestible protein intake and 20% less digestible energy intake to maintain body mass and nitrogen balance. These differences might provide an advantage to mule deer when sharing landscapes with white-tailed deer containing forages of lower nutritional quality (i.e., higher fiber and PSM content). To compare their realized habitat niches, we determined presence and absence of both species at 312 cameras traps during the summers of 2018-2019 across a range of elevations, habitats, and overstory thinning treatments in the Colville National Forest (CNF) in northeastern Washington. We compared their habitat use with single species occupancy models and found that topography was the strongest indicator of differing habitat use; mule deer were more likely to occupy steep slopes and higher elevations and white-tailed deer the opposite. Using conditional, two species occupancy modeling, we found that mule and white-tailed deer occurred independently of one another (i.e., no dominance) in the CNF in summer. The absence of spatial and temporal segregation between the two species was supported by ~ 90% overlap in daily activity patterns and similar elapsed time between subsequent intra- or interspecies detections at camera sites with both species detected. Our research suggests that mule and white-tailed deer likely minimize potential competitive interactions in part by evolving different abilities to cope with low quality forage and by segregating topographically, thus are largely syntopic.
Download or read book Population Ecology and Summer Habitat Selection of Mule Deer in the White Mountains written by Sabrina Morano and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Winter Habitat Selection by the Sexes of White tailed Deer written by Stephen Paul Brockmann and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Effect of Scale on Habitat Selection of Female White tailed Deer in the Central Black Hills South Dakota and Wyoming written by Robert Wayne Klaver and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Survival Activity Patterns Movements Home Ranges and Resource Selection of Female Mule Deer and White tailed Deer in Western Kansas written by Talesha Karish and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (O. hemionus) occur in sympatric populations across the Great Plains in North America. Mule deer abundance and occupied range has been declining during the past three decades while white-tailed deer abundance and occupied range has been increasing. Factors contributing to the dichotomous population growth and distribution patterns across their sympatric range are unknown, but potentially include differential survival, space use, and resource selection, all of which may be contributing to indirect competition that may be negatively affecting mule deer populations. Overlap in resource use or space use between mule deer and white-tailed deer could be evidence of competition or competitive exclusion. Activity patterns could provide insights for temporal segregation or competition. Differential space use could allow these species to spatially segregate and co-occur without competing for the same resources. My objectives were to 1) estimate annual and seasonal survival rates, 2) identify cause-specific mortality of adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer, 3) compare behavior patterns between adult mule deer and white-tailed deer of both sexes at seasonal and fine temporal period scales, 4) evaluate the difference in movements between adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer at seasonal and fine temporal scales, 5) test for differences in home range area and composition of adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer at seasonal and fine temporal scales, and 6) evaluate differences in seasonal multi-scale resource selection by female mule deer and white-tailed deer in western Kansas. I deployed collars on 184 pregnant females (94 mule deer and 90 white-tailed deer) at two different study sites in western Kansas (North, South) over three years, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Each deer received a high-resolution GPS/VHF collar that recorded hourly locations, activity accelerometer data along 3 axes, and used an activity sensor to identify mortality events. I used a Kaplan-Meier model to estimate cumulative weekly and annual survival and fit a hazard function to each survival model. I tested for relative influence of factors on estimated survival. I categorized activity points into three behavioral states (feeding, resting, and running). I converted activity points into a proportion of total behavior for each deer and tested for differences in the proportion of behavior categories between species and among seasons. I calculated individual hourly and daily movements seasonally and compared them between species and among seasons. I calculated annual and seasonal 95% home ranges and 50% core areas for each individual deer using a Biased Brownian Bridge movement model. Using logistic regression, I modeled resource selection by mule deer and white-tailed deer at the landscape scale, within home range scale, and within the core home range to identify selection for potential habitat variables and cover types. There was no difference in annual survival of adult female deer between species (mule deer [0.78 ± 0.04] and white-tailed deer [0.77 ± 0.05]). Harvest was the leading known cause of female mortality at 14% of the total mortality, but it was low compared to other studies in the Great Plains. Behavior of both species was similar in all seasons except for rut for males. In rut, males doubled their running behavior. Firearm season produced no changes in behavior for either species or sex. However, the greatest movements and home ranges were in the firearm season. There were greater movements and home ranges in the cold seasons than in the warm seasons. Mule deer were found to use steeper slopes than white-tailed deer, and white-tailed deer used riparian and woodland areas more than mule deer. Habitat patches enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program were strongly selected by both species in every season and scale. Managers should focus on preserving CRP to stabilize the mule deer population. Given harvest rates of females are low, survival of adult females of both species of deer appears to be little affected by harvest, so there is no need to alter harvest rates of either species.
Download or read book Mule Deer Habitat Selection and Movement Patterns in North central Washington written by Robert Graham Carson and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Weather and Sex Influence Migratory Behaviors and Habitat Selection in Mule Deer written by Patrick A. Rodgers and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seasonal migrations along elevational and latitudinal gradients allow a diversity of wildlife species to persist in the face of dramatic seasonal shifts in habitat quality. Recent work to better understand ungulate migration has produced a suite of analytical tools for identifying the mechanisms behind migration and quantifying associated behaviors. While environmental variables like weather and plant phenology are thought to be the main drivers of migration, emergent evidence suggests that anthropogenic disturbances, such as hunting, as well as intrinsic factors like age and sex can also influence migratory patterns. However, critical gaps in understanding of the influence of both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence migratory behaviors remain common. We used three years (2016–2018) of GPS-collar data for a herd of migratory mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in south-central Wyoming to compare key migratory behaviors between sexes, identify factors that influence the timing of migration, and evaluate habitat selection in and around the autumn hunting season. Overall, migratory behaviors were sex specific. Both sexes showed high-fidelity to their migratory routes, but route fidelity was more variable in males. Males also migrated 30% farther on average, spent 14% more time on stopover sites, and took twice as long in spring and 44% longer in autumn to complete migration. Additionally, we found that weather, mainly precipitation events (i.e., snowfall), not hunting disturbance, was the main driver of autumn migration, increasing the likelihood of migration in both males and females by 14%. Our findings suggest that response to disturbance from hunting season is sex-specific. The hunted sex (males) more intensively sought refugia, whereas the less-hunted sex continued to use areas with good forage. Overall, our findings contribute to a broader understanding of migration ecology and the factors that influence migration and habitat selection of wild ungulates in western landscapes.
Download or read book Antipredator Behaviour Coyote Predation and Habitat Segregation of White tailed Deer and Mule Deer written by Susan Harrison Lingle and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
