Effects of population reduction on home ranges of female white-tailed deer at high densities

Kilpatrick, Howard J.; Spohr, Shelley M.; Lima, Kelly K.

doi:10.1139/cjz-79-6-949

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Our fine-scale analyses support female philopatry at the local level, suggesting a larger proportion of females remain philopatric. However, we found weak mtDNA differentiation and similar levels of male and female microsatellite differentiation at broad scales, even though male white-tailed deer are the predominant dispersers (Hawkins and Klimstra 1970;Nelson and Mech 1984;Aycrigg and Porter 1997;Kilpatrick et al 2001). There may be several reasons for this.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Broad and fine-scale genetic analysis of white-tailed deer populations: estimating the relative risk of chronic wasting disease spread

Cullingham

Merrill

Pybus

et al. 2010

Evolutionary Applications

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Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, similar to sheep scrapie that has only recently been detected in wild populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) in western Canada. Relatively little is known about local transmission dynamics of the disease or the potential for long-distance spread. We analysed the population genetic structure of over 2000 white-tailed deer sampled from Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan using microsatellite profiles and mtDNA sequencing to assess the relative risk of disease spread. There was very little differentiation among subpopulations and a weak trend of increasing differentiation with geographic distance. This suggests that the potential for long-distance disease spread through the dispersal of infected individuals is possible, yet the risk of spread should gradually diminish with distance from infection foci. Within subpopulations, females were more related than expected by chance (R > 0) within a radius of approximately 500 m. Sex-biased philopatry and social interactions among related females may facilitate local disease transmission within social groups. Local herd reduction may therefore be an effective tool for reducing the disease prevalence when implemented at the appropriate spatial scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Broad and fine-scale genetic analysis of white-tailed deer populations: estimating the relative risk of chronic wasting disease spread

Cullingham

Merrill

Pybus

et al. 2010

Evolutionary Applications

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show abstract

“…This lack of correlation supports our assumption that deer densities at these sites were not controlled by canopy disturbance or by the availability of understory vegetation during the time frame of this study. Hunting, topography, and the availability of agricultural crops are likely the most significant factors in determining local variation in deer densities in this study area (McNulty et al 1997, Kilpatrick et al 2001.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deer Herbivory Alters Forest Response to Canopy Decline Caused by an Exotic Insect Pest

Eschtruth

2008

Ecological Applications

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Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae) infestations have resulted in the continuing decline of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) throughout much of the eastern United States. While the initial impacts of HWA infestations have been documented, our understanding of forest response to this disturbance remains incomplete. HWA infestation is not occurring in isolation but within a complex ecological context. The role of potentially important interacting factors, such as elevated levels of white-tailed deer herbivory, is poorly understood. Despite the potential for herbivory to alter forest successional trajectories following a canopy disturbance, little is known about herbivory-disturbance interactions, and herbivory is rarely considered in assessing forest response to a co-occurring disturbance. We used repeated censuses of deer exclosures and paired controls (400 paired plots) to quantify the impact of deer herbivory on tree seedling species abundance in 10 eastern hemlock ravines that span a gradient in HWA-induced canopy decline severity. Use of a maximum likelihood estimation framework and information theoretics allowed us to quantify the strength of evidence for alternative models developed to estimate the impacts of herbivory on tree seedling abundance as a function of varying herbivore density and canopy decline severity. The exclusion of deer herbivory had marked impacts on the abundance of the studied seedling species: Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum, Betula lenta, Nyssa sylvatica, Quercus montana, and Tsuga canadensis. For all six species, the relationship between seedling abundance and deer density was either exponential or saturating. Although the functional form of the response varied among seedling species, the inclusion of both deer density and canopy decline severity measures consistently resulted in models with substantially greater support. Canopy decline resulted in higher proportional herbivory impacts and altered the ranking of herbivory impacts by seedling species. Our results suggest that, by changing species' competitive abilities, white-tailed deer herbivory alters the trajectory of forest response to this exotic insect pest and has the potential to shift future overstory composition.

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“…Numerous studies have demonstrated inverse relationships between home-range size and population density for a range of species. This includes several predatory carnivores (Dahle and Swenson 2003;Marker and Dickman 2005;Benson et al 2006), primates (Glessner and Britt 2005), ungulates (Kilpatrick et al 2001;Kjellander et al 2004) and small mammals (Wolff 1985).…”

Section: Population Density and Potential Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home range and habitat use of a low-density population of greater gliders, Petauroides volans (Pseudocheiridae: Marsupialia), in a hollow-limiting environment

Smith¹,

Mathieson²,

Hogan³

2007

Wildl. Res.

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Greater gliders, Petauroides volans, were radio-tracked within a large tract of forest in the dry inland of southern Queensland. This forest has been commercially logged for timber for more than 100 years. Home-range estimates ranged from 1.4 ha (female) to 19.3 ha (male). Minimum convex polygon (MCP) estimates were larger for males (average, 11.5 ha) than females (average, 3.3 ha) and combined (6.8 ha, sexes pooled) were larger than estimates from other Australian populations. Gliders were located foraging in myrtaceous tree species only, using mostly Eucalyptus moluccana, E. fibrosa and Corymbia citriodora. E. moluccana was used for foraging more frequently than would be expected on the basis of its availability in the forest. E. fibrosa and C. citriodora were used in proportion to their availability in the forest. Gliders were not seen foraging in non-myrtaceous species or myrtaceous trees <20 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), preferring trees in 30–70-cm dbh classes and as ‘mature’ and ‘over-mature’ classified according to growth-stage characteristics. Den tree species included the same species used for foraging as well as dead trees (16% of den trees). E. fibrosa and E. tereticornis were preferred significantly more than expected by their availability in the forest. Non-myrtaceous species were not used as live den trees. Large (dbh >50 cm) and old living trees (in deteriorating and senescent condition: ‘late mature’ and ‘over-mature’ categories) were primarily used as den trees. Individual gliders utilised 4–20 den trees. Females utilised more den trees per unit area of home range (3.8 den trees ha–1, maximum) than males (0.9 den trees ha–1, maximum). Fewer den trees were used per unit area of home range than by gliders at a coastal location with approximately the same latitude. The density of live stems containing hollows suitable as dens is currently lower than 1 tree ha–1 in some parts of the study forest. Gliders were two and half times less likely to be observed during standardised spotlighting surveys in the study area than elsewhere in southern Queensland. It is likely that low availability of den trees is contributing to large home ranges and the apparent low population density observed in this study.

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Effects of population reduction on home ranges of female white-tailed deer at high densities

Cited by 20 publications

References 22 publications

Broad and fine-scale genetic analysis of white-tailed deer populations: estimating the relative risk of chronic wasting disease spread

Broad and fine-scale genetic analysis of white-tailed deer populations: estimating the relative risk of chronic wasting disease spread

Deer Herbivory Alters Forest Response to Canopy Decline Caused by an Exotic Insect Pest

Home range and habitat use of a low-density population of greater gliders, Petauroides volans (Pseudocheiridae: Marsupialia), in a hollow-limiting environment

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