Estudio poblacional y uso de hábitat por el venado cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus)en un bosque templado de la Sierra de Pachuca, Hidalgo, México

Abstract

ResumenSe estimó la densidad y el uso de hábitat (por categorías de edad y sexo) de una población del venado cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) en un bosque templado de la sierra de Pachuca, Hidalgo. La estimación de la densidad se calculó mediante el conteo de grupos fecales y se evaluó el uso del hábitat por medio de la presencia de excremento. La morfología de los pellets se evaluó mediante el método K media difusa para obtener las categorías: I)juveniles, II)machos adultos y III)hembras adultas. Se midieron características de abundancia, diversidad y arquitectura de la vegetación leñosa y se utilizó un análisis de componentes principales (ACP) para identificar las variables de mayor relevancia y la heterogeneidad entre las unidades de evaluación. Para evaluar las diferencias entre los grupos de edad y sexo se utilizó un Análisis de Función Discriminante (AFD). La densidad estimada fue de 2.1 ± 1.6 ind/km 2 . La clasificación mostró que el 40% de los pellets fueron asignados a juveniles, el 40% a hembras y 20% a machos. El ACP mostró que las variables de los arbustos son más importantes y que hay un área extensa de hábitat disponible para los venados, mientras que el AFD detectó diferencia significativa en el grupo de los jóvenes con respecto a los adultos en los sitios donde la vegetación de estrato arbustivo es más cerrada. En términos de conservación es importante contar con datos de la densidad de la población pues permite la comparación de monitoreos posteriores, pero sobretodo empezar a documentar como responden las especies dentro de las Unidades de Conservación y Manejo para Uso Sustentable Palabras clave: Odocoileus virginianus, uso de hábitat, densidad, Unidades de Conservación y Manejo para Uso Sustentable. AbstractDensity and habitat use (between age and sex classes) of a white tailed deer population. was estimated in a pine-oak forest at la Sierra de Pachuca, Hidalgo. The population density was estimated using the pellet count method and the occurrence of pellets was used to evaluate the habitat use. The morphology of pellets was utilized with the K mean Fuzzy Clustering method to obtain three categories: I) young, II) adult male and III) adult female. We recorded the abundance, diversity and architecture of woody plant and then analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA), in order to detect de main factor of habitat and the heterogeinity. To evaluate differences between age-sex classes we used functional discriminate analysis (FDA). Population density obtained was 2.12 ± 1.6 ind/km 2 , the classification showed that 40 % of pellets was detected as young, the 40 % as female and 20 % as male. The PCA showed that main variables were associated with shrubs vegetation and exist a large suitable habitat for deer and FDA detected significant differences in sites between young and adult use with high density vegetation of shrubs. In terms of conservation it is important to have data on population density because it allows comparisons in monitoring activities; also it is important for starting to ...

Modelling geographic patterns of population density of the white‐tailed deer in central Mexico by implementing ecological niche theory

“…In total, we used nine environmental layers in geographical coordinates (Datum WGS‐84) resampled to a grain size of 30 arc seconds (∼ 1 km 2 ). We chose this cell size because it approximates home range estimates for the white‐tailed deer in central Mexico (Sánchez‐Rojas et al 1997).…”

Monitoring population density and activity pattern of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Central Mexico, using camera trapping

“…In addition to those obtained with indirect methods in Sierra Norte de Oaxaca (2.68-3.09) (BrionesSalas and García 2005) and Sierra de Pachuca, Hidalgo (2.1) (Sánchez-Rojas et al 2009). However, they are lower than estimated for Bosque de la Primavera in Jalisco (5) (Valenzuela 1994) and La Michilía Biosphere Reserve, Durango (21) (Gallina 1994).…”

“…While important for the development of management programs, monitoring wild deer populations is particularly difficult due to their elusive behavior. The most commonly used monitoring techniques rely on indirect methods, such as track and pellet-group counts (Mooty and Karns 1984, Mandujano 2005, Ortíz et al 2005, Reyna-Hurtado and Tanner 2007, Sánchez-Rojas et al 2009). However, these methods are sensitive to habitat, terrain conditions, and the need for trained personnel; further, they do not provide information regarding age structure or sex ratio (Novak et al 1991, Smallwood and Fitzhugh 1995, Mccoy et al 2011).…”

Evaluating the Relationship between White-Tailed Deer and Environmental Conditions using Spatially Autocorrelated Data in Tropical Dry Forests of Central Mexico

“…We considered it important to include the former since it is related to deer strategy for escaping from predators [13,50,51]. Regarding the latter, it is well known that human presence and activity have a negative effect on many species, which has been described for the white-tailed deer in Mexico by some authors [17,18,52].…”