Hind Foot Length: An Indicator for Monitoring Roe Deer Populations at a Landscape Scale

Zannèse, Audrey; Baïsse, Alain; Gaillard, Jean‐Michel; Hewison, A. J. Mark; Saint-Hilaire, Karine; Toïgo, Carole; Laere, Guy Van; Morellet, Nicolas

doi:10.2193/0091-7648(2006)34[351:hflaif]2.0.co;2

Cited by 36 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, our results can be of environmental or genotypic origin (see also Klein et al 1987). Hind foot, mandible, and total body lengths are measures of frame size referring to high-priority growth tissue that are normally heritable (Wilson et al 2005) but that also clearly depend on environmental conditions (Zannèse et al 2006a). Frame size is generally indicative of nutrition early in life, whereas girth may reflect body condition and be more related to the recent past (Côté et al 1998).…”

Section: Ecotype and Herd Distinctivenessmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In food-limited populations, managers need an assessment of population size relative to habitat quality to set management goals and harvest quotas. This relative assessment can be performed through the use of ecological indicators (Klein et al 1987, Hewison et al 1996, Zannèse et al 2006a. For migratory caribou, we have shown elsewhere that calf body mass and body reserves of adult females can be used as ecological indicators to monitor population trends (Couturier et al 2009a, b).…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body Size Variations in Caribou Ecotypes and Relationships With Demography

Couturier

Otto²,

Côté

et al. 2010

J Wildl Manag

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In many vertebrates size is one of the most influential and variable individual characteristics and a strong determinant of reproductive success. Body size is generally density dependent and decreases when intraspecific competition increases. Frequent and long‐distance movements increase energy expenditures and, therefore, may also influence body size, particularly in highly mobile species. Caribou (Rangifer tarandus, also known as reindeer) exhibit tremendous variation in size and movements and thus represent an excellent candidate species to test the relationships between body size, population size, and movements. We analyzed body measurements of adult female caribou from 7 herds of the Québec‐Labrador Peninsula, Canada, and we related their morphology to population size, movements, and annual ranges. The herds represented 3 ecotypes (migratory, montane, and sedentary). Ecotypes and herds differed in size (length), shape (roundness), and movements. The sedentary ecotype was larger and moved 4 to 7 times less than the migratory ecotype in the 1990s. At the start of a demographic growth period in the early 1960s, migratory caribou from the Rivière‐George (hereafter George) herd had longer mandibles than caribou of the sedentary ecotype. Mandible length in the George herd declined in the 1980s after rapid population growth, while individuals performed extensive movements and the herd's annual range increased. Migratory caribou then became shorter than sedentary caribou. After the George herd decline in the 1990s, mandible length increased again near levels of the 1980s. Caribou from the migratory Rivière‐aux‐Feuilles herd later showed a similar decline in mandible length during a period of population growth, associated with longer movements and increasing annual range. We hypothesize that the density‐dependent effect observed on body size might have been exerted through summer habitat degradation and movement variations during herd growth. Our study has 2 important implications for caribou management: the distinctiveness of different populations and ecotypes, and the correlations between population trajectories and changes in body condition and habitat.

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Section: Ecotype and Herd Distinctivenessmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body Size Variations in Caribou Ecotypes and Relationships With Demography

Couturier

Otto²,

Côté

et al. 2010

J Wildl Manag

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“…Of the ecological indicators validated for roe deer, some are more easily transposable to larger areas than others. For example, morphological measures such as fawn body mass, adult jaw length or hind foot length can be measured on all hunted individuals (Zannèse et al . 2006), as is performed routinely on Forestry Commission land in the United Kingdom (roe deer jaw length: Hewison et al .…”

Section: Cohort Jaw Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A solution could involve subsampling, stratifying management units into relatively homogeneous blocks and subsampling blocks to provide a representative picture for the region. By combining information across the region, it may be possible to monitor the populationhabitat system efficiently at the landscape scale, although the validity of these indicators at this scale remains largely unknown (but see Zannèse et al . 2006).…”

Section: Cohort Jaw Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of ecological change: new tools for managing populations of large herbivores

Morellet

Gaillard

Hewison

et al. 2007

Journal of Applied Ecology

Self Cite

250

243

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Summary1. High-density populations of large herbivores are now widespread. Wildlife managers commonly attempt to control large herbivores through hunting to meet specific management objectives, considering population density as the minimal key source of information. Here, we review the problems of censusing populations of large herbivores and describe an alternative approach, employing indicators of ecological change. 2. Estimating density of large herbivores with high precision and accuracy is difficult, especially over large areas, and requires considerable investment of time, people and money. Management decisions are often made on an annual basis, informed by population changes over the previous year. However, estimating year-to-year changes in density is not a realistic goal for most large herbivores. Furthermore, population density per se provides no information on the relationship between the population and its habitat. 3. For successful management of large herbivores, we need to consider not only the fate of the population, but rather changes in both population and habitat features, as well as their interaction. Managers require information on trends in both the animal population and habitat quality in order to interpret changes in the interaction between these two compartments. 4. We propose that a set of indicators of animal performance, population abundance, habitat quality and/or herbivore habitat impact provides relevant information on the populationhabitat system. Monitoring temporal changes in these indicators provides a new basis for setting hunting quotas to achieve specific management objectives. This sort of adaptive management is employed widely in France for managing roe deer Capreolus capreolus . 5. Synthesis and applications . The management of large herbivores would be improved by investing fewer resources in trying to estimate the absolute abundance of ungulates, and more resources in collecting additional data to inform understanding of the ecological status of the ungulate-habitat system being managed. This paper presents a set of indicators of ecological change for monitoring the interaction between a population and its habitat as a basis for adaptive management to attain explicit goals and to improve knowledge of the system. This approach could improve management for a variety of large herbivores, by harmonizing actions at wide spatial scales.

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“…Body mass, tooth measurement (i.e., tooth row or molar size), and skull length have been used to examine Bergmann's rule and the island rule (Ashton et al 2000;Meiri et al 2006), while variations in hind foot length were used to explain the eVects of shortterm changes in nutrition (Klein 1964;Toïgo et al 2006;Zannèse et al 2006;Wolverton et al 2009;Garel et al 2010). Measurements used as an index of body size may be inXuenced by common and measurement-speciWc environmental factors (Lomolino 2005), and analyses using multiple measurements may lead to the discovery of measurement-speciWc variations produced by a speciWc driving force.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological correlates and determinants in the geographical variation of deer morphology

2012

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Previous studies on patterns in ungulate size variations have emphasized the effect of a particular environmental factor such as Bergmann's rule and the island rule. However, although multiple environmental factors may influence the body size, these studies focused on a single factor, and various measurements that may be influenced by different environmental factors (at least partly) were used as indices of body size. In this study, we used several skull and limb measurements to examine size variations among island populations of sika deer (Cervus nippon) in southern Japan considering the effects of multiple environmental factors. We found that all measurements differed markedly between populations. We focused on the skull and limb condylobasal length (CBL) and metacarpal length because they had the most important variations among the populations and the largest sample sizes. The common environmental factors influencing CBL and metacarpal length were island area and precipitation. Since these environmental factors reflect the availability of food resources, the causal factor of body size variation may be food resources. Interpopulation variation in metacarpal length was greater than that of CBL, indicating that metacarpal length may be affected by additional factors besides the common factors shared with CBL. Specific environmental factors influencing relative (CBL adjusted) metacarpal length were precipitation and slope. A common direct cause of those environmental factors was discussed in relation to topography. Analyses of phenotypic variation using multiple measurements with multiple environmental factors are useful to gain insight into underlying causes and can lead to identification of a measurement-specific variation with a specific driving force.

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Hind Foot Length: An Indicator for Monitoring Roe Deer Populations at a Landscape Scale

Cited by 36 publications

References 22 publications

Body Size Variations in Caribou Ecotypes and Relationships With Demography

Body Size Variations in Caribou Ecotypes and Relationships With Demography

Indicators of ecological change: new tools for managing populations of large herbivores

Ecological correlates and determinants in the geographical variation of deer morphology

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