Visual specialization of an herbivore prey species, the white-tailed deer

D'Angelo, Gino J.; Glasser, Adrian; Wendt, Mark; Williams, Gary A.; Osborn, David A; Gallagher, George R.; Warren, Robert J.; Miller, Karl V.; Pardue, Machelle T.

doi:10.1139/z08-050

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rabin et al, 2006). In addition, prey animals like reindeer react to movements in their sight and might move away from moving objects as a strategy to avoid the risk of predation (D'Angelo et al, 2008;Heesy, 2004). Open areas are generally considered the preferred locations chosen by prey animals to allow them to scan for predators (e.g., Altendorf, Laundré, Gonzalez, & Brown, 2001), which was also realized in the preference of heaths and clear cuts within the home ranges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Noise from wind turbines appears to disturb animals, hinder their vocal communication, and their ability to hear predators leading to modified habitat use (Rabin, Coss, & Owings, 2006;Shannon et al, 2016). Furthermore, prey animals like reindeer react to movements in their sight (D'Angelo et al, 2008;Heesy, 2004) and may, therefore, react to the movement of the turbine blades. To our knowledge, there is only one study of wind turbine noise and visual cues on free-living terrestrial animal behavior, performed on ground squirrels (Rabin et al, 2006), and there seem to be no previous studies of possible impacts of sight and sound from WFs on either free-ranging reindeer or caribou.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Out of sight of wind turbines—Reindeer response to wind farms in operation

Skarin

Sandström

Alam

2018

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To meet the expanding land use required for wind energy development, a better understanding of the effects on terrestrial animals’ responses to such development is required. Using GPS‐data from 50 freely ranging female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in the Malå reindeer herding community, Sweden, we determined reindeer calving sites and estimated reindeer habitat selection using resource selection functions (RSF). RSFs were estimated at both second‐ (selection of home range) and third‐order (selection within home range) scale in relation to environmental variables, wind farm (WF) development phase (before construction, construction, and operation), distance to the WFs and at the second‐order scale whether the wind turbines were in or out of sight of the reindeer. We found that the distance between reindeer calving site and WFs increased during the operation phase, compared to before construction. At both scales of selection, we found a significant decrease in habitat selection of areas in proximity of the WFs, in the same comparison. The results also revealed a shift in home range selection away from habitats where wind turbines became visible toward habitats where the wind turbines were obscured by topography (increase in use by 79% at 5 km). We interpret the reindeer shift in home range selection as an effect of the wind turbines per se. Using topography and land cover information together with the positions of wind turbines could therefore help identify sensitive habitats for reindeer and improve the planning and placement of WFs. In addition, we found that operation phase of these WFs had a stronger adverse impact on reindeer habitat selection than the construction phase. Thus, the continuous running of the wind turbines making a sound both day and night seemed to have disturbed the reindeer more than the sudden sounds and increased human activity during construction work.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of sight of wind turbines—Reindeer response to wind farms in operation

Skarin

Sandström

Alam

2018

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the visual capabilities of white‐tailed deer are poorly described (VerCauteren and Pipas ). An understanding of deer vision can provide a foundation for understanding deer ecology as well as the development of more effective camouflage for hunters and wildlife viewers or strategies to reduce vehicular collisions with deer and other deer–human conflicts (Blackwell and Seamans , D'Angelo et al ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The white‐tailed deer eye is a typical mammalian eye; light enters through the cornea, and passes through the aqueous humor, pupil, lens, and vitreous humor before striking the retina (a layered neural structure in the back of the eye containing photoreceptors [Walls ]). White‐tailed deer eyes are well‐adapted to function at a wide range of ambient lighting conditions (D'Angelo et al ). For example, a horizontal slit pupil allows the deer eye to function properly in full daylight (Ali and Klyne ), while enhancing its visual acuity by directing light onto a strip of retinal cells containing a relatively high density of photoreceptors (Malmström and Kröger ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral measure of the light‐adapted visual sensitivity of white‐tailed deer

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although many aspects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) biology and physiology have been studied thoroughly, few studies have examined deer perception. We obtained a behavioral measure of light-adapted visual sensitivity based on performance of 7 deer in forced-choice discrimination tests. We compared intensity thresholds at the short and long wavelengths of their purported visual spectrum. Utilizing an automated training device, we trained deer to discriminate between lit and unlit light-emitting diode (LED) lights expressing monochromatic wavelengths, and recorded performance across a series of decreasing intensities for each wavelength until deer could no longer discriminate the light stimulus. We regressed a best-fit logistic function to each deer's performance as intensity decreased at a single wavelength, demarcated the sensitivity threshold to that wavelength, and compared deer's sensitivity threshold across wavelengths. Our behavior-based sensitivity measurements agreed with previous estimates of white-tailed deer's cone photoreceptor sensitivity. We confirm that these cone photoreceptors contribute to deer behavior, and that deer have a greater perceptual sensitivity to shorter wavelengths and lower sensitivity to longer wavelengths. Our findings also suggest the deer have some sensitivity to ultraviolet light. The visual perception of the white-tailed deer is specialized for sensitivity during their crepuscular patterns, enables detection of predators along their horizon, and is well-adapted for a prey species. Ó

show abstract

“…Various scientific studies have focused on strategies to minimize deer–vehicle collisions (DVCs) and to reduce damage to cultivated plants (VerCauteren et al 2003, 2006; Blackwell and Seamans 2008). However, despite some understanding about white‐tailed deer visual and auditory physiology (Jacobs et al 1994; D'Angelo et al 2007, 2008), little research has confirmed how deer perceive their environment through sight and sound (Zacks and Budde 1983, Zacks 1985, Birgersson et al 2001, VerCauteren and Pipas 2003, Heffner and Heffner 2010). Even then, interpretation of these studies is difficult due to small sample size and the cognition systems of animals (Jacobs 1993, VerCauteren and Pipas 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

An automated device for training white‐tailed deer to visual stimuli

Cohen

Osborn

Gallagher

et al. 2012

Wildlife Society Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although many aspects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) biology and physiology have been studied thoroughly, few studies have confirmed deer cognitive perception, partly because of the difficulty of efficiently training sufficient numbers of deer to respond behaviorally in controlled experiments. We present a system that trains white-tailed deer to associate a supra-threshold, white-light stimulus with a food reward through operant conditioning techniques. The ''deer training apparatus'' (DTA) automatically dispenses food, rings a start buzzer, randomly assigns a stimulus light over 1 of 2 troughs, and registers a deer's choice. If a deer goes to a trough with the light illuminated, then a correct choice is registered. All 6 deer tested met successful training criteria by Day 19, and a performance of 88.2% AE 3.9% correct choices by Day 25. We conclude that the DTA presents an effective and efficient way of training white-tailed deer, and provides an experimental platform for future research on behavior, perception, and preference. Thus, the DTA should be useful to researchers evaluating behavioral response of deer, and possibly other wild and domestic species, to various visual and auditory stimuli. ß 2012 The Wildlife Society.

show abstract

Visual specialization of an herbivore prey species, the white-tailed deer

Cited by 26 publications

References 16 publications

Out of sight of wind turbines—Reindeer response to wind farms in operation

Out of sight of wind turbines—Reindeer response to wind farms in operation

Behavioral measure of the light‐adapted visual sensitivity of white‐tailed deer

An automated device for training white‐tailed deer to visual stimuli

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About