About 1,600,000 ha of desert mule deer range in Mexico are currently altered with vegetation clear-cutting and establishment of buffelgrass pastures. Consequently, the availability of resources as cover and forage from scrub vegetation has been reduced for mule deer. No previous research has been conducted to investigate how desert mule deer respond to those alterations. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine movements of mule deer, evaluate their home range sizes and determine habitat use, and analyze their diets in areas of central and western Sonora, Mexico. The approach involved the use of radiotelemetry techniques and GIS programs to calculate home range sizes, examine selection of vegetation associations, and identify the specific components of habitat that distinguished the characteristics of selected sites by desert mule deer. I used the microhistological technique to determine botanical components of desert mule deer diets, and compare diets of desert mule deer and cattle in habitat with buffelgrass pastures. Diet analyses included spatial and temporal comparisons of diversity and similarity indices. Sizes of home ranges were larger in the more arid environments of western Sonora (27.3 km2) than in central Sonora (14.5 km2). Desert mule deer used altered habitat differently than use areas without buffelgrass, however, there was no difference in the size of home ranges of mule deer from inside buffelgrass areas and the size of home ranges of deer in native scrub vegetation. Thermal cover, ground cover, and percent of gravel in the ground were the variables that distinguished locations selected by desert mule deer. Desert mule deer selected xeroriparian vegetation and sites closer to water sources. Water sources may have influenced mule deer to stay in buffelgrass areas despite the lack of cover and forage from shrubs and trees. For diets of mule deer, I identified 96 plant species, 69 of which have not previously been reported as forage for this herbivore. Desert mule deer and cattle shared 45 forage species from central Sonora. However, biological overlap of diets occurred only for spring. Results from these studies provide information to understand ecological relationships of desert mule deer on altered habitats.

As areas of agricultural production expand worldwide, complex zones of wildlife-agriculture interface present numerous benefits and challenges to farmers and wildlife managers. In western Canada, free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) make frequent use of cereal, oilseed, and pulse crops. However, cervid use of annual crops presents substantial socio-economic concerns for producers. Additionally, use of crops may facilitate cervids co-mingling and increase the risk of intra- and inter-specific transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD). The purpose of my thesis research was to determine the key environmental factors influencing the selection of agricultural crops by elk, white-tailed deer, and mule deer, analyze overlap in species’ selection, and develop predictive models to identify the spatial distribution of crop damage risk. In this study, I analyzed 19,069 damage claims paid by Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation to Saskatchewan farmers for confirmed losses to annual crops (cereals, oilseeds, pulses) from 2000-2012 by elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. These data were used to conduct species-specific ecological niche factor analyses (ENFAs), which relate habitat variables within damaged sites to that of the surrounding landscape. The key habitat variables influencing selection of annual crops were then incorporated into resource selection probability function (RSPF) models. These models characterize and predict the probability of crop damage by elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer, and each possible dual species combination. By integrating damage probability values and historical monetary values of regional crop production, I evaluated the risk of annual crop damage by each of the three species, and dual species combinations, across all sections of agricultural land in Saskatchewan. The ENFAs revealed that elk and white-tailed deer selected for areas where a high proportion of farmland is seeded to oats, barley, canola, and alfalfa, while avoiding areas farther from protected areas, with a high density of paved or unpaved roads and a high proportion of open grassland. Alternately, mule deer favoured open grasslands, shrublands, and areas with a greater density of streams or water bodies, while avoiding areas where a high proportion of farmland is seeded to oats, canola, flaxseed, wheat, and barley. Areas at highest risk for annual crop damage by elk bordered the northern edge of the study area; mule deer damage risk was highest in south-western and central Saskatchewan; while white-tailed deer damage risk was highest in north-eastern and north-central areas of the province. Identifying these specific associations between landscape variables, rates of crop damage, and associated species overlap may provide an important opportunity for agencies to develop cooperative management strategies to efficiently allocate mitigation resources. Efforts to prevent the selection of cereal, oilseed, and pulse crops by free ranging elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer in Saskatchewan could prove to be a valuable step in not only minimizing crop damage and maintaining wildlife tolerance in rural communities, but also in managing the spread of chronic wasting disease throughout western Canada.

No description available.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal pathogen affecting white-tailed and mule deer in east-central Alberta, and I addressed two current limitations of CWD management. First, to improve precision and accuracy of density estimates obtained from aerial surveys, I evaluated alternative survey designs and developed a model to correct for undetected deer due to low snow cover, small group sizes, and deer inactivity. Surveys stratified by resource selection functions showed the greatest improvement in precision compared to currently employed designs. Second, I addressed how density and landscape features affect contact rates among deer, a major component of CWD transmission. Contact rates increased as a saturating function of density, and were highest in regions where deer habitat was limited. My results will allow managers to better plan and evaluate management actions such as herd reductions, and underscore the need for developing spatially-explicit models to understand CWD spread in heterogeneous environments. / Ecology

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Washington University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University, 2004. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 22, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Habitat use by mule deer, particularly in relation to use by cattle and by California bighorn sheep on the bighorn winter-spring ranges of Flatiron Mountain was studied from January 1968 through November 1969. Observations were made of (1) food habits, (2) forage production and utilization, (3) the effect of spring and summer utilization on subsequent forage production and (4) spatial and temporal distribution of range use. The results indicate that competition for forage between the native ungulates, deer and sheep, is largely obviated by differential habitat use. This may point to long term evolutionary ecological niche specialization. Some competition for forage occurs for a short period in the early spring when both ungulate species seek succulent new grass, the supply of which is at first limited. Cattle use of the winter-spring ranges was excessive and the diets of cattle and the native ungulates are similar, with the exception that utilization of grass by deer was less. Range use by cattle contributed to intra-specific cattle-deer competition on the grasslands in the spring and cattle-bighorn competition on the grasslands during the winter. The study of spring range utilization indicated that deer use was not detrimental to the 1969 annual forage production in areas used by deer. Spring range utilization by bighorn or bighorn in combination with deer reduced the standing crop of forage produced on the Agropyron spicatum dominated winter-spring ranges. Sheep utilization on South Slope during the summer, when forage growth was declining, further reduced the amount of forage available to the wintering bighorn population. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Knowledge of the diet of wildlife can aid wildlife biologists to better understand how a species functions within a given ecosystem. Numerous studies have identified various avenues to examine diet for species throughout the world. Wildlife biologists have used diet composition variables as a means to better understand habitat use and aid in the management and conservation of mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus. The complexity of deer diet is still unknown, and local wildlife management agencies could improve conservation strategies with more information regarding the breadth of plant selection in deer diet. Researchers have used non-invasive methods, such as microhistology via fecal analyses, to assess diet composition for mule deer. However, microhistology has several drawbacks that include accuracy in identification and differentiation of plant species, and even genus, as well as determination of accurate proportions of taxa ingested. Genetic techniques, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), present new avenues for analyzing herbivore diets, especially through the amplification and analyses of specific regions of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA). Additionally, few studies have directly compared microhistological and NGS diet analyses results for any wildlife species. My objectives were to compare diet composition results of both microhistological and NGS diet analyses through estimating diet richness, taxonomic resolution, percent diet, and frequency of occurrence of plant taxa across samples. Mule deer fecal samples were collected on the Navajo Nation from summer and winter ranges of two distinct mule deer populations, Chuska and Carrizo. I found far greater richness and resolution from NGS of plant taxa through the identification of a greater number of species and genera among all populations, within seasons. Upon testing both methods for both populations, no significant agreement was identified for percent of families identified in the diet with both methods, across all samples. I found trends of positive correlation in the occurrence of families between both methods for Carrizo summer diet, as well as among genera and families in Carrizo winter diet. Upon further statistical analyses, I found no significant positive correlation in the occurrence of genera and families identified with both methods among all samples. Genetic techniques may present innovative methods for determining mule deer diet in various ecosystems, and may also be applied to a broad range of herbivore diet studies.

Translocation of wildlife has become common practice for wildlife managers charged with management of animals on increasingly modified landscapes. Translocation can be used to reduce population density in the source area, supplement existing populations, reestablish extirpated populations, and establish new populations. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are a species of great interest to the public in western North America. Although translocations have been used to manage mule deer, very little has been done to document the outcomes of this management practice. The purpose of this research was to evaluate movement, site fidelity, space use, and survival of translocated mule deer in relation to the timing of release (early versus late winter) and to provide managers with information useful in judging the relative value of translocation as a management strategy for this species. We captured 102 mule deer in January and March 2013 and translocated them from winter range near Parowan, UT, to winter range along the Pahvant Mountain Range near Holden, UT (approximately 144 km north of the capture location). Each deer was fitted with a radio transmitter (21 GPS collars, 81 VHF collars) prior to release to document outcomes. In January 2013 and 2014 we also captured and marked a total of 70 resident deer (non-translocated deer; 9 GPS collars, 61 VHF collars) to serve as a reference group within our study area. Following release, we monitored deer weekly through March 2015. We found that translocated deer had lower annual survival rates than resident deer during the first year following release, but similar annual survival rates to resident deer during the second year following release. Additionally, we found that age strongly influenced the survival of translocated deer; young deer (e.g., 2.5 year olds) were more than twice as likely to survive the initial year following translocation than old deer (e.g., 7.5 year olds). We also found that translocated deer had larger home ranges compared to resident deer during the first and second years following release. However, the average size of translocated deer home ranges decreased from year 1 to year 2 following release. Despite these large home ranges and extended movements during the summer months, most surviving deer (96 %) returned (within < 30 km) to winter range where they were released. We found no difference in movement, site fidelity, or survival for transplanted deer released in January and March. Based on our findings, wildlife managers that elect to translocate mule deer should not expect a difference in survival between early and late winter releases, but will likely see high site fidelity, higher survival rates during the second year following translocation (compared to the first year), and higher survival rates for younger deer compared to older deer.

Checking stations operated during the deer hunting season serve a two-fold purpose. It has long been recognized that such inspection stations aid greatly in the enforcement of hunting laws through the detection of illegal practices, and in many cases have been set up with this as a primary purpose. A more far reaching objective, however, is the collection of information to aid in the solution of the problems of maintenance of the range and the deer herd, and determination of the quality and quantity of the deer removal.