Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-107). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The impacts of disturbance were explored for red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) in the Scottish Highlands, by studying the distribution, behaviour and diet composition of deer in areas that were disturbed or less disturbed by human recreation, in different habitat types (grassland, heather moorland and woodland) and at different times of year.  The human-caused predation risk hypothesis states that there are similarities between the responses elicited by wild animals towards human recreational disturbance and predation.  This hypothesis was tested by comparing behaviour during the recreation season (spring and summer) and the hunting season (autumn and winter). Deer densities were lower in disturbed areas than less disturbed areas throughout the year, although there was no difference in relative habitat use as a result of disturbance. Habitat selection was primarily influenced by season, with grasslands having higher deer densities during the spring and summer and heather moorlands having higher densities during the winter. Behaviour was monitored using scan sampling of groups.  The percentage of animals that were vigilant was higher, resulting in a smaller number of deer feeding in disturbed than less disturbed areas during the recreational season.  Vigilance was higher in disturbed grassland and heather moorland than undisturbed woodland, while behaviour was similar in disturbed woodland and the less disturbed habitats.  In disturbed heather and woodland and in all less disturbed habitats, the majority of animals were standing while vigilant, whilst in disturbed grassland, lying was the main mode of vigilance.  Deer were more likely to be close together when vigilance levels were high.

The study examined the damage caused to naturally regenerated Scots Hue by red deer and certain other mammals and birds, and its effect on the development of natural woodland. Investigations were concentrated in three areas, which carried high, moderate and low stockings of red deer, in the upper Dee valley in Aberdeenshire. Most marked trees, above 2-3 inches in height, suffered some degree of browsing during the study period. Simulated browsing experiments, supported by data from study plots, showed that survival and growth of trees decreased with increased browsing severity. Severe browsing had less serious effects on large trees than on small ones. In response to browsing, new shoots were produced from large overwintering buds in larch and birch but, in pine, shoots were normally produced from dormant buds, which required a growing season in which to develop before vigorous growth was possible. Where browsing pressure was high, the deciduous species generally survived longer than pine because they were not subjected to severe winter damage and they probably suffered less interruption to their photosynthetic activity as a result of their more rapid response to browsing. Tree browsing records and observations in study plots confirmed that numerous mammals and birds browsed pine. Most species, however, had relatively little effect on woodland development. Densities of rabbits and mice were very low, and pine material was probably only a minor constituent in the diet of mountain hares and red grouse. Browsing by jred and roe deer could not be distinguished consistently, but the satisfactory development of natural regeneration in exclosures, where red deer were largely excluded but roe were common, suggests that roe densities of up to approximately 1*24 acres are too low to exert a serious effect on woodland development. Sheep commonly browsed pine in winter, but most animals were nonnally taken off the hill from November to May. Browsing on young regeneration by capercaillie was apparently restricted to pine of .4-30 inches high, which were few where capercaillie were numerous. Disbudding by black grouse was widespread but, in these areas, their browsing never affected tree survival and rarely prevented the addition of some increment during the year of damage. Browsing by red deer had the most serious effects on the survival and development of pine. Browsing had relatively little effect on tree development where red deer densities were approximately 1*150 acres in winter (Cambus O'May); but it caused mortalities in trees below 30 inches high and reduced growth in trees below 60 inches, in areas where winter densities approximated to 1:60 acres (Bush Lawsie). Densities of It10 acres (Meall Alvie) totally prevented the development of woodland. A comparison of tree browsing incidence with indices of red deer abundance in study plots, and a detailed examination of the conditions under which these trees were browsed, showed that whilst intensity of pine browsing is related to deer density, the two are not directly proportional to each other. The relationship is modified by environmental factors of climate and the habitat, notably the choice and availability of tree material and of the alternative vegetation which comprises the deer*a diet. Observations on feeding, rumen content analyses and comparisons of browsing intensity on trees of different origin and appearance showed that red deer browsed certain species of vegetation, and trees of certain sizes and condition, selectively. Habitats which contained large quantities of preferred vegetation and low quantities of acceptable tree material, therefore, suffered less pine browsing proportional to their use by deer than habitats in which these conditions were reversed. Deer abundance was invariably a significant factor in the amount of tree browsing which a habitat sustained, however, because increased browsing intensity removed more preferred vegetation and acceptable tree material and forced the deer to browse more heavily on less acceptable trees. Tree mortality from trampling had little effect on woodland development because damage was confined to very small trees in areas where regeneration was profuse. Relatively few trees were affected by antler damage, but these injuries could be locally significant where tree densities are low. On grouse moors, regular heather burning was principally responsible for the absence of natural woodland. Tree mortality from insects and fungi was negligible. Deaths from climatic agencies, notably drought and frost lift, were fairly few and were largely confined to very small trees. Snowbreak might have locally serious effects on the development of larger trees in winters of exceptional snowfall.

The objectives of this study were to determine the impact of feeding supplemental energy and protein on the growth performance and on the carcass characteristics of weaned red deer stags. Forty-eight weaned stags were divided into 8 groups and randomly allocated to four dietary treatments. Two levels of energy (E) and protein (P), low (L) or high (H) were obtained by the addition of various amounts of oats and soybean meal (SBM). This trial was divided into 2 phases: For the first 32 weeks (Phase I), diets LE/LP and HE/LP contained 0.5 and 1.0 kg/deer respectively of oats; diet LE/HP consisted of 0.15 kg of oats and 0.30 kg of SBM, and diet HE/HP, of 0.5 kg of oats and 0.35 kg of SBM. In Phase II, the level of supplementation was increased while keeping a constant relationship with the body weight of the deer. The animals were group fed, and offered mixed hay ad libitum. The animals were weighed every two weeks, over 48 weeks and slaughtered at 90.5 to 100.6 kg body weight. Increasing the energy level in the supplement resulted in a substitution effect of grain for forage. As a result, there was no difference in total energy consumption. For this reason, no difference was observed (P > 0.05) between treatments for values of ADG or final weight. Feeding supplemental protein over 368 g/deer/d didn't improve ADG or liveweight (P > 0.05). There were no treatment differences (P > 0.05) in estimates of carcass yield, kidney fat, or tissue depth (GR). Results indicate that concentrate feeding does not stimulate overall growth rate.

No description available.

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is one of at least 31 herbivorous exotic mammals existing in New Zealand. All of these species have the potential to affect environmentral and production values. Reducing their impacts on their values, strengthening effective managements are important issues to a variety of agencies within New Zealand including the Department of Conservation (DOC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), local and regional governments. This research studied animal movement pattern and habitat use of 2 GPScollared red deer in the Canterbury high country and found (1) deer movement was affected by climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature, which had positive or negative effect on it, and had seasonal variation; (2) deer had dominant landcover use categories, depending on climate, season, and individual characteristics (3) deer had different movement patterns in terms of hourly distances. The purpose of the study is to draw accurate inferences from spatially explicit data for biosecurity managers and policy-makers through: (1) using global positioning system (GPS) as a tool to elucidate the application of GPS on red deer in wildlife management; (2) Animal Movement Analysis Arc View® 3.2 Extension under Arc View® Geographic Information System (GIS); (3) Animal movement analysis which used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to show how the movement of red deer was affected by different periods of time, seasons months and climatic variables (for example, rainfall and temperature).

No description available.

The attributes of landscapes, abiotic and biotic, influence the behaviour of animals. Understanding the reciprocal effects between the landscape, habitats and the animals are an essential tool in sustainable management of natural resources as well as conservation. A source of information about how the environment shapes the behaviour of animals is movement data. The advent of cheap GPS devices has facilitated data collection. The fine scale spatio-temporal resolution allows the identification of complete home-ranges, even habitat that is only transiently used. Fine-scale movement data can also be used as proxy for behaviour-types; different behaviour states cause different movement tracks. I test, extend and apply the multi-change point analysis (MCPA), developed by Gurarie et al. (2009) for the identification of behavioural change points in irregular movement data. The method relies on conventional time-series analysis methods, rather than a Bayesian framework, such as the state space models. After thorough testing of the MCPA, we apply the method and its extension to the GPS data of four red deer and 27 golden eagles. The red deer data were analysed to detect behavioural changes at a seasonal scale and to serve as a test-bed for our extension of the MCPA. The comparison of movement bouts revealed that the expression of behaviour was on a gradient rather than the discreet states. The study of the golden eagle data highlighted the necessity to choose the appropriate sampling regime of movement. If the intervals between the location-fixes are too big, valuable information about important small scale behaviour will be missed.

The thesis is concerned with the study of the economics of venison production in Scotland. It examines the various production systems utilised at present both in the wild and on an intensive farm and analyses the factors affecting productivity and their relative importance in each system. The evolution of the red deer in Scotland and more recent developments in the market for venison are examined in the early chapters. In addition, the production system in the wild is analysed and a production function is developed. In order to study the population dynamics of the red deer, a mathematical model is constructed. This is used in conjunction with the production function developed previously to illustrate the interaction between the ecological and economic factors which govern the productivity of red deer populations. In the light of this analysis, a number of recommendations are made for the improvement of productivity in the wild. The limitations of this production system, however, pose a problem for the practical implementation of such proposals. To some extent, these may be overcome by the adoption of a more intensive production system, although this in turn creates its own problems. The second part of this thesis is thus concerned with the study of the intensive system. The experimental deer farm at Glensaugh forms the basis f~ the investigation of this system. The data thus obtained are used in conjunction with a modified version of the mathematical model previously developed. This is incorporated in a linear programming format so that the farming system may be analysed and the operating strategies compared. The objective of the analysis is to determine which factors exert the greatest influence upon the operating strategies in terms of operating profit. Once these critical areas are identified, research effort may be directed more effectively to improve the system performance. The above analysis leads to a number of recommendations regarding' the operating strategies on a deer farm. The financial aspects of such an operation are examined and provide some basis against which the future viability of the farming operation might be assessed. No attempt is made to define levels of acceptable returns on investment. The intention is rather to determine the effects which changes in the economic and environmental conditions have upon investment potential. Although this study provides some tentative solutions as to how improvements in productivity may be obtained these should not be regarded as final. As knowledge of the production system improves, the solutions to the problems will change as will the problems themselves.

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is one of at least 31 herbivorous exotic mammals existing in New Zealand. All of these species have the potential to affect environmentral and production values. Reducing their impacts on their values, strengthening effective managements are important issues to a variety of agencies within New Zealand including the Department of Conservation (DOC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), local and regional governments. This research studied animal movement pattern and habitat use of 2 GPScollared red deer in the Canterbury high country and found (1) deer movement was affected by climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature, which had positive or negative effect on it, and had seasonal variation; (2) deer had dominant landcover use categories, depending on climate, season, and individual characteristics (3) deer had different movement patterns in terms of hourly distances. The purpose of the study is to draw accurate inferences from spatially explicit data for biosecurity managers and policy-makers through: (1) using global positioning system (GPS) as a tool to elucidate the application of GPS on red deer in wildlife management; (2) Animal Movement Analysis Arc View® 3.2 Extension under Arc View® Geographic Information System (GIS); (3) Animal movement analysis which used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to show how the movement of red deer was affected by different periods of time, seasons months and climatic variables (for example, rainfall and temperature).