Conservation of native wildlife is becoming increasingly difficult due to
continued human population growth and expansion. As the human population continues
to increase, so does the rate of consumption of our natural resources. As competition for
resources between man and wildlife continues, it is important to understand the effects
of urbanization on species. Endangered Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) are
endemic to the Florida Keys archipelago stretching southwest off the southern tip of
peninsular Florida. Key deer range is restricted to the Lower Florida Keys with
approximately 60% residing on Big Pine Key and 15% residing on No Name Key which
have undergone rapid human population growth and development over the past 30 years.
Urban development and its associated risk factors (i.e., habitat loss and fragmentation,
deer domestication, and deer–vehicle collisions) have been cited as the greatest threat to
the Key deer population. For my dissertation research, I evaluated the impacts of 30
years of development on the Key deer population. My results suggest that increased
habitat fragmentation and increased road traffic have created areas of varying habitat
quality and mortality risk and have resulted in a source-sink system for Key deer on Big Pine Key. In my examination of Key deer metapopulation dynamics, I found a low
probability of deer colonizing 2 target outer islands (Sugarloaf and Cudjoe) through
dispersal alone in the next 20 years. Further, I examined the impacts of urbanization on
changes in Key deer population dynamics, behavior, and morphology. Collectively, my
results suggest that over the past 30 years Key deer have become more urbanized, which
in turn has influenced Key deer behavior and population viability. Behavioral
adaptations due to deer plasticity appear to have provided Key deer with mechanisms to
persist in a changing environment due to urbanization. However, the future ability of
Key deer to persist in a continuously urbanizing environment cannot be predicted. At
some threshold, urban development would become unsustainable, and, unlike other
forms of habitat change or environmental disturbances, urban development is in most
cases irreversible, requiring careful planning in habitat conservation strategies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/3085 |
| Date | 12 April 2006 |
| Creators | Harveson, Patricia Moody |
| Contributors | Lopez, Roel, Silvy, Nova |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 863152 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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