Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been a known threat to Saskatchewan’s wild cervid populations for more than a decade. As host movements can affect the spread of a disease across the landscape, disease models and management strategies should incorporate information regarding movement patterns of the host population in question. I used radio telemetry to study mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) captured between 2006 and 2008 in a CWD-endemic region of southern Saskatchewan. Using location data from 152 individuals, I investigated home range size and patterns of direct and indirect contact (measured using proximity and shared space use) in relation to sex, habitat, and landscape structure.
Home ranges (95% fixed kernel) of GPS-collared deer in this study averaged 21.4 km² (n = 94). Male home ranges (mean = 29.5 km², n = 56) were larger than those of females (mean = 16.1 km², n = 38), which could have implications for CWD prevalence differences between sexes. Of the landscape variables tested, topographic ruggedness was inversely related to home range size and Shannon’s diversity (a measure of both habitat richness and evenness) was positively related to home range size.
Potential direct contact events were identified when two deer were located within 25 m of each other at the same point in time. These events occurred more often between February and April, agreeing with the tendency of mule deer to aggregate into large groups during the late winter months, and suggesting that this may be an important time period for disease transmission. Contact also occurred more than expected in cropland, whereas areas of shared use occurred more than expected in grassland, shrub/wood habitat, and rugged terrain. Smaller home ranges and greater degree of shared space use within areas of rough topography may lead to greater risk of environmental contamination with the infectious CWD agent in these areas. In contrast, the relationship between cropland and probability of direct contact may imply greater risk of direct CWD transmission between deer occupying this habitat.
These results identify connections between particular landscape factors and risk of CWD transmission and will be used, in combination with results of related studies, to develop a model of CWD spread in Saskatchewan. This will in turn aid management agencies in developing methods to more effectively manage the disease and control its movement outside of affected regions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:ecommons.usask.ca:10388/etd-04062010-112016 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Contributors | Bollinger, Trent |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, thesis |
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