Population Ecology and Habitat Relationships of White-tailed Deer in Eastern Montana

Population Ecology and Habitat Relationships of White-tailed Deer in Eastern Montana
Author: James D. Herriges (Jr.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 131
Release: 1986
Genre: Deer populations
ISBN:

A study was conducted using radio telemetry to evaluate distribution, movements, activity, and habitat use by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on two areas along the lower Yellowstone River in eastern Montana during summer 1982 and 1983 and winter 1984. Deer distribution centered on river bottomlands, though some deer made daily or seasonal movements to adjacent uplands on the Intake area. Deer movements were short and restricted to riparian cover during the day, but increased and extended to agricultural fields up to 2.5 km from cover at night. Movement to and use of fields increased through summer and from summer to winter and appeared greater on the Intake than Elk Island study area. Well defined peaks in deer activity and movement occurred at sunrise and sunset; lesser peaks occurred near midnight and noon. Peak use of agricultural fields occurred from 1-2 hours after sunset until midnight. Seasonal minimum convex polygon home range sizes for individual deer varied from 0.29 km^2 to 10.0 km^2. Adult females had the smallest home ranges, averaging 0.87 km^2 in summer and 1.8 km^2 in winter. Total (24-hour) home range size varied by sex and age of the deer, season, and study area. Home ranges based only on daytime relocations averaged half as large as total home ranges in summer and 28% of the total in winter and did not differ between seasons and study areas. Among riparian cover types, deer selected for mid-to-late seral communities (mature cottonwood, shrub, green ash, and mature willow) with tall dense cover; grasslands were avoided. Among croplands, deer preferred alfalfa in summer and ungrazed alfalfa, sugar beets, and winter wheat in winter. Differences in selection and use of crops between study areas and seasons were related to availability influenced by cropping, harvest, and post-harvest grazing and field treatment practices. Overall, natural riparian cover and agricultural croplands were the two major components of deer habitat. These combined with topography and physiography of the river valley, and other land use and operational practices to influence deer distribution movements and home range size, activity, and use of specific cover types. --Abstract.

White-Tailed Deer Habitat

White-Tailed Deer Habitat
Author: Timothy Edward Fulbright
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2013-05-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1603449515

The original, 2006 edition of Timothy Edward Fulbright and J. Alfonso Ortega-S.’s White-Tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and Management on Rangelands was hailed as “a splendid reference for the classroom and those who make their living from wildlife and the land” and as “filling a niche that is not currently approached in the literature.” In this second, full-color edition, revised and expanded to include the entire western United States and northern Mexico, Fulbright and Ortega-S. provide a carefully reasoned synthesis of ecological and range management principles that incorporates rangeland vegetation management and the impact of crops, livestock, predation, and population density within the context of the arid and semiarid habitats of this broad region. As landowners look to hunting as a source of income and to the other benefits of managing for wildlife, the clear presentation of the up-to-date research gathered in this book will aid their efforts. Essential points covered in this new edition include: White-tailed deer habitat requirements Nutritional needs of White-tailed deer Carrying capacity Habitat management Hunting Focused across political borders and written with an understanding of environments where periodic drought punctuates long-term weather patterns, this revised and expanded edition of White-Tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and Management on Rangelands will aid landowners, researchers, and naturalists in their efforts to integrate land management and use with sound ecological practices.

Ecology and Management of Black-tailed and Mule Deer of North America

Ecology and Management of Black-tailed and Mule Deer of North America
Author: James R. Heffelfinger
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2023-04-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1000851559

Black-tailed and mule deer represent one of the largest distributions of mammals in North America and are symbols of the wide-open American West. Each chapter in this book was authored by the world’s leading experts on that topic. Both editors, James R. Heffelfinger and Paul R. Krausman, are widely published in the popular and scientific press and recipients of the O. C. Wallmo Award, given every two years to a leading black-tailed and mule deer expert who has made significant contributions to the conservation of this species. In addition, Heffelfinger has chaired the Mule Deer Working Group sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for more than 15 years. This working group consists of the leading black-tailed and mule deer experts from each of 24 states, provinces, and territories in western North America, putting them at the forefront of all conservation and much of the research on this species. The book represents all current knowledge available on these deer, including how changing conditions such as fires, habitat alteration and loss, disease, climate change, socio-economic forces, energy development, and other aspects are influencing their distribution and abundance now and into the future. It takes a completely fresh look at all chapter topics. The revisions of distribution, taxonomy, evolution, behavior, and new and exciting work being done in deer nutrition, migration and movements, diseases, predation, and human dimensions are all assembled in this volume. This book will instantly become the foundation for the latest information and management strategies to be implemented on the ground by practitioners and to inform the public. Although this book is about deer, the topics discussed influence most terrestrial wildlife worldwide, and the basic concepts in many of the chapters are applicable to other species.