Assessment of spring habitat selection of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) based on census data

Licoppe, Alain; Crombrugghe, S. A. de

doi:10.1007/bf02192009

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The black spruce-white pine stands were selected during autumn and winter, a behaviour also recognized by Peck and Peek [46] in a British Columbia elk population. Conifer-dominated stands have been selected by elk in many other studies in Western North America [15,34,35,47,48] as well as in Europe [49,50]. We found that upland mixed forest of spruce, jack pine, poplar, and white birch was selected only in winter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Elk (Cervus elaphus) Seasonal Habitat Selection in a Heterogeneous Forest Structure

Popp

McGeachy

Hamr

2013

International Journal of Forestry Research

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Seasonal habitat selection by the reintroduced Burwash elk population, approximately 30 km south of Sudbury, Ontario, has been analysed in order to assist in the development of future management. Twenty-five adult females were radio-collared and tracked 1-3 times a week for 3 years. The most prominent patterns included selection of intolerant hardwood forests (trembling aspen, white birch, and balsam poplar) during all seasons, while Great Lakes-St. Lawrence pines (white and red pine dominated stands) were used less than expected based on availability for all seasons. The selection patterns are likely associated with seasonal climatic conditions and forage preferences. Because the selection behaviours displayed here varied greatly from other elk habitat studies, it is suggested that managers consider the importance of population-specific habitat studies before developing related strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Elk (Cervus elaphus) Seasonal Habitat Selection in a Heterogeneous Forest Structure

Popp

McGeachy

Hamr

2013

International Journal of Forestry Research

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“…Therefore, deer in zones with recreation in our study area likely avoid open heathland during the day when humans are present and spend time in forest habitat to seek cover, while at night they select for heathland. This means deer spend most time on heathland during the night, when humans are absent and trails are not used, rendering avoidance of trails futile (Licoppe and De Crombrugghe 2003, Godvik et al 2009, Coppes et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, deer avoid areas with high human activity (Coppes et al 2017) or human predation risk (Kilgo et al 1998, Marchand et al 2014, Morgantini and Hudson 2019). In response to perceived human risk, they select for more dense habitat types where they are difficult to detect, can easily escape, and where hunting pressure is low (Licoppe and De Crombrugghe 2003, Godvik et al 2009, Cleveland et al 2012, Bonnot et al 2013). Recent work has also shown responses at fine spatial scales, where hiking and cycling activities on trails locally reduce deer space‐use and browsing on tree saplings in the direct vicinity (< 100 m) of trails (Mathisen et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreation and hunting differentially affect deer behaviour and sapling performance

Mols

Lambers

Cromsigt

et al. 2021

Oikos

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Humans are increasingly acknowledged as apex predators that shape landscapes of fear to which herbivores adapt their behaviour. Here, we investigate how humans modify deer space-use and their effects on vegetation at two spatial scales; zones with different types of human use (largescale risk factor) and, nested within that, trails (fine-scale risk factor). In zones with three contrasting types of human activities: 1) no recreation, no hunting, 2) with recreation, no hunting and 3) with recreation and hunting, we linked deer space-use (dropping counts) to browsing intensity, relative growth and survival of planted saplings. Plots were located at two distances to trails (20 versus 100 m) to test how trails affect deer space-use and sapling performance. Additionally, plots were distributed over forest and heathland as risk effects are habitat-dependent. Deer spaceuse was highest in the zone without recreation or hunting, resulting in higher browsing levels and lower sapling growth and survival, but only in heathland. In contrast, deer space-use and sapling performance did not differ between zones with recreation only and zones with recreation and hunting. Deer dropping counts were lower near trails used for recreation, but this was not associated with browsing impact or sapling performance. Our results show that recreational use modifies deer space-use which is associated with browsing impact on woody vegetation, while seasonal hunting activities in zones with recreation did not have additive year-round effects. Yet, effects were only observed at the larger scale of recreation zones and not near trails. Furthermore, deer space-use was only associated with sapling performance in open heathland, where high visibility presumably increases avoidance behaviour because it increases detectability and decreases escape possibilities. This suggests that recreation creates behaviourally mediated cascading effects that influence vegetation development, yet these effects are context-dependent. We advocate incorporating human-induced fear effects in conservation, management and research.

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“…Closed coniferous stands are preferred especially during winter, when hiding cover and food resources are scant in broadleaved stands and because of higher snow interception and thermal cover in evergreen stands (Licoppe and De Crombrugghe 2003;Akashi and Terazawa 2005). Numerous quantitative studies highlight the triggering effect of snow covering the ground on bark peeling intensity due to reduced food availability (Ueda et al 2002;Verheyden et al 2006;Vospernik 2006;Kiffner et al 2008;Honda et al 2008;Ligot et al 2013;Arnold et al 2018), and an increased energy demand for moving and maintaining body heat (Ueda et al 2002;Verheyden et al 2006;Rivrud 2013).…”

Section: Climate and Mastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of bark stripping on spruce: the need for red deer population control

et al. 2020

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Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) is a major production tree species for the European wood industry. However, it is highly sensitive to bark stripping (BS) by red deer (Cervus elaphus L.), which causes large timber losses. Because the red deer population has increased over the last decades, a better understanding of the underlying causes driving BS is urgently needed. BS outbreaks are multifactorial: winter food shortage, local and regional deer abundance and stand properties (thermal and visual cover, and scarcity of herbaceous layers) have been found to drive BS rates. Although the influence of each of these factors is well studied, there is still no consensus on their relative contributions to BS or what mitigation strategy is best. In this study, we made use of a long-term, large-scale BS inventory (13 years over 2570 km 2) to fill these gaps. We modeled winter and summer BS rates in response to the most explanatory variables, selected from a large set of environmental variables. Our results highlight the prevalence of deer abundance combined with high sensitivity of coniferous thickets and pronounced habitat selection by deer for these stands. Our findings show that the control of red deer populations is a key measure for reducing BS in Norway spruce stands.

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Assessment of spring habitat selection of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) based on census data

Cited by 6 publications

References 13 publications

Elk (Cervus elaphus) Seasonal Habitat Selection in a Heterogeneous Forest Structure

Elk (Cervus elaphus) Seasonal Habitat Selection in a Heterogeneous Forest Structure

Recreation and hunting differentially affect deer behaviour and sapling performance

Mitigation of bark stripping on spruce: the need for red deer population control

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