Distribution, density, and habitat use of the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) in Korea

Abstract

Water deer (Hydropotes inermis) belong to the genus Hydropotes, which is ecologically well adapted for environments ranging from desert to forest. Water deer tend to occupy the richest areas between forest and grasslands. There are two distinct subspecies in far East Asia: one in China (H. inermis inermis), and the other in Korea (H. inermis argyropus). Despite being listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, little is known about the water deer. The species occurs in most areas of the Korean peninsula, except for Seoul and Jeju Island. Kyunggi Province near Seoul showed the lowest rate (56%) due to urbanization. There was a high difference in their presence between inland (81%) and coastal (60%) areas . In addition, large cities (67%) showed much lower rates than did rural areas (83%) where human population size is relatively low. Water deer are distributed differently based on habitat type, with differences in mean density observed among lowland (6.93 ind./km 2 ), mountainous (1.91), and urban (1.27) areas. There was also a difference in mean density between low-elevation and highelevation areas. Finally, whereas the deer preferred landscapes with 20°-25°of slope and broadleaf forest (P \ 0.01), they did not avoid areas with other types of slopes and habitats.

Mitochondrial genetic diversity, phylogeny and population structure of <i>Hydropotes inermis</i> in South Korea

“…Like the Chinese subspecies, its abundance and distribution declined severely due to excessive harvesting and habitat destruction in the 1950s. Although the current population seems to be abundant and widely distributed in local habitats (Woo et al, 1990, Kim et al, 2011a, the total population size of the Korean subspecies has not yet been surveyed.…”

Developing and testing a habitat suitability index model for Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) and its potential for landscape management decisions in Korea

“…Thus, habitat variables for the water areas could not be used as the habitat indicators for the region strongly affected by anthropogenic factors, and sufficient evidence regarding the existence of water deer will be required to assess the level of their accessibility to water. The water deer and other Korean ungulate species (or subspecies) are facing the risk of anthropogenic disturbances such as roadkill, lack of habitat, or habitat fragmentation, especially in or near large cities (Kim et al 2011). High levels of some types of human activity indeed limit deer abundance, implying that the deer tend to avoid roads and prefer wetland and forest areas.…”

“…In particular, the water deer prefers areas around wetlands or streams. Although the Chinese water deer has been reported to prefer areas that are 200-599 m away from water sources (Zhang et al 2006), the Korean water deer prefers habitats within 1 km from water (Kim et al 2011).…”

“…In this study, the effect of human disturbance on habitat quality was considered with two factors, the distance to roads and the distance to urbanized areas. Topographic features such as slope, elevation, and aspect are known to influence the habitat selection patterns of the species (Kim et al 2011;Zhou & Zhang 2011). In addition, land use was utilized to identify the topographic characteristics of Korean water deer habitats.…”

“…The population density of Korean water deer per 100 ha is 7.8, and it varies from 3.7 to 11 (Han et al 2015). The Korean water deer population has particularly flourished in the modern agricultural landscape, where fragmented mosaic of wood-lots, hedgerows, and cultivated crops seem to be particularly favorable (Kim et al 2011). Farmers have been appealing to the government for actions to reduce the deer population; however, the government has not yet responded in the light of wildlife conservation, highlighting the necessity for implementing an appropriate species management practice.…”