Interannual Variability in Survival Rates for Adult Female White‐Tailed Deer

Haus, Jacob M.; Dion, Justin R.; Kalb, Melissa M.; Ludwig, Eric L.; Rogerson, Joseph E.; Bowman, Jacob L.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.21834

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…Human‐caused mortality dominated in other farmland studies, whereas predation tended to be relatively uncommon and starvation was essentially non‐existent (Brinkman et al 2004, Grovenburg et al 2011, Moratz et al 2019, Haus et al 2020). Our results would suggest the same with the exception of 2 years of high starvation rates for juveniles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

White‐Tailed Deer, Weather and Predation: a New Understanding of Winter Severity for Predicting Deer Mortality

2021

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Variation in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mortality during winter affects population growth in cold climates. Across the northern extent of their range, mortality increases with colder temperatures and snow. Few studies have examined the relationships between winter conditions and deer mortality, and no studies have concurrently studied this relationship for different ages of deer across multiple years and landscapes. We used recently developed cause-specific mortality models to evaluate temporal and age-class variation in deer mortality in farmland areas and compared to published results from forest areas in Wisconsin, USA, from 2011-2014. We then used temporally varying snow and temperature covariates to predict mortality trends using telemetry information from 860 deer. Cause-specific mortality in the farmland varied by age and year, similar to results from previous research in the forest. Humanrelated mortality was the leading cause of mortality in the farmland during most years and ranged from 4.3% to 10.3% for juveniles and 3.6% to 9.1% for adults from 2011-2014. Very little predation occurred in the farmland, and this differed from previous research in the forest where predation was the leading cause of mortality. During more severe winters (2013 and 2014), other mortality, usually associated with starvation, was the leading cause of mortality for juveniles in the farmland but not adults. In the forest, we found support for saturating effects of accumulated snow depth days >30.5 cm and accumulated temperature days >0°C on mortality. We also found support for the relationship of mortality with accumulated temperature days >0°C in the farmland but no relationship with snow depth. Deer tolerate sustained cold temperatures, but the timing of winter to spring transition is more important for deer survival in both forested and agricultural areas. In the absence of empirical survival information, managers can use our model to predict annual winter effects on deer survival, which can provide improved inference compared to traditional winter severity indices. Our results suggest changes in predator abundance may have minor influence on overwinter survival compared to winter weather. Based on mortality estimates from previous research, the highest predation rates on juvenile deer in the forest occurred when wolf (Canis lupus) counts were lowest and when wolf abundance was highest, juvenile deer predation rates were lowest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

White‐Tailed Deer, Weather and Predation: a New Understanding of Winter Severity for Predicting Deer Mortality

2021

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“…Social dynamics of female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) center on matrilineal groupings of related individuals [1,2] where individuals within social groups have extensive range overlap and demonstrate similar use of the landscape [3,4,5]. Group sociality among females is strong and persist throughout much of the year, and membership within a social group allows individuals to maximize time spent foraging by reducing individual vigilance [6, 7, 8] However, there are periods during the year when reduced sociality of female deer is expected such as around parturition when females seek solitude for giving birth [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parturition Effects on Sociality and Dynamic Interactions of Female White-tailed Deer

Haus,

Dion,

Webb

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background Female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) typically form matriarchal social groups throughout much of the year; however, little research has examined the effect of parturition on sociality. We used measures of dynamic interaction, a function of travel direction and displacement, to examine social interactions between adult females before and after parturition. We monitored parturient, free-ranging individuals on a 126-ha property using vaginal implant transmitters linked to GPS collars during a 2-month period surrounding peak parturition (1 May–30 June 2016). We calculated local dynamic interaction (di; cohesiveness of movement for each time step) and global dynamic interaction (DI; cohesiveness of movement throughout the study period) metrics for all female pairs with overlapping 95% kernel density home range estimates (n = 29 interaction pairings). Results Global DI was correlated positively with home range overlap (%). Mean local di values indicated moderate social cohesion within the population prior to parturition. Following parturition, mean local di values declined below zero suggesting avoidance among female pairs with overlapping ranges. Mean local di began to increase approximately 15 days postpartum but did not return to prepartum levels during our study period (~ 25 days postpartum). Conclusions The changes in female social dynamics following parturition are likely a trade-off among several factors such as neonate mobility, predator avoidance, and nutritional demands. However, the trends we observed are to be expected given the life history of female deer around parturition in which sociality declines around parturition and then returns gradually to pre-parturition levels.

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