Predation and Survival of White-Tailed Deer Fawns in Northcentral New Brunswick

Ballard, Warren B.; Whitlaw, Heather A.; Young, Steven J.; Jenkins, Roger A.; Forbes, Graham J.

doi:10.2307/3802645

Cited by 113 publications

(80 citation statements)

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“…Northeastern coyotes likely experienced historical introgression (i.e., in the early 1900s) because there is little or no opportunity for ongoing (contemporary) hybridization between Coyotes and Eastern Wolves across the majority of the range of the northeastern Coyote (e.g., in most of New England; Figure 1), and the wolf DNa present in northeastern Coyotes represents that which was introgressed in the early 20th century in ontario (Wheeldon et al 2010a). Kays et al (2010) found that northeastern Coyotes have larger skulls (up to 15% bigger than western Coyotes), which they speculated would allow them to better exploit White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), consistent with other studies in northeastern North america that documented high amounts of White-tailed Deer in the diet of Coyotes (Ballard et al 1999;Messier 2000, 2001). Kays et al (2010) also found significant craniodental differences in these animals that would better facilitate preying on Whitetailed Deer.…”

Section: Comparing Northeastern Canids Mtdna Haplotypes With Masssupporting

confidence: 75%

Taxonomic Implications of Morphological and Genetic Differences in Northeastern Coyotes (Coywolves) (Canis latrans × C. lycaon), Western Coyotes (C. latrans), and Eastern Wolves (C. lycaon or C. lupus lycaon)

Way

2013

Can Field Nat

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The eastern Coyote or Coywolf (Canis latrans × C. lycaon) inhabiting northeastern North America resulted from hybridization between the expanding population of the western Coyote (Canis latrans) and the remnant population of Eastern Wolf (C. lycaon) and possibly domestic dogs (C. lupus familiaris) in the early 20th century. This study compares the body mass of eastern (i.e., northeastern) Coyotes, western Coyotes, and Eastern Wolves and synthesizes the recent literature to gain better insight into the taxonomic relations and differences of closely-related Canis species. Northeastern Coyotes (males = 16.5 kg; females = 14.7 kg) were statistically (P < 0.0001) intermediate in mass between western Coyotes (males = 12.2 kg; females = 10.7 kg) and Eastern Wolves (males = 28.2 kg, females = 23.7 kg), consistent with their hybrid origin, but were numerically closer to western Coyotes. Large Cohen’s d (3.00–8.56), (0.915–0.929), and Cohen’s f (3.28–3.62) values indicated large effect sizes from the body mass comparisons. Eastern Wolves were 61–71% heavier than the same sex in the northeastern Coyotes, which in turn were ca. 35–37% heavier than the same sex in the western Coyotes. Alternatively, western Coyotes were 73–74% of the size of the same sex in the northeastern Coyotes, which in turn were 59–62% of the size of the same sex in the Eastern Wolves. I also attempted to relate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes to body mass. Six of 17 (35.3%) adult female northeastern Coyotes captured in Massachusetts weighed ≥18 kg, heavier than any other described Coyote from outside northeastern North America. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes associated with these heavy female northeastern canids were C9 = 4, C19 = 1, and C48 = 1. Body mass (kg) and mtDNA haplotype data of 53 northeastern Coyotes (males = 28, females = 25) showed no difference between haplotype and body mass for males (P < 0.852) or females (P < 0.128), suggesting that there is not a particular haplotype (e.g., C1) that is associated with the heavier animals. I propose that the most appropriate name for this hybrid animal is Coywolf (Canis latrans × C. lycaon), rather than a type of Coyote. Coywolves are distinct, being larger than any other population of Coyotes but smaller than Eastern Wolves. I propose that the 5 distinct types of Canis be recognized as: western Coyote, Coywolf (northeastern Coyote), Eastern Wolf (including Red Wolf C. rufus), Gray × Eastern Wolf hybrids (‘Great Lakes’ Wolves; C. lupus × C. lycaon or C. lycaon × C. lupus), and Gray Wolf (C. lupus). The implications for wolf recovery in the northeastern United States is discussed.

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Section: Comparing Northeastern Canids Mtdna Haplotypes With Masssupporting

confidence: 75%

Taxonomic Implications of Morphological and Genetic Differences in Northeastern Coyotes (Coywolves) (Canis latrans × C. lycaon), Western Coyotes (C. latrans), and Eastern Wolves (C. lycaon or C. lupus lycaon)

Way

2013

Can Field Nat

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“…Climate fluctuations (Forchhammer et al 1998;Stenseth 1998, 1999;Milner et al 1999;Aanes et al 2000), density-dependent forage competition (Messier 1991(Messier , 1995Benton et al 1995;Gaillard et al 1998;Portier et al 1998), harvest (Fuller 1990;Langvatn and Loison 1999;Solberg et al 1999), and predation (Messier 1991(Messier , 1994Post and Stenseth 1998;Ballard et al 1999) have all been shown to significantly affect population growth of ungulate species at northern latitudes. However, the relative contributions of, and potential interactions among, these factors continue to spark debate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Contributions of forage competition, harvest, and climate fluctuation to changes in population growth of northern white-tailed deer

Patterson

Power

2002

Oecologia

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Recently there has been considerable interest in determining the relative roles of endogenous (density-dependent) and exogenous (density-independent) factors in driving the population dynamics of free-ranging ungulates. We used time-series analysis to estimate the relative contributions of density-dependent forage competition, climatic fluctuation, and harvesting on the population dynamics of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Nova Scotia, Canada, from 1983 to 2000. A model incorporating the population density 2 years previous, an interaction term for the harvest of females and population density 2 years previous, and the total snowfall during the previous 2 winters explained 80% of the variation in inter-annual population growth rate. Natality of adult females was negatively related to deer density during the present winter, whereas that of yearlings may have been correlated with the snowfall of three winters previous. Natality of fawns was related to deer density and total snowfall during the previous winter. Coyotes (Canis latrans) prey extensively on deer fawns in northeastern North America and the annual harvest of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), the major alternate prey of coyotes, explained 48% of the inter-annual variation in fawn recruitment. The proportions of fawn, yearling, and adult deer suffering from severe malnutrition during late winter were all correlated with deer density during the present winter. We conclude that the limiting effects of winter weather on over-winter survival of deer may be cumulative over two consecutive winters. During the late 1980s, density dependence and winter severity acted in concert to effect substantial declines in deer population growth both by effecting winter losses directly and by exacerbating predation by coyotes. During this period liberal harvesting did not relieve density-dependent forage competition and probably accelerated the decline.

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“…After reviewing this literature, Ballard et al (2001) concluded that coyotes can be a significant mortality factor for deer, and Ballard et al (1999) suggested that coyotes have replaced wolves in their role as deer predators in parts of northeastern North America, frequently taking adults during winter as well as neonatal fawns. Although in some situations coyote predation on fawns is compensatory to other mortality factors (Bartmann et al 1992, Bishop et al 2009), it also has been shown to be additive, and therefore limiting, in other situations (Messier et al 1986, Patterson et al 2002.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can Coyotes Affect Deer Populations in Southeastern North America?

et al. 2010

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The coyote (Canis latrans) is a recent addition to the fauna of eastern North America, and in many areas coyote populations have been established for only a decade or two. Although coyotes are known predators of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in their historic range, effects this new predator may have on eastern deer populations have received little attention. We speculated that in the southeastern United States, coyotes may be affecting deer recruitment, and we present 5 lines of evidence that suggest this possibility. First, the statewide deer population in South Carolina has declined coincident with the establishment and increase in the coyote population. Second, data sets from the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina indicate a new mortality source affecting the deer population concurrent with the increase in coyotes. Third, an index of deer recruitment at SRS declined during the period of increase in coyotes. Fourth, food habits data from SRS indicate that fawns are an important food item for coyotes during summer. Finally, recent research from Alabama documented significant coyote predation on fawns there. Although this evidence does not establish cause and effect between coyotes and observed declines in deer recruitment, we argue that additional research should proactively address this topic in the region. We identified several important questions on the nature of the deer-coyote relationship in the East.

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Predation and Survival of White-Tailed Deer Fawns in Northcentral New Brunswick

Cited by 113 publications

References 0 publications

Taxonomic Implications of Morphological and Genetic Differences in Northeastern Coyotes (Coywolves) (<em>Canis latrans</em> × <em>C. lycaon</em>), Western Coyotes (<em>C. latrans</em>), and Eastern Wolves (<em>C. lycaon</em> or <em>C. lupus lycaon</em>)

Taxonomic Implications of Morphological and Genetic Differences in Northeastern Coyotes (Coywolves) (<em>Canis latrans</em> × <em>C. lycaon</em>), Western Coyotes (<em>C. latrans</em>), and Eastern Wolves (<em>C. lycaon</em> or <em>C. lupus lycaon</em>)

Contributions of forage competition, harvest, and climate fluctuation to changes in population growth of northern white-tailed deer

Can Coyotes Affect Deer Populations in Southeastern North America?

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