Ranging behaviour of roe deer in an experimental high-density population: Are females territorial?

Abstract

We studied the ranging behaviour and spatial relationships between seven roe deer during more than 4 years in a partly wooded 14.2-ha enclosure. The animals (three young males, four adult females) were monitored with GPS telemetry collars. As expected, the surface area and overlap of the males' bimonthly ranges decreased, and the distance between their arithmetic centres increased, as they became adult and, for two of them, territorial. Unexpectedly, females also tended to space out, the surface area and overlap of their bimonthly ranges being minimal in May to June, i.e. during the birth period. The distance between their arithmetic centres reached its maximum at the same time. Overlap between females' ranges was consistently lower than those between males and females' ranges, or between 1-year old males' ranges. Our results raise the questions of female seasonal territoriality and of independence of the spacing systems of the two sexes in roe deer.

Temporal patterns in road crossing behaviour in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) at sites with wildlife warning reflectors

“…We assigned zeros to all weeks during which no road crossing event was recorded. Spatial behaviour of both sexes was expected to vary between seasons [ 44 – 46 ], especially in relation to reproduction. We thus obtained the mean number of daylight hours for each week to account for seasonality (henceforth: day - length ).…”

Same habitat types but different use: evidence of context-dependent habitat selection in roe deer across populations

“…Such a strong selection is surprising considering the poor value of this habitat to roe deer (poor protective cover and poor vegetation biomass). Selection for CWS when availability of shrubs is too low could reflect a sub-optimal behavior generated by competition among females, which might be territorial in spring-summer 33 . Moreover, selection for CWS could also result from increased searching costs for shrub patches 30 or by forage depletion when good habitat patches are too scarce 26 .…”

Estimating roe deer density using motion‐sensitive cameras in Switzerland

“…The size of the study area and camera density was based on other roe deer camera studies (Jiménez et al 2013) and published home range sizes. Male home ranges can vary seasonally and between populations (Mysterud 1999, Kjellander et al 2004); the smallest home ranges recorded are about 10 ha (Fruziński et al 1983, Maublanc et al 2012). An important requirement of SCR models is the use of spatial recaptures, which would require at least some individuals having access to >1 sampling site within their home ranges.…”

“…The size of the study area and camera density was based on other roe deer camera studies (Jiménez et al 2013) and published home range sizes. Male home ranges can vary seasonally and between populations (Mysterud 1999, Kjellander et al 2004; the smallest home ranges recorded are about 10 ha (Fruziński et al 1983, Maublanc et al 2012).…”