Life Sciences Commons^™

The Barriers To Movement: The Effects Of Anthropogenic Linear Features On The Space-Use Behaviors Of Mule Deer And Pronghorn In Utah, Ronan B. Hart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human development of structures like roads, fences, and other linear features can make it difficult for animals to move around their environment, affecting their ability to find food and avoid danger. Animal movement and the way they use space comes about from their responses to their surroundings and their choices to balance risk and reward. Because of this, we can understand how roads and fences affect wildlife by studying the way they move around their habitats. In this thesis, I focused on two large herbivores, mule deer and pronghorn, and studied how they use the space within Utah, United States …

Pando's Pulse: Vital Signs Signal Need For Course Correction At World-Renowned Aspen Forest, Paul C. Rogers

Aspen Bibliography

Upland aspen (Populus spp.) forests contribute significantly to biodiversity in their circumboreal role as keystone species. As aspen ecosystems flourish or diminish, myriad dependent species follow suit. The 43-hectare Pando aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) clone in Utah, USA, is thought to be the largest living organism on earth, but is faltering due to chronic herbivory. Long-term resilience in aspen communities, including Pando, rests on successful recruitment of vegetative suckers that are nutritiously desirable to browsing ungulates. Here, I evaluate aspen reproduction alongside numerous vital indicators of Pando's status in the first trend assessment of this embattled iconic forest. …

Quantifying Wildlife Use Of Escape Ramps Along A Fenced Highway, Alex J. Jensen, John D. Perrine, Andrew A. Schaffner, Robert A. Brewster, Anthony J. Giordano, Morgan Robertson, Nancy R. Siepel

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wildlife exclusion fencing can significantly reduce wildlife–vehicle collisions. However, some animals breach the fence and become trapped in the highway corridor, thereby increasing risk of a wildlife–vehicle collision. An emerging solution to this problem is the installation of earthen escape ramps (i.e., jumpouts), which allow trapped animals to escape the highway corridor. Few studies have quantified wildlife use of jumpouts, and none have investigated intraspecific differences in use. We used camera traps to document wildlife use of 4 2m-high jumpouts associated with wildlife exclusion fencing along Highway 101 near San Luis Obispo, California, USA, from 2012 to 2017. We surveyed …

An Eulerian Perspective On Spring Migration In Mule Deer, Tatum Del Bosco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many herbivores travel between low-elevation winter ranges and high-elevation summer sites. These seasonal movements allow them to avoid deep snow cover, ensure access to favorable habitat, and maximize food intake throughout the year. During the spring season, plants at lower elevations green up earlier at lower elevations than at higher elevations. It has been shown that individual animals will track this vegetation growth during their spring migration, which allows them to maximize forage intake coming out of the nutrient scarce winter. This phenomena has previously been studied by monitoring individual movement trajectories, but it is unknown how this pattern scales …

Spatiotemporal Interactions Between Deer And Cattle, Sydney Brewer

Honors Theses

Mule deer, white-tailed deer, and cattle are sympatric on the landscape throughout many portions of Nebraska and encounter each other in time and space. By considering variation in daily activity patterns and non-random patterns in the timing of passage through specific locations, we can better understand whether animals may be avoiding each other temporally when sharing space. I investigated temporal activity patterns and avoidance/attraction ratios to investigate if deer altered their activity patterns in the presence of cattle and if they exhibited avoidance at a study site near McCook, Nebraska, USA. We collected data from 19 game cameras that were …

Recolonizing Carnivores: Is Cougar Predation Behaviorally Mediated By Bears?, Kristin N. Engebretsen, Jon P. Beckmann, Carl W. Lackey, Alyson M. Andreasen, Cody Schroeder, Pat Jackson, Julie K. Young

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conservation and management efforts have resulted in population increases and range expansions for some apex predators, potentially changing trophic cascades and foraging behavior. Changes in sympatric carnivore and dominant scavenger populations provide opportunities to assess how carnivores affect one another. Cougars (Puma concolor) were the apex predator in the Great Basin of Nevada, USA, for over 80 years. Black bears (Ursus americanus) have recently recolonized the area and are known to heavily scavenge on cougar kills. To evaluate the impacts of sympatric, recolonizing bears on cougar foraging behavior in the Great Basin, we investigated kill sites of 31 cougars between …

Ecological Effects Of Fear: How Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity In Predation Risk Influences Mule Deer Access To Forage In A Sky‐Island System, Christopher Lowrey, Kathleen M. Longshore, David M. Choate, Jyoteshwar R. Nagol, Joseph Sexton, Daniel Thompson

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Forage availability and predation risk interact to affect habitat use of ungulates across many biomes. Within sky‐island habitats of the Mojave Desert, increased availability of diverse forage and cover may provide ungulates with unique opportunities to extend nutrient uptake and/or to mitigate predation risk. We addressed whether habitat use and foraging patterns of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) responded to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), NDVI rate of change (green‐up), or the occurrence of cougars (Puma concolor). Female mule deer used available green‐up primarily in spring, although growing vegetation was available during other seasons. Mule deer and cougar shared similar …

Effects Of Changing Environments On Survival Of A Widely Distributed Ungulate, S Andrew Sims

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildlife species distributed over large areas of land inhabiting varying environments are experiencing shifts in their home ranges due to human expansion and climate change. As these species home ranges shifts out of familiar, critical habitat they are forced to interact with novel environments, which in turn affects the species population demographics. In order to manage and conserve these species accordingly, specifically in a time of large-scale change, it is imperative that we add to current understandings of how they interact with various environments. Furthermore, frequently generating short-term predictions of demographic drivers will allow for conservation and management insight that …

An Evaluation Of Deer And Pronghorn Surveys In South Dakota, Kristopher W. Cudmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To properly manage white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and the American pronghorn antelope (Antilocapridae americana), wildlife managers must identify population perimeters, sample size, age and sex ratios of these three species. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate age and sex ratios and determine a minimum sample size for each study area for all deer species and pronghorn, in addition to deriving a methodology and population estimate for white-tailed deer in the Black Hills. Sample size needed for both species of deer and pronghorn ranged from 60-70 groups of does. Age ratios calculated from daylight …

To Jump Or Not To Jump: Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus) And White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Crossing Decisions, Emily N. Burkholder

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

There have been recent efforts to enhance ungulate movement through modified fencing structures. Ungulates such as mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) typically negotiate fences by either jumping over fencing or going under. Here we examine crossing success and crossing decisions of mule deer and white-tailed deer and determine factors that influence crossing success and the impending decision to jump over or crawl underneath fencing. Using a BACI (Before-After-Control-Impact) design, we deployed remote cameras along fence lines in three study areas; Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Suffield and OneFour research center in Southeastern Alberta, …

Landscape Genetics Of California Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus): The Roles Of Ecological And Historical Factors In Generating Differentiation, Katherine Pease, Adam Freedman, John Pollinger, John Mccormack, Wolfgang Buermann, Jeff Rodzen, Jim Banks, Erin Meredith, Vernon Bleich, Robert Schaefer, Ken Jones, Robert Wayne

John E. McCormack

Landscape genetics is an emerging discipline that utilizes environmental and historical data to understand geographic patterns of genetic diversity. Niche modelling has added a new dimension to such efforts by allowing species–environmental associations to be projected into the past so that hypotheses about historical vicariance can be generated and tested independently with genetic data. However, previous approaches have primarily utilized DNA sequence data to test inferences about historical isolation and may have missed very recent episodes of environmentally mediated divergence. We type 15 microsatellite loci in California mule deer and identify five genetic groupings through a Structure analysis that are …

Energy, Fractal Movement Patterns, And Scale-Dependent Habitat Relationships Of Urban And Rural Mule Deer, Mark F. Mcclure

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I studied the behaviors, movement dynamics, habitat relationships, and population characteristics of Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) using urban and rural winter ranges in Cache Valley, Utah, from January 1994 to February 1998. There were 2 goals to my research endeavors. The first was to assess how and why the behaviors and demographic characteristics of urban deer differed from those of rural deer. The second was to assess the scale-dependent responses to habitat and the scale-dependent patterns of habitat use by deer living in each area. To accomplish the first goal, I compared the prevalence of migration, the spatial …

Mule Deer Highway Mortality In Northeastern Utah: An Analysis Of Population-Level Impacts And A New Mitigative System, Mark E. Lehnert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rerouting highways to accommodate construction of the Jordanelle Reservoir in northeastern Utah caused a dramatic increase in vehicle collisions with mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). I evaluated the effectiveness of a new system of highway crosswalk structures installed to reduce deer losses and preserve seasonal migrations. In addition, I constructed computer simulation models to investigate how highway mortality has impacted the Jordanelle deer population.

The crosswalk system restricted deer crossings to specific, well-marked areas along highways where motorists could anticipate them. Subsequent to installation, mortality declined 42.3% and 36.8% along a four-lane and two-lane highway, respectively. I was unable …

Inter-Seasonal Range Relationships Of Spanish Goats And Mule Deer In A Utah Oakbrush Community, Robert Alexander Riggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three experiments were conducted to assess the potential for using Spanish goats to manage Gambel oakbrush winter range, dominated by Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Summer-time food selection of goats, effects on plant community composition, and consequent effects on mule deer nutrition and foraging behavior were examined.

An apparent preference for juvenile oak browse, and low use of oak twigs was observed. Selection for juvenile browse may have been facilitated by the retarded phenology of oak as compared to that of associated flora. This differential was maintained by repeated browsing. Animal performance, …

Development And Validation Test Of A Mule Deer Habitat Rule, Glenn Gephart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A mathematical description of Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) habitat was developed and subjected to validation testing using correlation and multiple regression statistical techniques. Data were collected on a central Utah study area, which was divided into mountain and desert regions.

Data on deer utilization and several habitat components from 86 study plots visited in 1976 were used to develop a habitat rule. Data from 46 study plots visited in 1977 were used to test the accuracy of the rule. Deer utilization was determined from pellet group counts on 20 0.001 ha pellet plots at each …

Feeding Behavior Of Pen Reared Mule Deer Under Winter Range Conditions, Michael A. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined the feeding responses of mule deer to a system of spring livestock grazing. The specific purposes were 1) to determine botanical composition of diets selected by mule deer on a winter range subjected to previous spring grazing by sheep compared to one with no sheep grazing and 2) to develop a basis for predicting selection of individual plants by deer, based on physical characteristics of the plants and the species and physical proximity of associated plants.

The study was conducted within the framework of a completely randomized experimental design with two treatments. Variables controlled for each unit …

Nebraska Deer, William Bailey Jr., George Schildman, Phillip Agee, C. G. Pritchard

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

IN COMMON with the experience of most states, Nebraska's deer herds were reduced to a very low level by excessive harvests in our early history. Most American big-game animals were overharvested in the early history of this nation because of commercialization. Buffalo were killed for their hides, deer for their meat. This slaughter continued as long as the hunter (or poacher) could sell his take at a profit. Modem game management and public opinion reversed this trend. Deer are on the way back all over America, and in some states the protection-complex was so strong that deer were restored to …