Forest Sciences Commons^™

Wetland Seed Dispersal By White-Tailed Deer In A Large Freshwater Wetland Complex, Kelley L. Flaherty, James S. Rentch, James T. Anderson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Mechanisms of long-distance dispersal are important in establishing and maintaining plant popula- tions in isolated wetland habitats. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been cited as long-distance dis- persers of both native and exotic plant species in North America; however, knowledge regarding their influence in wetlands is limited. Given traditional classification methods for seed dispersal, white-tailed deer are not likely viewed as important dispersal mechanism for wetland plants. We collected naturally deposited white-tailed deer faecal pellet piles from wetlands in Canaan Valley, West Virginia, USA. Pellet piles were cold-stratified and germi- nated seedlings over a layer of sterile potting mix. The …

Economic And Spatial Impacts Of A Wildlife Habitat Policy On Forest Management, Karin N. Bothwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Regulations protecting habitat of forest-dwelling species often impact forest management practices. Those impacts may be mutually beneficial to both wildlife and forestry or they may lead to unanticipated negative outcomes, such as an associated economic cost compared to management free from habitat regulations. One example of a regulation that impacts forest management is the zoning of winter habitat of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Maine, where deer abundance has been consistently below socially desired levels in most areas of the State since the 1970s due in part to the heavy toll of severe winter weather. To mitigate winter-related mortality, the …

Interactions Between White-Tailed Deer Density And The Composition Of Forest Understories In The Northern United States, Matthew B. Russell, Christopher W. Woodall, Kevin M. Potter, Brian F. Walters, Grant M. Domke, Christopher M. Oswalt

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Forest understories across the northern United States (US) are a complex of tree seedlings, endemic forbs, herbs, shrubs, and introduced plant species within a forest structure defined by tree and forest floor attributes. The substantial increase in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) populations over the past decades has resulted in heavy browse pressure in many of these forests. To gain an objective assessment of the role of deer in forested ecosystems, a region-wide forest inventory across the northern US was examined in concert with white-tailed deer density information compiled at broad scales. Results indicate that deer density may be …

Survival And Cause-Specific Mortality Of A Southeastern Kentucky Deer Population, Caleb Anderson Haymes

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

White-tailed deer are one of the most sought after game species in Kentucky. While much of the Commonwealth boasts high deer populations, those in southeast Kentucky are viewed as relatively low compared to other regions, even after a decade of restrictive doe harvest and multiple years of population supplementation via translocation. We studied survival and cause specific mortality of a local population of deer near the Redbird District of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Clay and Leslie County, Kentucky from January 2014 - January 2017. We estimated female annual survival at 0.89 (CI: 0.88-0.87), with an overall 3-year survival …

Wetland Seed Dispersal By White-Tailed Deer In A Large Freshwater Wetland Complex, Kelley L. Flaherty, James S. Rentch, James T. Anderson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Mechanisms of long-distance dispersal are important in establishing and maintaining plant populations in isolated wetland habitats. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been cited as long-distance dispersers of both native and exotic plant species in North America; however, knowledge regarding their influence in wetlands is limited. Given traditional classification methods for seed dispersal, white-tailed deer are not likely viewed as important dispersal mechanism for wetland plants. We collected naturally deposited white-tailed deer faecal pellet piles from wetlands in Canaan Valley, West Virginia, USA. Pellet piles were cold-stratified and germinated seedlings over a layer of sterile potting mix. The percentage of germinated …

Utilization Of Woody Browse By White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) In Valley Forge National Park, Joanne T. Pomerantz, Joan M. Welch

Joan Welch

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Population Estimators And Forage Availability And Nutritional Quality For White-Tailed Deer In Tennessee, Jared Tyler Beaver

Masters Theses

Given the white-tailed deer’s (Odocoileus virginianus; deer) popularity and potentially negative impact on forested systems; Arnold Air Force Base (AAFB) in Tullahoma, Tennessee, USA has made minimizing negative deer impacts on biodiversity a priority. To address these management issues, I initiated a study on AAFB to investigate deer survey techniques and the effects of deer density on forage availability across vegetative communities.

Current use of infrared-triggered cameras (camera) for estimating deer populations does not provide a measure of precision critical for density estimation. I conducted a camera survey for deer in Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Units 1 and …

White-Tailed Deer Antler Research: A Response To Demarais And Strickland, Ben Koerth, James Kroll

Faculty Publications

Demarais and Strickland presented several questions about the scope and validity of conclusions regarding predictability of mature antler size based on yearling antler size and produced a simulation model reported to demonstrate measurement bias in our 2008 study. We believe our conclusions were appropriate with our research hypothesis and demonstrated the assumed differential selection bias by hunters used in Demarais and Strickland was unwarranted. Demarais and Strickland provided no metadata to document the provenance of data used in their model and did not account for location, year, cohort, nutrition of research animals, or loss of individuals from their sample population …

Juvenile-To-Adult Antler Development In White-Tailed Deer In South Texas, James Kroll, Ben Koerth

Faculty Publications

Past studies using penned deer provide conflicting results on the age when reliable predictions about antler growth potential in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can be made. We captured wild whitetail males via aerial net gun on 12 ranches in 5 counties in south Texas, USA, from 1999 to 2007 to determine if a reliable juvenile-to-adult relationship in antler development existed. We individually marked and released captured animals at the trap site after we took antler and body measurements. We recaptured marked animals as possible in subsequent years or until we obtained final measurements after legal harvest. Amount of growth in …

Fine-Scale Genetic Structure And Social Organization In Female White-Tailed Deer, Christopher E. Comer, John Kilgo, Gino D'Angelo, Travis Glenn, Karl Miller

Faculty Publications

Social behavior of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can have important management implications.

The formation of matrilineal social groups among female deer has been documented and management strategies have been proposed based on this well-developed social structure. Using radiocollared (n = 17) and hunter or vehicle- killed (n = 21) does, we examined spatial and genetic structure in white-tailed deer on a 7,000-ha portion of the

Savannah River Site in the upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, USA. We used 14 microsatellite DNA loci to calculate pairwise relatedness among individual deer and to assign doe pairs to …

Daily Movements Of Female White-Tailed Deer Relative To Parturition And Breeding, Christopher E. Comer

Faculty Publications

To assess how white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herd demographics influence reproductive behaviors, we examined 24-h diel movements of female whitetailed deer relative to parturition and breeding in a low-density population with a near even sex ratio at the Savannah River Site (SRS), South Carolina. We conducted a series of intensive, 24-h radio-tracking periods of 13 females during spring and fall 2002. We compared daily range (ha), rate of travel (m/h), and distance between extreme daily locations (m), among the periods of pre-parturition and post-parturition and pre-, peak-, and post-rut. From pre-parturition to post-parturition, we observed decreases in diel range size …

Effects Of Controlled Dog Hunting On Movements Of Female White-Tailed Deer, Christopher E. Comer

Faculty Publications

Understanding the responses of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to controlled dog hunting can aid in the effective implementation of canine-assisted population management strategies. We examined the 24-h diel movements of 13 radio-collared female deer exposed to dog hunting on the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina, where regulated dog hunting has occurred since 1965. We compared diel home range size, rate of travel, and distance between extreme diel locations before, during, and after hunts from 14 September-14 December 2002. Die1 home range size (F2,91= 7.71, P < 0.001) and distance between extreme diel locations (F2,9l= 6.78, P = 0.002) on hunt day were greater than 10-day pre- and …

Utilization Of Woody Browse By White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) In Valley Forge National Park, Joanne T. Pomerantz, Joan M. Welch

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.