(DOWNLOAD) "Home Ranges of Sympatric Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer in Texas (Report)" by Southwestern Naturalist # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Home Ranges of Sympatric Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer in Texas (Report)
- Author : Southwestern Naturalist
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 194 KB
Description
In Texas, geographic distributions of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) overlap in portions of the Trans-Pecos region, the western edge of the Edwards Plateau, and in the Texas Panhandle (Smith, 1987). White-tailed deer have become more abundant in areas previously considered to be occupied only by mule deer (W. F. Harwell and H. G. Gore, in litt.), and mule deer have decreased or disappeared entirely from some areas (Wiggers and Beasom, 1986). Amount of area used by female deer and their survival are of interest to private landowners and managers as hunting is a significant economic contribution in Texas (S. Lightwood, unpublished data). Income from hunting leases or other wildlife recreation can supplement or even exceed that from traditional domestic livestock (Butler and Workman, 1993). Managers may wish to implement management activities to benefit primarily white-tailed deer because of higher bag limits and longer hunting seasons. However, others may prefer to manage habitat to favor mule deer. Our objectives were to investigate differences in size of home range and degree of overlap of home ranges and core areas between the two species. Because allopatric female white-tailed deer in semi-arid and and regions tend to have smaller home ranges (Gallina et al., 1997) than allopatric female mule deer in similar environments (Dickinson and Garner, 1979; Hayes and Krausman, 1993; Relyea et al., 2000), we predicted that mule deer would have larger home ranges than white-tailed deer in west-central Texas. However, because these species are not territorial and have similar diets (Anthony, 1972; Krausman, 1978), we predicted that there would be overlap in home ranges. Other studies of sympatric deer have determined that the species maintain separate distributions, but these studies occurred in prairies of Montana (Wood et al., 1989) and grasslands of Colorado (Whittaker, 1995), where deer are subject to harsh winter conditions and are partially migratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS--The study was conducted on five contiguous ranches (ca. 323 [km.sup.2] in total area) in the northwestern corner of Crockett County, Texas, on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau. Lower elevations were dominated by mesquite (Prosopis), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), tarbush (Flourensis cernua) and prickly pear (Opuntia). Juniper (Juniperus) was the dominant woody species on mesas. Washes supported dense thickets of hackberry trees (Celtic occidentalis). Slopes supported xeriphytic plants such as yuccas (Yucca) and ocotillo (Fouquieiia splendens; Correll and Johnston, 1970). Livestock grazing, oil production, and hunting were ongoing on all ranches (Brunjes, 2004).
 "Home Ranges of Sympatric Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer in Texas (Report)" by Southwestern Naturalist # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}