Webb Stephen L, Gee Kenneth L
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma, USA.
Integr Zool. 2014 Jan;9(1):24-33. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12032.
Survival and movement are important demographic variables influencing the dynamics of large herbivores with implications for management and evolution of life-history strategies. Management practices such as spatial confinement and harvest regulation attempt to control survival and movement for the sustainability of harvested deer populations, but a paucity of long-term data exists on these management practices. We examined annual survival and site fidelity of free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) over 10 years (1983-1992) to compare demographic parameters after spatial confinement (1993-2005). We used capture records (n = 174; 104 females, 70 males), marked deer recaptures (n = 42), and dead recoveries (n = 68) to estimate sex-specific, age-specific and time-specific parameters. We found that annual female survival was 50% from 1983-1987 during a period of intense harvest, but increased to 93.7% after intense harvesting was eliminated. Prior to spatial confinement, annual survival of marked male deer averaged 36.7%-42.5%. After spatial confinement, annual survival increased on average for males (58%-99%) and females (77%-98%). Females showed high levels of site fidelity (>99%) prior to spatial confinement, whereas males showed much less site fidelity (≤4.5% for the 2 top-ranking models). During spatial confinement, the semi-impermeable fence effectively increased site fidelity of males (≥56%). These results stem from long-term study (23 years) of a large herbivore experiencing changes to life-history, resulting from changes in management that were applied to the population and aimed at altering population demographics, for sustainability of a harvestable population of deer.
生存和迁移是影响大型食草动物种群动态的重要种群统计学变量，对其生活史策略的管理和进化具有重要意义。诸如空间限制和狩猎调控等管理措施试图控制鹿群的生存和迁移，以实现可收获鹿群的可持续性，但关于这些管理措施的长期数据却很匮乏。我们研究了1983年至1992年这10年间自由放养的白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus）的年度生存率和地点忠诚度，以比较空间限制（1993年至2005年）后的种群统计学参数。我们利用捕获记录（n = 174；104只雌性，70只雄性）、标记鹿的重捕记录（n = 42）和死亡鹿的回收记录（n = 68）来估计特定性别、特定年龄和特定时间的参数。我们发现，在1983年至1987年的高强度狩猎期间，雌性的年度生存率为50%，但在消除高强度狩猎后，这一数字增加到了93.7%。在实施空间限制之前，标记雄鹿的年度生存率平均为36.7% - 42.5%。实施空间限制后，雄性（58% - 99%）和雌性（77% - 98%）的年度生存率平均都有所增加。在空间限制之前，雌性表现出较高的地点忠诚度（>99%），而雄性的地点忠诚度则低得多（排名前两位的模型中≤ 4.5%）。在空间限制期间，半透性围栏有效地提高了雄性的地点忠诚度（≥ 56%）。这些结果源于对一种大型食草动物长达23年的长期研究，该动物的生活史因针对鹿群实施的管理变化而发生改变，这些管理旨在改变种群统计学特征，以实现可收获鹿群的可持续性。
