LaSharr Tayler N, Gilbertson Marie L J, LaSharr Kelsie, Carstensen Michelle
Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, United States of America.
Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 10;20(6):e0325656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325656. eCollection 2025.
Animal dispersal and migration can play critical roles in population dynamics and species distribution, and these behaviors often are influenced by their environment. The conversion from natural habitats to agricultural lands has altered over 40% of terrestrial surfaces and many wildlife species now inhabit landscapes that are fragmented or heavily composed of agriculture. Understanding how habitat drives patterns of dispersal or migration is of critical importance to population management, particularly in environments that may be changing rapidly with human presence and when considering emerging disease threats. We evaluated how habitat and agriculture in and around white-tailed deer natal ranges in southeastern Minnesota, USA influenced both the probability of dispersal and migration events and the distance animals traveled during those events. Counter to our predictions, we found no evidence that agriculture in the natal range influenced the probability that white-tailed deer would disperse or migrate. Sex, however, played an important role in shaping movement behaviors-compared with resident deer, males were 2.7 times more likely to disperse and 5.2 times less likely to migrate than females. Moreover, while agriculture did not influence the probability of a dispersal event occurring, it did influence the distance traveled with deer dispersing farther in areas with more agriculture and avoiding agriculture during dispersal events. Our results provide insight into the influence of habitat on key movement behaviors that may be extremely important for population management, especially in areas that may have a high prevalence of infectious disease.
动物扩散和迁徙在种群动态和物种分布中可发挥关键作用，并且这些行为往往受其环境影响。从自然栖息地向农业用地的转变已改变了超过40%的陆地表面，如今许多野生动物物种栖息在破碎化或大量由农业构成的景观中。了解栖息地如何驱动扩散或迁徙模式对于种群管理至关重要，特别是在可能因人类存在而迅速变化的环境中以及考虑新出现的疾病威胁时。我们评估了美国明尼苏达州东南部白尾鹿出生区域及其周边的栖息地和农业如何影响扩散和迁徙事件的概率以及动物在这些事件中行进的距离。与我们的预测相反，我们没有发现出生区域的农业会影响白尾鹿扩散或迁徙概率的证据。然而，性别在塑造移动行为方面发挥了重要作用——与留居鹿相比，雄性扩散的可能性是雌性的2.7倍，而迁徙的可能性比雌性低5.2倍。此外，虽然农业并不影响扩散事件发生的概率，但它确实影响了行进的距离，鹿在农业较多的地区扩散得更远，并且在扩散事件中避开农业区域。我们的结果为栖息地对关键移动行为的影响提供了见解，这对于种群管理可能极其重要，尤其是在传染病高发的地区。
