Effects of Bait on Male White-Tailed Deer Resource Selection

Animals

Michael J. Cherry¹  Richard B. Chandler²  James T. Johnson²  Karl V. Miller²  Charlie H. Killmaster³  Kristina L. Johannsen³  L. Mike Conner⁴ 

[1] Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 700 University Blvd, MSC 218, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA;D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, 180 E. Green Street, Athens, GA 30602, USA;Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, 2067 US Highway 278 SE, Social Circle, GA 30025, USA;The Jones Center at Ichauway, 3988 Jones Center Drive, Newton, GA 39870, USA;

关键词: camera survey;    Georgia;    Odocoileus virginianus;    space-use;    spatial capture-recapture;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani11082334

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Bait is often used to increase wildlife harvest susceptibility, enhance viewing opportunities, and survey wildlife populations. The effects of baiting depend on how bait influences space use and resource selection at multiple spatial scales. Although telemetry studies allow for inferences about resource selection within home ranges (third-order selection), they provide limited information about spatial variation in density, which is the result of second-order selection. Recent advances in spatial capture-recapture (SCR) techniques allow exploration of second- and third-order selection simultaneously using non-invasive methods such as camera traps. Our objectives were to describe how short-term baiting affects white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) behavior and distribution. We fit SCR models to camera data from baited and unbaited locations in southwestern Georgia to assess the effects of short-term baiting on second- and third-order selection of deer during summer and winter surveys. We found little evidence of second-order selection during late summer or early winter surveys when camera surveys using bait are typically conducted. However, we found evidence for third-order selection, indicating that resource selection within home ranges is affected. Concentrations in space use resulting from baiting may enhance disease transmission, change harvest susceptibility, and potentially bias the outcome of camera surveys using bait.

【 授权许可】

Unknown