Habitat and Spatial Relationships Between Mule Deer and Cattle in a Sierra Nevada Forest Zone PDF Download

Author: Eric Richard Loft
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cattle
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Concern cattle were having negative impacts on female mule deer prompted a study of their relationships on summer range in the Sierra Nevada. There were three phases of the study: determine the influence of cattle grazing leve on habitats; determine habitat selection patterns of radio collared does and cattle; determine the influence of cattle grazing level on doe home range and spatial use patterns. To examine these relationships, the McCormick Creek Basin was divided into three grazing units for manipulating cattle stocking level. Home ranges increased in area as grazing level increased, with deer more evenly using their home ranges. Observations indicated that does mainted greater distances from cattle than expected and temporarily avoided areas of overlap when cattle were present. With the exception of aspen stands, deer did not avoid areas grazed by cattle. Consistent with competition theory, cattle caused deer to increase browse consumption, alter their habitat use patterns to include undesirable habitats, enlarge their home range areas, and temporarily avoid cattle.--Adapted from abstract.