White-tailed deer monitoring at Pea Ridge National Military Park, Arksansas: 2005–2019 trend report

Peitz, David

During 15 years (2005–2019) of monitoring trends in white-tailed deer within a defined survey area of Pea Ridge National Military Park, we have been able to demonstrate both rapid declines and recoveries. The rapid die-off of 2005 to 2007 was the result of a region-wide hemorrhagic disease outbreak reported by the Missouri Department of Conservation that started in the fall of 2005, six months after deer monitoring on Pea Ridge National Military Park in north Arkansas was initiated. Even including data in the analysis from years when die-offs were occurring (2006-2007, 2016), the number of deer increased by an average of 2.8% annually. This trend was not statistically significant, however, and a 95% confidence interval includes zero (-1.3 to 6.9%). Deer numbers in the survey area ranged from 14.6 ± 7.1 (mean ± 95% CI) individuals/km2 in 2007 to 58.7 ± 23.4 individuals/km2 in 2013. The amount of visible area surveyed each year varied between 1.0 and 1.4 km2 (coefficient of variation = 12.0%). Annual deer harvest data in the area near Pea Ridge National Military Park exhibits similar trends to our annual adjusted counts. This suggests that factors other than hunting are driving annual changes in deer population size. Increasing deer populations pose several problems for Pea Ridge National Military Park. First, it will add a level of complexity to implementing the Pea Ridge National Military Park Cultural Landscape Report recommenda-tions to restore the oak savanna and oak forest vegetation present at the time of the battle. Deer deferentially browse native vegetation over exotic vegetation, thus promoting the spread of exotic species, and the success of tree planting can be curtailed by heavy deer browsing. Second, controlling deer related disease, some of which can affect domestic livestock and human health in and around the park, becomes increasingly difficult when there are more deer. Third, as additional ancillary data suggests, the largely unreported and costly deer-vehicle colli-sions in and around Pea Ridge National Military Park have the potential to increase as deer populations grow.

White-tailed deer monitoring at Pea Ridge National Military Park, Arksansas: 2005–2019 trend report

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