White-tailed deer movements and space use on Fire Island - a four-year radio-telemetry study: 2015-2016 post-Hurricane Sandy assessment

Kilheffer, Chellby; Raphael, Jordan; Ries, Lindsay; Underwood, H.

This Natural Resource Report is the second of a five-part series in response to Agreement Number P14AC00469, which was awarded to the co-authors in response to Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy dramatically impacted coastal New England in 2012. Many areas of Fire Island National Seashore, New York (40.669, -73.051) were inundated or eroded, and many primary dunes were overwashed by storm surge. The cooperative agreement aimed to address the following four research tasks: (1) assess effects of white-tailed deer browsing on vegetation establishment, growth, and development in key overwash zones on Fire Island National Seashore, (2) expand vegetation monitoring developed for the Sunken Forest into additional maritime forest zones on Fire Island, (3) document daily, seasonal, and annual movements of white-tailed deer on Fire Island, and (4) explore how access to food, thermal cover, and fresh water affect activity and space use of white-tailed deer between heavily urbanized western communities of Fire Island and the Wilderness Area. This report solely addresses objective (3) listed above. The remaining four reports in this series include three reports addressing each of the remaining objectives and a comprehensive report addressing Fire Island’s resilience to future disturbance. Hurricane Sandy provided a unique opportunity to better understand the movements of Fire Island’s dense white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis) herds. White-tailed deer inhabit all areas of Fire Island National Seashore and their high densities negatively affect native vegetation in several areas of the island, especially as disturbed areas attempt to recover after a catastrophic storm like Hurricane Sandy. Understanding deer movements and space use helps land managers to prioritize white-tailed deer population size and the health and recovery potential of Fire Island’s natural lands according to their management goals. The results of this study will inform Fire Island staff as they prepare to initiate the tasks set forth by the Seashore’s approved Deer Management Plan. We used radio-collars fitted with Very High Frequency (VHF) signal and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to monitor movements of white-tailed deer for four years after Hurricane Sandy. The greatest movements of Fire Island’s adult female white-tailed deer occurred in spring each year. Home range and core area sizes varied among study areas and years, but suggested hierarchical dominance among Fire Island’s deer populations. Potentially six distinct populations were delineated through analysis of GPS radio-collar data, though these divisions also reflect the concentrated sampling efforts of deer capture. Nearly all deer monitored shared time between natural and nearby built environments. Since Hurricane Sandy, deer movements in Fire Island’s Wilderness are divided by the storm-induced breach. GPS radio-collars provided a wealth of data for analysis of deer movements and space use, and this report is simply a snapshot of the potential information we intend to gain from this study.

White-tailed deer movements and space use on Fire Island - a four-year radio-telemetry study: 2015-2016 post-Hurricane Sandy assessment

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