Influence of Water Availability and Rainfall on Movements of Desert Mule Deer
Rautenstrauch KR and Krausman PR. 1989. Influence of Water Availability and Rainfall on Movements of Desert Mule Deer. Journal of Mammalogy. 70(1):197-201
Mule deer populations that have bee studied to date are either non-migratory or migrate to avoid deep snow and to find more nutritious forage. Desert mule deer are non-migratory, however it is suggested that desert mule deer in southeastern California migrated from areas with permanent water to areas that received geographically isolated rainfall, and had green forage. Authors describe movements of desert mule deer in an area of southwest Arizona having limited rainfall and few permanent-water sources. Objectives were to determine the influence of availability of water and rainfall patterns on movements of desert mule deer.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Rautenstrauch, Kurt; Krausman, Paul
- Units
- MOJA
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Abundance (Biodiversity), Distribution (Biodiversity), Home Range, Lower Colorado River Valley, nonmigratory, Odocoileus hemionus, Presence (Biodiversity), Southeastern California, Vegetation