Population and behavioral ecology of white-tailed deer in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Scanlon JJ and Vaughan MR. 1987. Population and behavioral ecology of white-tailed deer in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Mid-Atlantic Region (MAR) Research/Resources Management Report. MAR-22. National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. Philadelphia
Density, distribution, movement patterns, nutritional condition, habitat use, and social organization for the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were studied between October 1981 and January 1983 in Shenandoah National Park. Winter deer density at the Piney River and Loft Mountain study area averaged 11.7 and 3.5 per square km, respectively. Road surveys, deer drives, and track counts indicated areas of high, moderate, and low deer density that appeared related to human development. Total range areas for adult females captured along the Skyline Drive were often comparable with adult females captured in the backcountry areas. All adult females reduced their range areas before fawning, maintained relatively small range areas during the first two months after fawning, then gradually increased their movements. A gradient of behavior appeared to exist from extremes of localized movements in response to human activity to movements that were totally removed from human activity. Road-killed deer had abundant to sparse fat reserves and thus differed in physical condition. Rumen contents often contained large amounts of grass, and browse surveys indicated certain highly utilized woody plants. Seasonally, group size was largest in winter (3.4), noticeably smaller during breeding (2.5), spring (2.4), summer (2.0), and fawning (1.7). Doe groups occurred most frequently (90%) in winter and buck groups least frequently (4%) in winter. Adult female: fawn ratios ranged from 1:1 - 1:2 during fawning season and were 1:0.64 during breeding season. Single adult does were the most common of all observations (27% of total), followed by 1 adult doe with 1 fawn (13%). The large non-hunted deer population in Shenandoah may be of an older age structure than hunted populations. Management efforts to reduce development associated forage to modify deer population levels and distribution are proposed.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Scanlon, John; Vaughan, Michael
- Date of Issue
- 1987
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
- Units
- SHEN
- Keywords
- Animal Behavior, Animal Communities (Wildlife), Animal Studies, Fecundity, Habitats, Health, Mortality, Population Dynamics, Research Report, White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)