Population Characteristics Of Urban White Tailed Deer Odocoileus Virginianus In Southern Springfield Missouri PDF Download

Increasing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations have challenged deer managers in Missouri. So to improve deer management, our objectives were to the determine relationships of habitat characteristics and deer abundance and harvest vulnerability in Deer Management Units (DMUs) of Missouri, and deer abundance in Missouri state parks. We created a priori models relating habitat patterns such as cover, food, and human use models to abundance and vulnerability. In state parks, we found factors inside and outside parks influenced deer abundance, such as the amount and juxtaposition of cover within parks, agricultural resources or road densities around parks. These findings will improve deer management of parks by providing an understanding of specific habitat conditions both in parks and adjacent areas that influence deer abundance throughout Missouri. We found DMUs had higher deer abundance in landscapes with decreased proportions of public land, high habitat fragmentation, increased road density, or a combination of these. We expect DMUs with these habitats, mainly found in north Missouri, to have higher deer abundance or greater potential for population growth. For our final objective, we found deer were less vulnerable in DMUs with increased road densities and increased availability of public land. Therefore, it will be easier to manage deer populations in DMUs with more roads and public land because deer are more vulnerable to harvest. But it might be challenging for managers to maintain or reduce deer populations in DMUs with increased urban/suburban areas or less public land due to decreased vulnerability.