HABITAT GUIDELINES FOR MULE DEER - US Forest Service
HABITAT GUIDELINES FOR MULE DEERSOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGIONWESTERNA PRODUCT OF THEMULE DEER WORKING GROUPSPONSORED BY THEASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES2006
THE AUTHORS:JAMES R. HEFFELFINGERARIZONA GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT555 N. GREASEWOOD ROADTUCSON, AZ 85745, USACLAY BREWERTEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENTP. O. BOX 2083,FORT DAVIS, TX 79734, USACARLOS HUGO ALCALÁ-GALVÁNINSTITUTO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES FORESTALES, AGRICOLAS Y PECUARIASC. E. CARBÓ, BLVD. DEL BOSQUE #7, COL.VALLE VERDE, HERMOSILLO, SONORA, 83200, MEXICOBARRY HALENEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH1 WILDLIFE WAYSANTA FE, NM 87507, USADARREL L. WEYBRIGHTNEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH1 WILDLIFE WAYSANTA FE, NM 87507, USABRIAN F. WAKELINGARIZONA GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT2221 W. GREENWAY ROADPHOENIX, AZ 85023, USALEN H. CARPENTERWILDLIFE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE4015 CHENEY DRIVEFORT COLLINS, CO 80526, USANORRIS L. DODDARIZONA GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT2221 W. GREENWAY ROADPHOENIX, AZ 85023, USAFinancial assistance for publication provided byThe Mule Deer Foundation (www.muledeer.org).Cover photo by: George Andrejko/ Arizona Game and Fish DepartmentSuggested Citation: Heffelfinger, J. R., C. Brewer, C. H. Alcalá-Galván,B. Hale, D. L. Weybright, B. F. Wakeling, L. H. Carpenter, and N. L. Dodd.2006. Habitat Guidelines for Mule Deer: Southwest Deserts Ecoregion.Mule Deer Working Group, Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION2THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGION4Description4Ecoregion-specific Deer Ecology4MAJOR IMPACTS TO MULE DEER HABITATIN THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS5CONTRIBUTING FACTORS AND SPECIFICHABITAT GUIDELINES6Long-term Fire Suppression6Excessive Herbivory11Water Availability and Hydrological Changes19Non-native Invasive Species23Human Encroachment27Energy and Mineral Development31SUMMARY39LITERATURE CITED40APPENDICIES48TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
INTRODUCTIONule and black-tailed deer (collectively calledmule deer, Odocoileus hemionus) are icons of theAmerican West. Probably no animal representsthe West better in the minds of Americans.Because of their popularity and wide distribution, muledeer are one of the most economically and sociallyimportant animals in western North America. A survey ofoutdoor activities by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in2001 showed that over 4 million people hunted in the 18western states. In 2001 alone, those hunters were afield foralmost 50 million days and spent over 7 billion. Eachhunter spent an average of 1,581 in local communitiesacross the West on lodging, gas, and hunting-relatedequipment. Because mule deer are closely tied to thehistory, development, and future of the West, this specieshas become one of the true barometers of environmentalconditions in western North America.MMule deer are distributed throughout western NorthAmerica from the coastal islands of Alaska, down the westcoast to southern Baja Mexico and from the northern borderof the Mexican state of Zacatecas, north through the GreatPlains to the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta,British Columbia, and the southern Yukon Territory. Withthis wide latitudinal and geographic range, mule deeroccupy a great diversity of climatic regimes and vegetationassociations, resulting in an incredibly diverse set ofbehavioral and ecological adaptations that have allowedthis species to succeed.Within the geographic distribution of mule deer, however,areas can be grouped together into “ecoregions” withinwhich deer populations share certain similarities regardingthe issues and challenges that managers must face. Withinthese guidelines we have designated 7 separate ecoregions:1) California Woodland Chaparral, 2) Colorado PlateauShrubland and Forest, 3) Coastal Rain Forest, 4) GreatPlains, 5) Intermountain West, 6) Northern Boreal Forest,and 7) Southwest Deserts (deVos et al. 2003).The diversity among the ecoregions presents differentchallenges to deer managers and guidelines for managinghabitat must address these differences (Heffelfinger et al.2003). In many ecoregions, water availability is not a majorlimiting habitat factor. However, in others, such as theSouthwest Deserts ecoregion, water can be important.Winterkill is a significant factor affecting deer populationfluctuations in northern boreal forests. Winterkill is not aproblem in the Southwest Deserts, but overgrazing anddrought detrimentally impact populations.2 HABITAT GUIDELINES FOR MULE DEER - SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGIONSome vegetation associations are fire-adapted and some arenot. The shrubs that deer heavily rely on in theIntermountain West are disappearing from the landscape.Invasions of exotic plants like cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)have increased the fire frequency, resulting in more openlandscapes. In contrast, the California Woodland Chaparraland many forested areas lack the natural fire regimes thatmaintain open canopies and provided for growth ofimportant deer browse plants. Managers must work torestore ecologically appropriate fire regimes. Deerpopulations normally respond positively to vegetation inearly successional stages, however, an intact forest canopyis important in some northern areas of coastal rainforests tointercept the copious snow that falls in that region andimpacts black-tailed deer survival.Because of the vast blocks of public land in the West,habitat management throughout most of the geographicrange of mule deer is primarily the responsibility of federalland management agencies. Mule deer habitats are facingunprecedented threats from a wide variety of human-relateddevelopments. If mule deer habitats are to be conserved, itis imperative that state and federal agencies and privateconservation organizations are aware of key habitat needsand participate fully in habitat management for mule deer.Decades of habitat protection and enhancement under thenomer of “game” management benefited countless otherunhunted species. A shift away from single-speciesmanagement toward an ecosystem approach to themanagement of landscapes has been positive overall;however, some economically and socially important speciesare now de-emphasized or neglected in land use decisions.Mule deer have been the central pillar of the Americanconservation paradigm in most western states and thus aredirectly responsible for supporting a wide variety ofconservation activities that Americans value.The core components of deer habitat - water, food, andcover are consistent across the different ecoregions.Juxtaposition of these components is an important aspect ofgood mule deer habitat; they must be interspersed in such away that a population can derive necessary nutrition andcover to survive and reproduce. Over time we have learnedmuch about mule deer foods and cover, but more remainsto be learned. For example, we have learned that cover isnot a simple matter; the amelioration that vegetation andtopography provide under highly variable weatherconditions is a key aspect of mule deer well being. Muledeer have basic life history requirements that weave acommon thread throughout the many issues facing them.
Mule deer are primarily browsers, with a majority of theirdiet comprised of forbs and browse (leaves/twigs of woodyshrubs). Deer digestive tracts differ from cattle (Bos taurus)and elk (Cervus canadensis) in that they have a smallerrumen in relation to their body size and so they must bemore selective in their feeding. Instead of eating largequantities of low quality feed like grass, deer must selectthe most nutritious plants and parts of plants. Because ofthis, deer have more specific forage requirements thanlarger ruminants.The presence and condition of the shrub component is anunderlying issue found throughout different ecoregions andis important to many factors affecting mule deerpopulations. Shrubs occur mostly in early successionalhabitats; that is, those recently disturbed and going throughthe natural processes of maturing to a climax state. Thismeans disturbance is a key element to maintaining highquality deer habitat. In the past, different fire cycles andhuman disturbance, such as logging, resulted in higher deerabundance than we see today. Although weather patterns,especially precipitation, drive deer populations in the shortterm, only landscape-scale habitat improvement will makelong-term gains in mule deer abundance in many areas.beneficial than one large treatment in the center of thehabitat. Determining the appropriate scale for a treatmentshould be a primary concern of managers. Treatments toimprove deer habitat should be planned to work as parts ofan overall management strategy. For example, prioritytreatments should begin in an area where the benefit willbe greatest and then subsequent habitat improvementactivities can be linked to this core area.The well-being of mule deer, now and in the future, restswith the condition of their habitats. Habitat requirements ofmule deer must be incorporated into land managementplans so improvements to mule deer habitat can be madeon a landscape scale as the rule rather than the exception.The North American Mule Deer Conservation Plan(NAMDCP) provides a broad framework for managing muledeer and their habitat. These habitat managementguidelines, and those for the other ecoregions, tier off thatplan and provide specific actions for its implementation.The photographs and guidelines here are intended tocommunicate important components of mule deer habitatsacross the range of the species and suggest managementstrategies. This will enable public and private landmanagers to execute appropriate and effective decisions tomaintain and enhance mule deer habitat.Mule deer are known as a “K-selected” species. This meansthat populations will increase until the biological carryingcapacity is reached. If deer populations remain at or beyondcarrying capacity they begin to impact their habitats in anegative manner. The manager must also be aware thatlong-term impacts like drought conditions and vegetationsuccession can significantly lower the carrying capacity fordeer and even when a droughty period ends the overallcapacity may be lower than it might have been 20 yearsearlier. This may well be the situation in many mule deerhabitats in the west and the manager must be cognizant ofthis factor.Habitat conservation requires active habitat manipulation orconscious management of other land uses. An obviousquestion to habitat managers will be—at what scale do Iapply my treatments? This is a legitimate question andobviously hard to answer. Treated areas must be sufficientlylarge to produce a “treatment” effect. There is no one“cookbook” rule for scale of treatment. However, managersshould realize the effect of properly applied treatments islarger than the actual number of acres treated. Deer beingmobile will move in and out of the treatments and thus alarger area of habitat will benefit. In general, a number ofsmaller treatments in a mosaic or patchy pattern are moreINTRODUCTION 3
THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGIONDESCRIPTIONThe Southwest Deserts include southern portions ofCalifornia, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, extendingsouth into the Mexican states of Baja, Sonora, Chihuahua,Coahuila, and Durango (Fig. 1). Mule deer in this ecoregioninhabit areas primarily classified as Sonoran, Mohave, andChihuahuan desert vegetation associations. Climate is aridto semi-arid with extreme temperature variations and highevaporation rates. Annual rainfall in these desert areas islow ( 4 - 20 in) and highly variable. In the southeasternportion of this region, violent summer storms produce mostof the annual moisture, but rainfall is more evenly balancedbetween winter and summer periods in the northwesternextent of these desert regions. Southwest soils are generallylow in organic material and high in calcium carbonate.ECOREGION-SPECIFICDEER ECOLOGYFawn recruitment is highly variable depending on amountand timing of rainfall. Population fluctuations rely largelyon abundance of spring forbs produced as a result of winterrainfall. Smith and LeCount (1979) analyzed 9 years offawn:doe ratios, winter rainfall totals, and deer forageabundance in Arizona and found there was an extremelyhigh correlation between October-April rainfall and forage(forbs and browse species) available to deer in midgestation (April). Further analysis showed that Januaryfawn:doe ratios for mule deer are also highly correlatedwith amount of forbs produced the previous spring. Snow isuncommon in mule deer habitat in this region, whichmeans these non-migratory deer benefit from abundantwinter precipitation rather than suffer high winter mortality.Browse plants that deer rely on most for nutrition appear tohave inadequate levels of protein and phosphorus exceptduring the active winter growing season (Urness et al.1971). After annual growth stops in early spring, proteinand phosphorus drop below levels recommended forsatisfactory growth for the remainder of pregnancy. Tocompensate for this, deer supplement their diet with forbs,which are extremely important because they are highlydigestible and supply a disproportionate amount ofnutrients like protein and phosphorus.In Southwest Deserts, female fawns rarely breed. High bodyweight and good physical condition are prerequisites forbreeding as fawns. Deer in this region are born much laterthan northern deer and normally do not have the nutritionnecessary to attain breeding condition as fawns. Theyearling cohort is most susceptible to nutritionally inducedvariations in fertility (Lawrence et al. 2004). This variationis important because there are many more yearling does inthe population than any other age cohort. Impact of4 HABITAT GUIDELINES FOR MULE DEER - SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGIONnutrition on yearling does is precisely why consecutiveyears of above-average rainfall are important to buildingdeer populations in the Southwest Deserts. Effect ofnutrition on total herd productivity then, is largelymanifested in proportion of yearlings breeding and averagenumber of fawns they recruit into the population.In a study involving white-tailed deer (Odocoileusvirginianus), 92% of fawns born to malnourished doesdied within 2 days (Verme 1962), while does receivinggood nutrition throughout the last half of pregnancy gavebirth to fawns that weighed twice as much and only 5%died within a few days. A similar relationship exists inmule deer (Salwasser et al. 1978), which is important inthe Southwest because the late-gestation periodcorresponds to the low point in the annual nutritional cycle.If winter rains are sparse and forb production low, pregnantdoes enter the summer nutritional bottleneck in poorcondition with summer rains not arriving until the last fewweeks of pregnancy.Precipitation is the main factor affecting deer nutritionin the Southwest Deserts, but the condition of the habitatplays a large role in determining how much of that nutritionis available to each deer. Other ungulates (cattle, elk,other deer, burros, sheep, etc.) can reduce amount offorage available to deer and negatively affect reproduction.Moderate to heavy grazing on desert vegetation canquickly reduce herbaceous cover crucial for fawning coverand doe nutrition (Horejsi 1982). Excessive livestockstocking rates in desert areas can result in livestockremoving the current (and previous) year’s annual growthof browse twigs, which might cause them to further impactthe herbaceous forbs.In Mexico, the climate/habitat effects on deer populationsare overshadowed by ineffective restrictions on harvest.Leopold (1959) observed that subsistence hunting wasdepressing deer populations in many areas of Mexico. Thissituation still exists and may limit the distribution of muledeer on the southern periphery of their range.
MAJOR IMPACTS TO MULE DEER HABITATIN THE SOUTHWEST DESERTSPlant species composition has beenmodified. In some cases noxiousor invasive species have proliferatedin native plant communities,frequently reducing species richnessby replacing native flora withnear-monocultures. More subtlety,less desirable species have becomemore abundant at the expense ofmore desirable species (e.g., bluegrama replacing higher qualitygrama grasses).Vegetation structure has beenmodified. Both increases anddecreases in woody species candecrease mule deer habitat quality.Increasing woody cover in somecases decreases the amount anddiversity of herbaceous species.Conversely, decreases in somewoody species often results inless nutrition and hiding orthermal cover.Nutritional quality has decreased.Increasing age of woody shrubs canresult in forage of lower nutritionalquality and the plant growing out ofreach of mule deer. Many browseplants eventually become senescentand die if not disturbed. Some factorscan also result in the death of woodyplants or in a growth form wheremuch of the nutrition is beyond thereach of deer.Figure 1. The Southwest Deserts Ecoregion (Sue Boe/AGFD)Loss and fragmentation ofusable habitat due to humanencroachment and associatedactivities. Mule deer habitat is lostcompletely due to the expansion ofurban/suburban areas and otherassociated activities such as energyand mineral development, roadbuilding, and motorized recreation.Related human activity can alsodisplace mule deer from otherwisesuitable habitat.THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGION 5
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS & SPECIFIC HABITAT GUIDELINESLONG-TERM F IRE S UPPRESSIONB ACKGROUNDThe importance of fire in shaping andmaintaining southwestern landscapes is welldocumented (Stewart 1956, Wright and Bailey1982, McPherson 1995, and Frost 1998).Pase and Granfelt (1977) suggested that manybiotic communities of the Southwestco-evolved with fire in the last 10,000 to 12,000years. Wright and Bailey (1982) reported thatonly deserts with less than 7 inches of annualprecipitation escaped the influenceof fire.Wildfire remained a principal force in naturalcommunity development and maintenanceuntil the arrival of Anglo-Americans during the19th century. Settlement brought aboutsignificant landscape level changes includingthe alteration and/or removal of naturalprocesses such as fire. Considered noncompatible with human land-use practices, firesuppression continued in the Southwestthroughout much of the twentieth century.ISSUESANDCONCERNSFigure 2. Dense monocultures that exceed maximum canopy coverage of 40% andlack diverse understories with adequate amounts of quality forage are of little valueto mule deer (Photograph by Clay Brewer/TPWD).Ecological succession is the directional,predictable, and orderly process of community changeinvolving replacement of one plant community byanother. More recently, ecologists are starting to realizethat plant communities can remain stable at a lowersuccessional state than originally occurred there (Laycock1991, Briske et al. 2003). The pattern and rate of changein plant communities are controlled by the physicalenvironment, which has significant implications for muledeer populations. The arid to semi-arid climate of theSouthwest is characterized by extreme temperatures andunpredictable precipitation. As a result, mule deer andother wildlife are particularly sensitive to many humancaused landscape changes.Before the fire suppression era, frequent, low-severitywildfires maintained landscape and habitat diversity byproviding opportunities for the establishment andmaintenance of early successional species andcommunities (Schmidly 2002). These successionalpatterns were changed through the alteration of naturalfire frequencies and intensities (Fig. 2). The results ofthese alterations can be found throughout the Southwest.Examples include: the deterioration of desert grasslandsthrough woody plant encroachment and loss of importantplant species and the increase of large-scale, intense, anddetrimental catastrophic fires that result from the buildupof abnormal fuel loads.6 HABITAT GUIDELINES FOR MULE DEER - SOUTHWEST DESERTS ECOREGIONFigure 3. Mule deer benefit from lower tree canopy ( 40%), increased
California, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, extending south into the Mexican states of Baja, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango (Fig. 1). Mule deer in this ecoregion inhabit areas primarily classified as Sonoran, Mohave, and Chihuahuan desert vegetation associations. Climate is arid to semi-arid with extreme temperature variations .
New Mexico is known for its mule deer hunting, and it is a destination for both residents and non-residents who wish to harvest a high-quality mule deer buck. New Mexico has two subspecies of mule deer, Rocky Mountain mule deer and desert mule deer. In
five year period from 2015 - 2019, mule deer focused actions were implemented in 14 areas within the range of mule deer in Oregon (Figure 2). The overall intent was to maintain the momentum of actions focused on mule deer restoration and use knowledge from successful initial efforts by expanding actions to additional mule deer units.
survive the winter. If many fawns survive the winter, managers know mule deer populations are doing well. If fewer fawns survive, managers may need to take steps to help the population. Many things may make mule deer numbers decrease. It will take time, money and patience to increase the number of mule deer living in
3. We have to just unzip the downloaded file and go to bin directory of mule runtime. 4. In MS windows Operating system we have to run mule.bat file with admin privilege. 5. Mule will deploy default app and up now. Now you can manually deploy mule app by just past mule app zip file at app directory of runtime and check log in log directory. 6.
Functioning mule deer winter habitat within all areas of CCLUP and FRPA designated MDWRs, to support regional mule deer population over winter Objectives to Achieve Demonstration of net benefit to MDWR, in terms of working towards achievement of Long-term objectives as well as stand level objectives. 1. Long-term Spatial Stand Structure Objectives
need the hunting effort of all of Maine’s 170,000 deer hunters to achieve needed harvests of antlerless deer. Consequently, we limit participation in antlerless deer hunting during the firearms and muzzleloader seasons using variable quota deer permits or “any-deer” permits. This document details how any-deer permits are
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overall beauty. In either case, humans are always impressed to catch a glimpse of a white-tailed deer. White-tailed deer are members of the cervid family which is represented in the United States by four genera; Cervus (elk), Alces (moose), Odocoileus (mule deer and white-tailed deer), and Rangifer (caribou). In the modern form,
