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1 June 2015 Scale-Dependent Effects of Coyote-Predation Risk on Patterns of White-Tailed Deer Browsing along Linear Forest Edges
Joshua L.B. Pierce, Sabrina A. Dalinsky, Andre-Anne Chenaille, Lewis M. Lolya, Jennifer L. Maguder, Chloe Mattilio, Grace V. Mayhew, Erin Regan, David A. Patrick
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Abstract

Browsing by Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) plays an important role in shaping forest structure in the northeastern US. Predation can influence patterns of browse through decreasing White-tailed Deer abundance and influencing patterns of habitat selection. Canis latrans (Coyote) is the dominant predator of White-tailed Deer in our focal region in northern New York. Optimal foraging theory suggests that White-tailed Deer browse in locations that maximize energy intake while minimizing predation risk. Linear forest edges provide abundant woody browse for White-tailed Deer, but are also used as travel-ways by Coyotes in our focal region. These locations therefore provide a venue for testing the extent to which predation risk influences patterns of White-tailed Deer browsing. We quantified White-tailed Deer browse use for edge and interior sites and the density of Coyote scats along seventeen 500-m transects to evaluate the scale at which White-tailed Deer herbivory was affected by Coyote predation risk. We did not observe a change in White-tailed Deer browsing at the landscape scale in response to variation in the risk of Coyote predation, or a mitigating role of escape cover. However, we did detect a tendency for White-tailed Deer to shift browsing from the forest edge to interior along transects with more Coyotes. Our study indicates that Coyotes in the focal area were likely influencing patterns of browsing primarily through behaviorally mediated indirect effects.

Joshua L.B. Pierce, Sabrina A. Dalinsky, Andre-Anne Chenaille, Lewis M. Lolya, Jennifer L. Maguder, Chloe Mattilio, Grace V. Mayhew, Erin Regan, and David A. Patrick "Scale-Dependent Effects of Coyote-Predation Risk on Patterns of White-Tailed Deer Browsing along Linear Forest Edges," Northeastern Naturalist 22(2), 262-272, (1 June 2015). https://doi.org/10.1656/045.022.0203
Published: 1 June 2015
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