Patterns of Habitat Preference, Activity, and Species Interactions for White-Tailed Deer in the Town of Amherst, Massachusetts

Presenter

Julia Christine Hatzis

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Kelly B. Klingler, Department of Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 4, 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A14, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) density in the northeastern United States has increased over the last century due to a loss of natural predators, a lack of disease mortality, and declining levels of hunting. Deer overabundance can pose risks to human safety with millions of car accidents, and hundreds of deaths, occurring annually. Furthermore, overbrowsing by deer has exacerbating ecological impacts on forest health and regeneration which can negatively affect other wildlife species. Using detection data collected from 40 motion-sensor cameras within the undergraduate-led UMass Amherst Wildlife project, this thesis investigates two questions: 1) Is white-tailed deer presence positively or negatively correlated with other wildlife species?, and 2) Are white-tailed deer more abundant in certain habitat types across the wildland-urban interface, and does that vary diurnally and/or seasonally?  During 2017-2023, this camera array detected 176,749 images of 73 unique avian and mammalian species across 259 deployment periods within the Town of Amherst, MA. Deer were detected at all times of day. Preliminary results indicate that deer were positively associated with most mammalian wildlife species, except for red fox (Vulpes vulpes). We also aim to determine which habitat types (conservation areas, residential, or urban) deer are most active in during their breeding season (September-November) and fawning season (April-July), respectively. These results may help to identify white-tailed deer habitat preferences, timing of activity, and the effect of their presence on other species which can inform town management strategies.

Keywords

Overpopulation, Ecosystems, White-tailed deer, Wildlife interactions

Research Area

Animal Behaviour

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