Plastic response by a small cervid to supplemental feeding in winter across a wide environmental gradient

Supplemental feeding for ungulates is a widespread practice in many human-dominated landscapes across Europe and North America, mainly intended to seasonally support populations. Surprisingly, little consideration was given so far to the effect of supplemental feeding on ungulate spatial ecology at a large scale, in management and conservation studies. Analyses of the main ecological drivers influencing the use of supplemental feeding sites by ungulates across a gradient of abiotic and biotic factors are currently lacking. We conducted a large-scale assessment of ecological and management drivers of use of feeding station sites in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), a small cervid widely distributed across Europe that is particularly sensitive to winter severity. We tested four competing hypotheses by comparing the time spent at feeding station sites by 180 individual Global Positioning System-collared roe deer from nine populations spanning a wide latitudinal and altitudinal gradient. We found that roe deer used feeding station sites highly opportunistically in response to winter severity across its range. The harshest weather conditions at the northern range limit or the highest elevations provoked an intense use of feeding station sites, which typically peaked at the end of winter, in accordance with the adverse weather and nutritional condition hypotheses. Consistently, milder winters corresponded to a reduced and/or more homogeneous use of supplemental feeding. In general, intensively used feeding station sites heavily conditioned spatial behavior of roe deer. Importantly, biotic factors such as the presence of competitors decreased roe deer use of supplemental feeding station sites. Our results emphasize the importance of this human-induced alteration to resource distribution, especially in the context of the rapidly occurring climate change that is modifying resource availability for ungulate populations.

[1]  S. Creel,et al.  Influences of supplemental feeding on winter elk calf:cow ratios in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem , 2015 .

[2]  T. Hothorn,et al.  Creating a landscape of management: Unintended effects on the variation of browsing pressure in a national park , 2015 .

[3]  J. Gaillard,et al.  Snow sinking depth and forest canopy drive winter resource selection more than supplemental feeding in an alpine population of roe deer , 2015, European Journal of Wildlife Research.

[4]  R. Brook,et al.  To feed or not to feed? Evidence of the intended and unintended effects of feeding wild ungulates , 2014 .

[5]  S. Creel,et al.  A multi-scale assessment of animal aggregation patterns to understand increasing pathogen seroprevalence , 2014 .

[6]  P. Cross,et al.  Supplemental feeding alters migration of a temperate ungulate. , 2014, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[7]  P. O’Gorman Contrasting responses of mean and extreme snowfall to climate change , 2014, Nature.

[8]  H. Valdmann,et al.  Winter severity or supplementary feeding—which matters more for wild boar? , 2014, Acta Theriologica.

[9]  Marco Heurich,et al.  LiDAR Remote Sensing of Forest Structure and GPS Telemetry Data Provide Insights on Winter Habitat Selection of European Roe Deer , 2014 .

[10]  M. Heurich,et al.  Eurasian lynx hunting red deer: is there an influence of a winter enclosure system? , 2014, Zeitschrift f\ ur Jagdwissenschaft.

[11]  Floris M. van Beest,et al.  Impacts of wildlife baiting and supplemental feeding on infectious disease transmission risk: a synthesis of knowledge. , 2014, Preventive veterinary medicine.

[12]  F. M. Beest,et al.  Long-term effects of supplementary feeding of moose on browsing impact at a landscape scale , 2014 .

[13]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[14]  A. Mysterud,et al.  Seasonality, weather and climate affect home range size in roe deer across a wide latitudinal gradient within Europe. , 2013, The Journal of animal ecology.

[15]  S. Creel,et al.  Inferential consequences of modeling rather than measuring snow accumulation in studies of animal ecology. , 2013, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[16]  Forestomach pH in hunted roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in relation to forestomach region, time of measurement and supplemental feeding and comparison among wild ruminant species , 2013, European Journal of Wildlife Research.

[17]  Sven Kotlarski,et al.  Alpine snow cover in a changing climate: a regional climate model perspective , 2013, Climate Dynamics.

[18]  K. Jerina Roads and supplemental feeding affect home-range size of Slovenian red deer more than natural factors , 2012 .

[19]  T. Landete-Castillejos,et al.  Benefits for Dominant Red Deer Hinds under a Competitive Feeding System: Food Access Behavior, Diet and Nutrient Selection , 2012, PloS one.

[20]  M. Heurich,et al.  Detection and characterization of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in faeces and lymphatic tissue of free-ranging deer , 2012, Epidemiology and Infection.

[21]  J. Månsson,et al.  Use and competition at artificial feeding sites - the roe deer and fallow deer case , 2012 .

[22]  T. Hothorn,et al.  Survival and causes of death of European Roe Deer before and after Eurasian Lynx reintroduction in the Bavarian Forest National Park , 2012, European Journal of Wildlife Research.

[23]  Markus Neteler,et al.  Partial migration in roe deer: migratory and resident tactics are end points of a behavioural gradient determined by ecological factors , 2011 .

[24]  Floris M. van Beest,et al.  What determines variation in home range size across spatiotemporal scales in a large browsing herbivore? , 2011, The Journal of animal ecology.

[25]  Markus Neteler,et al.  Partial migration in roe deer , 2011 .

[26]  Dax L. Mangus Reducing Reliance on Supplemental Winter Feeding in Elk (Cervus canadensis): An Applied Management Experiment at Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch, Utah , 2011 .

[27]  J. Gaillard,et al.  Habitat use by female western roe deer (Capreolus capreolus): influence of resource availability on habitat selection in two contrasting years. , 2010 .

[28]  A. Mysterud Still walking on the wild side? Management actions as steps towards 'semi-domestication' of hunted ungulates , 2010 .

[29]  Markus Neteler,et al.  Wildlife tracking data management: a new vision , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[30]  J. M. Fryxell,et al.  Foraging theory upscaled: the behavioural ecology of herbivore movement , 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[31]  Juergen Kreyling,et al.  Winter climate change: a critical factor for temperate vegetation performance. , 2010, Ecology.

[32]  J. Craine,et al.  Climate controls on grass culm production over a quarter century in a tallgrass prairie. , 2010, Ecology.

[33]  J. Månsson,et al.  Can supplementary feeding be used to redistribute moose Alces alces? , 2010 .

[34]  Floris M. van Beest,et al.  Comparative Space Use and Habitat Selection of Moose Around Feeding Stations , 2010 .

[35]  François Klein,et al.  High red deer density depresses body mass of roe deer fawns , 2010, Oecologia.

[36]  M. Adamič,et al.  Predation has a greater impact in less productive environments: variation in roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, population density across Europe , 2009 .

[37]  Jean-Michel Gaillard,et al.  What shapes intra‐specific variation in home range size? A case study of female roe deer , 2009 .

[38]  F. Cagnacci,et al.  Anaplasma phagocytophilum groEL gene heterogeneity in Ixodes ricinus larvae feeding on roe deer in Northeastern Italy. , 2009, Vector borne and zoonotic diseases.

[39]  Sonja Wipf,et al.  Winter climate change in alpine tundra: plant responses to changes in snow depth and snowmelt timing , 2009 .

[40]  K. Parker,et al.  Nutrition integrates environmental responses of ungulates. , 2009 .

[41]  Erle C. Ellis,et al.  Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world , 2008 .

[42]  Francesca Cagnacci,et al.  Managing wildlife: A spatial information system for GPS collars data , 2008, Environ. Model. Softw..

[43]  J. P. Ball,et al.  Living in Snowy Environments: Quantifying The Influence of Snow on Moose Behavior , 2008 .

[44]  T. Messmer,et al.  Effects of Winter-Feeding on Mule Deer in Northern Utah , 2007 .

[45]  M. Ramanzin,et al.  Seasonal migration and home range of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in the Italian eastern Alps , 2007 .

[46]  M. Gerkema,et al.  Where clocks are redundant: weak circadian mechanisms in reindeer living under polar photic conditions , 2007, Naturwissenschaften.

[47]  JOHN FIEBERG,et al.  A Long-Term Age-Specific Survival Analysis of Female White-Tailed Deer , 2006 .

[48]  M. Owens,et al.  Effect of supplemental feeding on spatial distribution and browse utilization by white-tailed deer in semi-arid rangeland , 2006 .

[49]  Cameron L. Aldridge,et al.  Application of random effects to the study of resource selection by animals. , 2006, The Journal of animal ecology.

[50]  S. Focardi,et al.  Inter-specific competition from fallow deer Dama dama reduces habitat quality for the Italian roe deer Capreolus capreolus italicus , 2006 .

[51]  N. Pettorelli,et al.  Using the satellite-derived NDVI to assess ecological responses to environmental change. , 2005, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[52]  R. J. Putman,et al.  Supplementary winter feeding of wild red deer Cervus elaphus in Europe and North America: justifications, feeding practice and effectiveness , 2004 .

[53]  H. Gundersen,et al.  Supplemental feeding of migratory moose Alces alces: forest damage at two spatial scales , 2004, Wildlife Biology.

[54]  M. Graham CONFRONTING MULTICOLLINEARITY IN ECOLOGICAL MULTIPLE REGRESSION , 2003 .

[55]  David R. Anderson,et al.  Model selection and multimodel inference : a practical information-theoretic approach , 2003 .

[56]  I. Aoki,et al.  Variation in life history parameters of the cardinalfish Apogonlineatus , 2003 .

[57]  J. Overpeck,et al.  Abrupt Climate Change , 2003, Science.

[58]  N. DiGirolamo,et al.  MODIS snow-cover products , 2002 .

[59]  Anders Moberg,et al.  Daily dataset of 20th‐century surface air temperature and precipitation series for the European Climate Assessment , 2002 .

[60]  H. Kilpatrick,et al.  Effects of temporary bait sites on movements of suburban white-tailed deer , 2002 .

[61]  Nils Chr. Stenseth,et al.  CLIMATIC VARIABILITY, PLANT PHENOLOGY, AND NORTHERN UNGULATES , 1999 .

[62]  A. Mysterud Seasonal migration pattern and home range of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in an altitudinal gradient in southern Norway , 1999 .

[63]  John D. C. Linnell,et al.  Habitat use and ecological correlates of home range size in a small cervid : the roe deer , 1996 .

[64]  R. Bergström,et al.  Size of winter home range of roe deer Capreolus capreolus in two forest areas with artificial feeding in Sweden , 1996, Wildlife Biology.

[65]  B. Worton Kernel methods for estimating the utilization distribution in home-range studies , 1989 .

[66]  T. Wigley,et al.  Global temperature variations between 1861 and 1984 , 1986, Nature.

[67]  E. S. Telfer,et al.  ADAPTATION OF SOME LARGE NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS FOR SURVIVAL IN SNOW , 1984 .

[68]  K. Parker,et al.  Energy expenditures for locomotion by mule deer and elk , 1984 .

[69]  B. Hoffmann,et al.  Progesterone and estrogen levels in peripheral plasma of the pregnant and nonpregnant roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). , 1978, Biology of reproduction.

[70]  A. N. Moen Seasonal Changes in Heart Rates, Activity, Metabolism, and Forage Intake of White-Tailed Deer , 1978 .

[71]  Y. Espmark Social behaviour of roe deer at winter feeding stations , 1974 .

[72]  S. Fretwell,et al.  On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds , 1969 .