Effect of enhanced nutrition during winter on the Uncompahgre Plateau mule deer population

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations declined across much of the West during the 1990s, prompting state wildlife agencies to explore mule deer limiting factors. The greatest concern of agencies and sportsmen was whether declining habitat quality, predation, or both were responsible for the observed declines. In Colorado, the Uncompahgre Plateau mule deer population received the most attention because of a steep population decline from the 1980s through the late 1990s. Biologists hypothesized that poor quality of the pinyon (Pirns edulis) and juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) winter range was the primary cause of the observed decline. In contrast, many of the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s (CDOW) constituents hypothesized that high predation rates were keeping the mule deer herd below nutritional carrying capacity. These hypotheses represented very different paradigms of population limitation. Perhaps more importantly, the competing views suggested that CDOW should pursue one of two very different management strategies: 1) implement habitat improvements in the pinyon-juniper winter range, or 2) implement efforts to reduce predator populations, particularly coyote (Canis latrans) populations. Information was needed to guide the decision process. I therefore evaluated the effect of enhanced nutrition during winter on the Uncompahgre deer population as a way to evaluate the importance of habitat quality versus that of predation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Authors dc:creator

• Bishop, Chad Jeffrey, author
• White, Gary C., advisor

• habitat quality
• mule deer
• Odocoileus hemionus
• Uncompahgre Plateau
• winter
• forestry
• range management

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018599

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/237586