Individual heterogeneity in resource selection has implications for mortality risk in white‐tailed deer

Abstract

AbstractIndividual animals vary in their selection of habitat as a function of sex, age, and experience. Such individual heterogeneity is important when decomposing segments of the population that may or may not respond to habitat or population management, or when targeting management that has greater potential for increasing demographic responses (e.g., survival). We examined individual heterogeneity in habitat selection during the hunting season using multilevel step selection models for 59 adult (≥2.5 yr old) white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of both sexes. We used fractal analysis to determine the scale at which animals perceived and responded to the landscape, and modeled selection using covariates for use of agriculture, wetland, edge, forest interior, and distance to road. We tested for differences in individual‐specific habitat selection between age classes and modeled survival as a function of individual‐specific selection using proportional hazard modeling. At the population level, males selected for agriculture and forest interior and avoided roads, while adult females selected for agriculture. Individual‐specific selection of forest interior differed between age classes in males, with mature males selecting interior forest less frequently than immature males. Risk of mortality was related negatively to individual‐specific selection for wetland areas in males and forest interior for females. No habitat variables that were selected for or avoided at the population level influenced mortality risk at the individual level, suggesting management efforts based on traditional population‐level analysis may be misguided. Managers attempting to influence population dynamics via habitat and harvest management should be aware of the substantial heterogeneity in habitat selection among individual animals before implementing costly practices that may not be effective for their objectives.