Landscape influence on dispersal of yearling male white‐tailed deer

Abstract

ABSTRACTLandscape features can alter the transfer phase of dispersal and dispersal‐mediated disease transmission and gene flow. The transfer phase is poorly understood, but improved understanding of landscape effects on dispersal distance and direction would allow better prediction and mitigation of disease spread and improved delineation of management zones. To investigate how ecological settings influence dispersal in white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we captured and radio‐collared 409 juvenile male deer from 2 study areas in Wisconsin, USA, one dominated by public forest and another by row‐crop agriculture. Dispersal directions were non‐directed in the heavily forested study area, but there was a southeastern bias in the farmland study area. Individual dispersal distances were not related to forest cover, and study area average and maximum distances differed from expected, based on published relationships between forest cover and population‐average dispersal distance. Roads, rivers, and cities were semipermeable barriers to dispersal, but effects of barriers differed with respect to study area, suggesting that natural and anthropogenic features influence dispersal‐mediated disease transmission and gene flow. Our results suggest that dispersal models should consider movement barriers in more developed landscapes, and barriers can also be used to inform designation of biologically meaningful management units. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.