Size of winter home range of roe deer Capreolus capreolus in two forest areas with artificial feeding in Sweden

Abstract

The size of the winter home range of female roe deer Capreolus capreolus was studied in Sweden in a boreal area, Grimsö, and in a boreo‐nemoral area, Bogesund. The home range size of each roe deer was based on 48–72 radio‐locations collected from late January to early March. The average size of the winter home range was similar in the two areas, i.e. about 60 ha. No significant differences were found between home range sizes based on minimum convex polygon and harmonic mean 95%. The mean size of core areas (harmonic mean 50%) differed significantly between study areas. Snow depth was identified as an important factor influencing the size of home ranges. In the boreal forest, snow cover lowered the availability of the main food for the roe deer, i.e. dwarf‐shrubs, resulting in roe deer concentrating around artificial feeding sites.