Abstract
Maintaining ecological integrity necessitates a proactive approach of identifying and acquiring lands to conserve unfragmented landscapes, as well as evaluating existing mitigation strategies to increase connectivity in fragmented landscapes. The increased use of highway underpasses and overpasses to restore connectivity for wildlife species offers clear conservation benefits, yet also presents a unique opportunity to understand how weather conditions may impact movement of wildlife species. We used remote camera observations (19,480) from an existing wildlife highway underpass in Wyoming and daily meteorological observations to quantify weather conditions associated with autumn migration of mule deer in 2009 and 2010. We identified minimal daily temperature and snow depth as proximate cues associated with mule deer migration to winter range. These weather cues were consistent across does and bucks, but differed slightly by year. Additionally, extreme early season snow depth or cold temperature events appear to be associated with onset of migration. This information will assist wildlife managers and transportation officials as they plan future projects to maintain and enhance migration routes for mule deer.
Highlights
Maintaining ecological integrity necessitates a proactive approach of identifying threats to species, communities, and the ecological processes that sustain them
To identify weather conditions associated with autumn migration by mule deer, we modeled counts of does and bucks as a function of weather variables
Model-selection results indicated minimum air temperature and snow depth were the best proximate cues associated with autumn migration
Summary
Maintaining ecological integrity necessitates a proactive approach of identifying threats to species, communities, and the ecological processes that sustain them. Highway underpasses have restored connectivity for mule deer in fragmented landscapes (Reed, Woodward & Pojar, 1975; Ng et al, 2004; Clevenger & Waltho, 2005; Braden et al, 2008; Gagnon et al, 2011). The unique structure of highway underpasses and associated fencing, when coupled with remote cameras and weather observations, presents an opportunity to gain substantial information on population age and sex structure. How to cite this article Rittenhouse et al (2015), Weather conditions associated with autumn migration by mule deer in Wyoming. The relationships between migratory movements and weather conditions are understudied, despite the importance of this for informing policy and adaptive management decisions regarding connectivity in the context of a changing climate
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