Modeled Impacts of Chronic Wasting Disease on White-Tailed Deer in a Semi-Arid Environment.

ABSTRACT: White-tailed deer are a culturally and economically important game species in North America, especially in South Texas. The recent discovery of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive deer facilities in Texas has increased concern about the potential emergence of CWD in free-ranging deer. The concern is exacerbated because much of the South Texas region is a semi-arid environment with variable rainfall, where precipitation is strongly correlated with fawn recruitment. Further, the marginally productive rangelands, in combination with erratic fawn recruitment, results in populations that are frequently density-independent, and thus sensitive to additive mortality. It is unknown how a deer population in semi-arid regions would respond to the presence of CWD. We used long-term empirical data

SUBMITTER: Foley AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5053495 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature