Ecological effects of fear: How spatiotemporal heterogeneity in predation risk influences mule deer access to forage in a sky-island system.

ABSTRACT: Forage availability and predation risk interact to affect habitat use of ungulates across many biomes. Within sky-island habitats of the Mojave Desert, increased availability of diverse forage and cover may provide ungulates with unique opportunities to extend nutrient uptake and/or to mitigate predation risk. We addressed whether habitat use and foraging patterns of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) responded to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), NDVI rate of change (green-up), or the occurrence of cougars (Puma concolor). Female mule deer used available green-up primarily in spring, although growing vegetation was available during other seasons. Mule deer and cougar shared similar habitat all year, and our models indicated cougars had a consistent, negative

SUBMITTER: Lowrey C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6662283 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature