Deer movement and resource selection during Hurricane Irma: implications for extreme climatic events and wildlife.

ABSTRACT: Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and this necessitates understanding their influence on organisms. Animal behaviour may mitigate the effects of ECEs, but field studies are rare because ECEs are infrequent and unpredictable. Hurricane Irma made landfall in southwestern Florida where we were monitoring white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus seminolus) with GPS collars. We report on an opportunistic case study of behavioural responses exhibited by a large mammal during an ECE, mitigation strategies for reducing the severity of the ECE effects, and the demographic effect of the ECE based on known-fate of individual animals. Deer altered resource selection by selecting higher elevation pine and hardwood forests and avoiding marshes. Most deer le

SUBMITTER: Abernathy HN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6939277 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature