UP Project |
Since 1997, the CDOW has conducted several mule deer research projects on the Uncompahgre Plateau. The purpose of this research has been to more accurately estimate population numbers, to better understand population dynamics, and to determine why deer numbers steadily declined during the 1990’s. These studies have been designed to provide a complete picture of the deer recruitment cycle from conception to adulthood.
Annual Adult and Winter Fawn Survival Rates and Cause-specific Mortality
Since December 1997, the CDOW has equipped over 600 deer on the Plateau with radio-transmitters to determine annual survival rates of bucks and does and survival rates of fawns from mid-December to mid-June. This information is being used along with mid-December sex and age data, aerial quadrat counts, and hunter harvest data to more accurately model the population. Cause of mortality is also being determined to evaluate the role of predator versus non-predator causes of mortality. Funding: CDOW, Mule Deer Foundation, Safari Club International. Completion date: On-going. Principal researcher: Dr. Bruce Watkins, CDOW.
Pregnancy and Fetal Rates
In February 1999, the CDOW determined pregnancy and fetal rates of mule deer on the Uncompahgre Plateau using ultrasound techniques and blood testing. This information provides a baseline for evaluating the potential productivity of the Uncompahgre deer population. Funding: CDOW. Completion date: 1999. Principal researcher: Thomas M. Pojar, CDOW.
Summer Fawn Survival Rates and Cause-specific Mortality
In June 1999, the CDOW began a study of fawn survival and causes of mortality between birth and mid-December. This study allows a relative assessment of the importance of summer fawn mortality versus winter fawn mortality. It also will provide information on predator versus non-predator causes of mortality. Funding: CDOW. Completion date: September 2002. Principal researcher: Thomas M. Pojar, CDOW.
Effects of Winter Nutrition Enhancement on Deer Survival Rates and Recruitment
In December 2000, the CDOW began an experiment to determine if the nutritional quality of winter habitat on the Uncompahgre Plateau is a key factor limiting mule deer fawn survival and recruitment. Using supplemental feeding of does in two locations on the Plateau during winter in a crossover design, this study will evaluate the effect of enhanced nutrition of does during winter and early spring on subsequent mid-December fawn/doe ratios and over-winter fawn survival. Another aspect of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing ultrasound techniques and vaginal implant transmitters in adult does to measure fetus mortality and to locate and capture neonate fawns born from specific does. An objective of this part of the study is to investigate how fetal and neonatal survival rates are affected by the nutrition level of does during winter. Funding: CDOW, Mule Deer Foundation, Habitat Partnership Program. Completion date: 2004. Principal researchers: Chad Bishop, CDOW and Dr. Gary White, Colorado State University (CSU).
Effects of Habitat Manipulations on Survival and Recruitment
The second phase of the CDOW’s nutrition enhancement study is to determine whether habitat on the Uncompahgre Plateau can be manipulated in a manner that actually benefits mule deer populations. If winter nutrition appears to be a critical limiting factor of the deer population, habitat quality will be manipulated in an attempt to replicate the effect of enhanced nutrition from supplemental feeding. Funding: CDOW. Completion date: 2010. Principal researchers: Chad Bishop, CDOW; Dr. Gary White, CSU.
The Potential Role of Infectious Disease
Investigations into the possible role of infectious disease in the Uncompahgre deer population began in 1999. In 1999, 200 hunter-killed deer from the Uncompahgre region were tested for chronic wasting disease. In 2000 and 2001, blood samples were taken from deer captured during December to determine the sero-prevalence of antibodies for bovine viral diarrhea, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, and bluetongue. In 1999-2001, neonatal fawn mortalities were tested for several viruses and enteric pathogens. Funding: CDOW. Completion date: Summer 2002. Principal researchers: Dr. Erin Myers, MS Candidate, Colorado State University; Dr. Mike Miller, CDOW.
The Role of Habitat in the Decline of Mule Deer
A study of landscape changes on the Uncompahgre Plateau and Piceance Basin and their potential impact on mule deer was recently completed One aspect of this research was to analyze and compare historic and recent aerial photographs to evaluate how vegetative communities have changed on a landscape scale during the 20th century. Another aspect was to use historic grazing exclosures to evaluate how grazing has affected plant community development in several sagebrush-dominated habitat types distributed around the western slope. Three of the historic exclosures used in this assessment are located on or near the Uncompahgre Plateau. Funding: CSU, CDOW, Natural Resource Ecology Lab (NREL). Completion date: 2003. Principal researchers: Dr. Dan Manier, NREL, CSU; Dr. N. Thompson Hobbs, CDOW and NREL; Dr. David M. Theobald, NREL.