Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item The influence of crude terpenoid constituents on mule deer preference for big sagebrush and black sagebrush(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1985) Personius, Timothy LeeItem Site characteristics and effect on elk and mule deer use of the Gardiner winter range, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1984) McNeal, Allen FrancisItem The influence of selected Artemisia compounds on mule deer preference(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1990) Bray, Robert OwensItem Winter range use by cattle : microclimate and diet selection(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1995) Beaver, John MichaelItem Influences of browsing and fire on sagebrush taxa of the Northern Yellowstone Winter Range(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1995) Mehus, Chris AllenItem The effects of prescribed burning on deer and elk habitat parameters in Montana's Missouri River Breaks(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2004) Wood, Christopher Karl; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Clayton B. Marlow.Fire suppression has been practiced along the Missouri River Breaks for decades and has led to a series of resource issues. Among these issues was a build up of dangerous fuel loads and restricted foraging areas for livestock and big game. Because the Missouri Breaks are an important wintering area for mule deer ((Odocoileus hemionus hemionus Rafinesque) and elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni Bailey), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wanted to know how a series of prescribed burns in late May and early June of 2002 would affect habitat. The prescribed burns left a mosaic of unburned, scorched, and heavily burned landscape across the study site. There was concern that the reductions in hiding and thermal cover and decreased browse availability would have adverse impacts on the mule deer and elk populations. To evaluate the possible impacts of the prescribed fire on deer and elk populations use of unburned, scorched and heavily burned areas were compared using pellet group counts and winter browsing pressures. Thermal and hiding cover measurements were taken to quantify fire intensity effects on cover loss. Forb and grass rejuvenation was monitored one and two years after the burn to measure the impacts to the forage base. Thermal cover did not differ significantly (P>0.10) between unburned, scorched, and heavily burned areas. Scorched and heavily burned areas had significantly less (P<0.10) hiding cover than unburned areas. While grass did not differ significantly among the treatments, forbs were greater in the second year after the burn in scorched and heavily burned areas. Pellet groups counts indicate that mule deer used all burn intensities and showed no indication of preference or avoidance of various cover levels or forage availability. Elk use of the study site was too minimal to analyze. There was no significant difference (P>0.10) between browsing pressures in meadows of burned and unburned areas, suggesting that deer did not select browsing areas based on adjacent cover levels. There were however, were significant differences (P<0.01) among browsing pressures of the three browse species. The use of prescribed fire as a management tool without adversely effecting deer and elk populations looks promising. Prescribed fire can be used to improve habitat for mule deer and elk. The prescribed fire maintained sufficient thermal and hiding cover levels while increasing total forb cover including many important species considered important for mule deer.Item Predicting feeding site selection of mule deer on foothill and mountain rangelands(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2008) Bilbao, Joshua Vicente; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jeffrey C. Mosley.Determining areas on the landscape selected by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) for foraging and the characteristics of selected feeding sites is a crucial step in managing mule deer and its habitat. Mule deer populations in much of western North America have been declining since the early 1990's, making management of mule deer increasingly difficult. Limited research has examined the characteristics of mule deer habitat that influence feeding site selection in foothill and mountain rangeland habitats during the winter and spring. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate models that incorporate the effects of important habitat variables that influence feeding sites chosen by mule deer in the winter and spring, including aspect, distance to forested cover, distance to hiding cover, distance to agricultural fields, distance to improved roads, distance to ranch roads, elevation, previous cattle grazing, and slope. Data collected in northwestern Wyoming between the summer of 1999 and spring of 2001 were used for model development, and data collected between summer 2001 and spring 2003 were used for temporal validation. Additionally, data collected in west-central Montana between summer 2001 and spring 2003 were used for temporospatial validation. Logistic regression was used to develop models for the winter, spring, and winter-spring seasons. Akaike's Information Criterion was used to determine the best models for each season. Models were validated on both a temporal and temporospatial scale. Six habitat variables (distance to improved roads, distance to ranch roads, distance to security cover, aspect, slope, and previous summer's cattle grazing) were included in model development after collinearity tests. Four models had a model sensitivity > or equal to 75% in both temporal and temporospatial validation. These models can be used to identify preferred mule deer feeding sites and assess potential impacts of land management practices on mule deer foraging habitat.