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Luke Wilde - Promoting Behavioral Diversity Through Informed Management in a Partially Migratory Ungulate

I am grateful to the Don and Judy Legerski UW Teton Graduate Scholars in Biodiversity Fellowship for their generous support of my graduate work. This funding will support my work over the Summer term and allow me to expand a network of camera traps meant to monitor mule deer as they navigate risk along their migration route. Mule deer from the Red Desert segment of the Sublette herd have the longest migration in the lower-48. Along their 150-mile journey, they face risks from roads, fences, missed feeding opportunities, and predators. Thanks to this support, I will add additional camera trapping sites to monitor the behavior of migrating deer and collect crucial information for conserving this natural wonder. This work will contribute both to the Wyoming Migration Initiative’s social media outreach and management knowledge about the different migration behaviors of male mule deer, which are rarely monitored.

Luke Wilde

Don and Judy Legerski UW Teton Graduate Scholars in Biodiversity Fellowship

Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Graduate Advisor: Matthew Kauffman

Objectives:

We will compare movement behaviors among and within a diversity of migratory strategies in a mule deer herd and develop management recommendations to benefit climate- and disturbance-resilience. Specifically, we will test predictions of ecological theory, promote public engagement with citizen science and accessible presentations, engage early science education, and create novel tools for managers to monitor migration in real time.

Background:

Animal migration is a global phenomenon of high subsistence, economic and cultural value1. Migratory ungulates bolster rural and indigenous economies and provide multiple ecosystem services. To support this important role, regional managers use migration-specific protocols to maintain migratory herds. For instance, Wyoming managers install wildlife-friendly fencing, conduct habitat enhancement efforts, and adapt harvest regulations according to seasonal occurrence. However, while managers strive to adjust hunting quotas to spread harvest evenly throughout the herd, determining the precise level of harvestable surplus that limits unintended population effects is difficult. As a result, there are often mismatches between hunting quotas and their desired effect on harvested populations.

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