About This Project

We are studying deer in Southeast Alaska to understand what makes for good deer habitat- great food, security from predation, shelter in winter? In their temperate rainforest home, some deer migrate to higher elevations each summer, while other deer stay low year round. As habitat is altered by human activities and changing environmental conditions, the pay-off and price for migration may also be changing. Our project will find out how, and what it means for deer management.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) are a sub-species of mule deer, and play a critical role in the temperate rainforest ecosystem of Southeast Alaska. They are the largest herbivore in the food web, and as such, are key prey for large carnivores (wolves, black bears; Gilbert 2015, Darimont et al., 2004), and regulate plant communities through herbivory (Parker et al. 1999). They are also a very important source of food for many rural residents, and a beloved species for tourists, from photographers to hunters (Brinkman et al., 2009). However, there are huge gaps in our knowledge about these deer, including the location of key migratory pathways, and effects of habitat change on migratory versus non-migratory deer. We aim to fill these gaps.

What is the significance of this project?

This project was inspired by a recent trip to a spectacular piece of deer habitat, several thousand rugged, vertical feet above sea level. As we emerged from the dripping, dark forest, we were stunned to see how many big, healthy, beautiful deer were spread out grazing in the alpine bowl above us. These deer clearly were migratory– no deer can survive above treeline in winter– and doing incredibly well. This got us thinking about how important migration might be to maintaining sustainable deer populations, and what might happen if migrations are disrupted via habitat alteration, or if key winter habitat is reduced. Landscape change via timber harvest and road development is ongoing, posing real threats to migration.

What are the goals of the project?

We aim to: 1) understand habitat selection and birth/mortality rates and causes for migratory and non-migratory deer in Southeast Alaska; 2) Map key migratory habitats between winter and summer ranges for Prince of Wales Island, one of the most productive areas for deer, hunting, and for active timber harvest; and 3) understand how predators change their space use in response to changing habitat, human activity, deer migration, and salmon spawning. To do this, we will use GPS-collared adult female and male deer (to quantify winter, summer, and migration route habitat, and survival rates), ground searches (to find new migration routes, based on predictions from collar data), and camera traps (to monitor activity, space use, and abundance of deer and predators).