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Ecological correlates of home-range size in spring–summer for female roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a deciduous woodland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2005

Sonia Saïd ,
Jean-Michel Gaillard ,
Patrick Duncan ,
Nadine Guillon ,
Noël Guillon ,
Sabrina Servanty ,
Maryline Pellerin ,
Karen Lefeuvre ,
Cécile Martin  and
Guy Van Laere
Sonia Saïd
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Centre National d'Etudes et de Recherches Appliquées sur les Cervidés-Sangliers, 85bis avenue de Wagram, 75017 Paris, France
Jean-Michel Gaillard
Affiliation:
Unité Mixte de Recherche 5558, Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bâtiment 711, 43 bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69 622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
Patrick Duncan
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Nadine Guillon
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Noël Guillon
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Sabrina Servanty
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Maryline Pellerin
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Karen Lefeuvre
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Cécile Martin
Affiliation:
CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Beauvoir sur Niort, France
Guy Van Laere
Affiliation:
Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Centre National d'Etudes et de Recherches Appliquées sur les Cervidés-Sangliers, 85bis avenue de Wagram, 75017 Paris, France
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Abstract

Data on 22 radio-collared adult female roe deer Capreolus capreolus in the Chizé forest were used to test whether their home-range size was influenced by resource availability and reproductive status. As roe deer females are income breeders and invest heavily in each reproductive attempt, they should be limited by energetic constraints. Thus it was expected that: (1) heavier females should have larger home ranges; (2) that home-range size should decrease with increasing vegetation biomass; (3) home-range size should increase with increasing reproductive effort (i.e. females with two fawns at heel should have larger home ranges than those with one fawn, which should have larger home range than females without fawns). To test these predictions, variation in spring–summer home-range size was studied in 2001 and 2002, using 95% kernel home-range estimation. Results showed that females do not adjust their home-range size in response to body mass or age. Home-range size increased with increasing reproductive success, but the magnitude of the change varied over the period of maternal care. Finally, although their home-range size decreased with increasing plant biomass (slope = −0.11, SE=0.065), female roe deer at Chizé did not fully compensate for declines in food availability by increasing home-range size.

Keywords

biomassCapreolus capreolushabitat qualityhabitat usehome rangeroe deerungulates
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Zoology , Volume 267 , Issue 3 , November 2005 , pp. 301 - 308
Copyright
2005 The Zoological Society of London

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