Investigating resource selection patterns of declining species is critical to developing effective conservation strategies and mitigating negative population trends. We trapped and radio‐collared northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus and recorded the location of each individual three times per week during the northern bobwhite breeding season (April–September) to infer resource selection by non‐brooding adults. We defined 13 vegetation communities with varying fire histories and assessed their relative use via a distance‐based logistic regression model within a Bayesian framework. We found reliable evidence that non‐brooding northern bobwhite preferred supplemental feed lines, recently burned natural pine stands, one‐year rough in shrub/scrub, and one‐year rough in hardwood/pine stands. Conversely, we found they avoided one‐year rough in natural pine stands, recently burned shrub/scrub, and recently burned hardwood/pine stands. Our data suggest that non‐brooding bobwhite's successional stage preference may vary between vegetation communities within the same study area, and adds further evidence to the importance of fire and vegetation interspersion in bobwhite management. Results from our study may be applied to enhance habitat for non‐brooding northern bobwhite and potentially increase adult survival, an important metric correlated with bobwhite population growth.

Abstract Wildlife depends on specific landscape features to persist. Thus, characterizing the vegetation available in an area can be essential for management. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a federally endangered, medium‐sized felid adapted to woody vegetation. Quantifying the characteristics of vegetation most suitable for ocelots is essential for their conservation. Furthermore, understanding differences in the selection of sympatric bobcats (Lynx rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) can provide insight into the mechanisms of coexistence between species. Because of differences in hunting strategy (cursorial vs. ambush) and differences in use of land cover types between species, these three carnivores may be partitioning their landscape as a function of vegetation structure. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a remote sensing platform capable of quantifying the sub‐canopy structure of vegetation. Using LiDAR data, we quantified the horizontal and vertical structure of vegetation cover to assess habitat selection by ocelots, bobcats, and coyotes. We captured and collared 8 ocelots, 13 bobcats, and 5 coyotes in southern Texas from 2017 to 2021. We used step selection functions to determine the selection of vegetation cover at the population and individual level for each species. Ocelots selected for vertical canopy cover and dense vegetation 0–2 m in height. Bobcats selected cover to a lesser extent and had a broader selection, while coyotes avoided under‐story vegetation and selected areas with dense high canopies and relatively open understories. We observed a high degree of variation among individuals that may aid in facilitating intraspecific and interspecific coexistence. Management for ocelots should prioritize vegetation below 2 m and vertical canopy cover. We provide evidence that fine‐scale habitat partitioning may facilitate coexistence between sympatric carnivores. Differences among individuals may enhance coexistence among species, as increased behavioral plasticity of individuals can reduce competition for resources. By combining accurate, fine‐scale measurements derived from LiDAR data with high‐frequency global positioning system locations, we provide a more thorough understanding of the habitat use of ocelots and two sympatric carnivores.

Predation risk and prey responses exhibit fluctuations in space and time. Seasonal ecological disturbances can alter landscape structure and permeability to influence predator activity and efficacy, creating predictable patterns of risk for prey (seasonal risk landscapes). This may create corresponding seasonal shifts in antipredator behaviour, mediated by species ecology and trade-offs between risk and resources. Yet, how human recreation interacts with seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator behaviour remains understudied. In South Florida, we investigated the impact of a seasonal ecological disturbance, specifically flooding, which is inversely related to human activity, on interactions between Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We hypothesized that human activity and ecological disturbances would interact with panther-deer ecology, resulting in the emergence of two distinct seasonal landscapes of predation risk and the corresponding antipredator responses. We conducted camera trap surveys across southwestern Florida to collect detection data on humans, panthers and deer. We analysed the influence of human site use and flooding on deer and panther detection probability, co-occurrence and diel activity during the flooded and dry seasons. Flooding led to decreased panther detections and increased deer detections, resulting in reduced deer-panther co-occurrence during the flooded season. Panthers exhibited increased nocturnality and reduced diel activity overlap with deer in areas with higher human activity. Supporting our hypothesis, panthers' avoidance of human recreation and flooding created distinct risk schedules for deer, driving their antipredator behaviour. Deer utilized flooded areas to spatially offset predation risk during the flooded season while increasing diurnal activity in response to human recreation during the dry season. We highlight the importance of understanding how competing risks and ecological disturbances influence predator and prey behaviour, leading to the generation of seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses. We emphasize the role of cyclical ecological disturbances in shaping dynamic predator-prey interactions. Furthermore, we highlight how human recreation may function as a 'temporal human shield,' altering seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses to reduce encounter rates between predators and prey.

Fear of the human ‘super predator’ has been demonstrated to so alter the feeding behavior of large carnivores as to cause trophic cascades. It has yet to be experimentally tested if fear of humans has comparably large effects on the feeding behavior of large herbivores. We conducted a predator playback experiment exposing white-tailed deer to the vocalizations of humans, extant or locally extirpated non-human predators (coyotes, cougars, dogs, wolves), or non-predator controls (birds), at supplemental food patches to measure the relative impacts on deer feeding behavior. Deer were more than twice as likely to flee upon hearing humans than other predators, and hearing humans was matched only by hearing wolves in reducing overall feeding time gaged by visits to the food patch in the following hour. Combined with previous, site-specific research linking deer fecundity to predator abundance, this study reveals that fear of humans has the potential to induce a larger effect on ungulate reproduction than has ever been reported. By demonstrating that deer most fear the human ‘super predator’, our results point to the fear humans induce in large ungulates having population- and community-level impacts comparable to those caused by the fear humans induce in large carnivores.

Knowledge of the effects of hunting and environmental influences on survival of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) is critical to managers setting fall and spring hunting seasons. Research has shown improper season frameworks can result in unsustainably high harvest rates of adult males, affect male age structure, and result in lower hunter satisfaction. Our objectives were to estimate survival rates of males, identify causes of mortality, and relate hunting and environmental influences to male turkey survival. We captured and radio-tagged male wild turkeys in Virginia (n = 204) and West Virginia (n = 197), USA, during 2004-2007. We used staggered entry Kaplan-Meier models to estimate survival and Cox Proportional Hazards Models to estimate effects of predictor variables on survival. Survival was estimated for 3 distinct periods of interest: annual, fall hunting (October-January), and spring hunting (April-May). The leading causes of mortalities (209 turkeys) were legal spring harvest (42%), predation (25%), and poaching (17%). Only 8 turkeys (4%) were taken during fall hunting seasons. Confidence intervals for annual survival of 2 year-old and 3+ year-old turkeys overlapped; therefore, we combined adult ages into a single category (2+). Adult (2+) annual survival was 0.63 (95% CI = 0.58-0.69) and the harvest rate was 25% (95% CI = 20-29%) for the combined states. Annual survival rates for adults (2+) were greater than in most other published studies, whereas adult (2+) spring harvest rates were lower. For juvenile males, annual survival was 0.74 (95% CI = 0.68-0.79) and spring harvest rate was 7% (95% CI = 3-11%). High juvenile and adult (2+) survival may have been related to low harvest rates. Adult turkeys (2+) had 46% greater risk of dying than one-year-old birds and were 3.7 times more likely to be harvested than juveniles. Age, a relative phenology index (RPI; spring green-up), and white oak (Quercus alba) acorn production were included in the top models for annual survival, spring season survival, and spring harvest risk. Increasing RPI (more foliage) decreased mortality risk and greater white oak (Quercus alba) acorn abundance increased mortality risk. Across 4 regions in the 2 states, fall survival was high (0.90, 95% CI = 0.87-0.93). The impact of fall hunting on males in Virginia was low (5% harvest rate, 95% CI = 0-9%). Overall, spring harvest had the greatest effect on male survival, although those effects were moderated by the previous fall white oak crop and the onset of green-up in the spring.

Large carnivore restoration programs are often promoted as capable of providing ecosystem services. However, these programs rarely measure effects of successful restoration on other economically and ecologically important species. In South Florida, while the endangered Florida panther Puma concolor coryi population has increased in recent years due to conservation efforts, the population of its main prey, the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, has declined in some regions. The extent to which panther predation has affected deer populations has been difficult to assess because several other factors have changed during this period, including hydrology and hunting regulations. We collected known-fate survival data on 241 GPS-collared adult deer (156 females and 85 males) from 2015 to 2018 in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, USA, to assess effects of panther predation on the deer population, while also evaluating the impacts of hunting and hydrology. Predation was the primary cause of death (110 of 134 mortalities), and 87% of predation events were attributed to panthers, a much greater rate than reported by studies conducted before the panther genetic restoration effort initiated in 1995. One deer was legally harvested, and two were likely killed by poachers. Increasing water depth decreased female survival but had little impact on male survival, and drowning was never a cause of mortality. Females had greater survival probability than males, except during fawning season. From 2015 to 2018, annual survival rates increased from 0.61 (0.52-0.70) to 0.86 (0.79-0.91) for females, and from 0.45 (95% CI: 0.33-0.58) to 0.79 (0.69-0.86) for males. Synthesis and applications. High predation rates, coupled with previous evidence of low recruitment of deer in South Florida, suggest that it will be challenging to meet society's competing demands for large predator restoration and sustainable deer harvest. Deer hunting in the area must remain tightly controlled, for now, if it is to be sustainable, and managers should seek to mitigate effects of high waters and improve deer habitat quality to increase deer population viability. Future work should closely monitor the deer population to assess if management actions can increase vital rates and abundance in the context of high predation rates.

Context Predation-risk and ecological disturbance regimes can both influence behavioral decisions by prey, yet few studies have simultaneously considered responses to these ecological pressures. Elucidating relationships between predation risk and the costs and benefits associated with multiple natural disturbances can contribute to a better understanding of how prey adapt to varied predator and disturbance regimes. Objectives We quantified spatial variation in predation risk and resource selection strategies of female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with different fate outcomes during the fawning season across a landscape with poor-quality, heterogeneous food resources. Methods We quantified resource selection relative to ecological disturbance regimes and vulnerability to Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) predation and linked these behavioral patterns to mortality outcomes. Results We found that female deer that were killed by panthers selected flooded areas that contained higher quality forage, but these areas also conferred higher relative predation risk. Females that survived the fawning season selected frequently and recently burned areas that had both high-quality forage and lower panther predation risk. Conclusions The interplay between predation risk and ecological disturbance regimes appeared to drive behavioral strategies by deer. Females exhibited different strategies relative to the forage-predation risk trade-off, which led to different fitness outcomes. These behavioral strategies may affect maternal care, adding additional complexity to tradeoffs involving adult survival and recruitment.

Prey species often mitigate predation risk through alteration of spatiotemporal diel activity patterns whereby prey access high-quality resources in risky areas during predator downtimes. However, dominance hierarchies exist in some prey species, and temporal partitioning is a mechanism thought to reduce aggressive intraspecific interactions. How demographic-specific responses to predation risk influence intraspecific temporal partitioning in prey are largely unknown and could be key to understanding the effects of predators on intraspecific interactions in prey. To assess the effects of predation risk on intraspecific interactions in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we monitored deer diel activity during the fawning season in four pairs of predator exclusion and control plots (-40 ha) from 2015 to 2018 using 16 camera traps. We examined the effect of predation risk on diel activity of males, females, and nursery groups by comparing the within-group coefficient of activity overlap (a) across predator exclusion and control plots. We then examined within-treatment activity overlap between groups in the predator exclosure and control plots. All groups maintained different diel activity patterns in safe and risky areas. Unconstrained by predation risk, all groups behaved more similarly, and interspecific group overlap was greater in the predator exclusion plots than control plots. Male-nursery group overlap exhibited the strongest treatment effect, increasing 24% in predator exclusion plots ((d) over tilde = 0.91, confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-0.95) relative to control plots ((d) over tilde = 0.67, CI: 0.57-0.76). Our results suggest predators increase heterogeneity in prey behavior and may be important drivers of behavioral processes, such as temporal partitioning, that minimize antagonistic intraspecific interactions of prey.

Studies of animal abundance and distribution are often conducted independently of research on movement, despite the important links between processes. Movement can cause rapid changes in spatial variation in density, and movement influences detection probability and therefore estimates of abundance from inferential methods such as spatial capture-recapture (SCR). Technological developments including camera traps and GPS telemetry have opened new opportunities for studying animal demography and movement, yet statistical models for these two data types have largely developed along parallel tracks. We present a hierarchical model in which both datasets are conditioned on a movement process for a clearly defined population. We fitted the model to data from 60 camera traps and 23,572 GPS telemetry locations collected on 17 male white-tailed deer in the Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, USA during July 2015. Telemetry data were collected on a 3-4 h acquisition schedule, and we modeled the movement paths of all individuals in the region with a Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process that included individual-specific random effects. Two of the 17 deer with GPS collars were detected on cameras. An additional 20 male deer without collars were detected on cameras and individually identified based on their unique antler characteristics. Abundance was 126 (95% CI: 88-177) in the 228 km2 region, only slightly higher than estimated using a standard SCR model: 119 (84-168). The standard SCR model, however, was unable to describe individual heterogeneity in movement rates and space use as revealed by the joint model. Joint modeling allowed the telemetry data to inform the movement model and the SCR encounter model, while leveraging information in the camera data to inform abundance, distribution and movement. Unlike most existing methods for population-level inference on movement, the joint SCR-movement model can yield unbiased inferences even if non-uniform sampling is used to deploy transmitters. Potential extensions of the model include the addition of resource selection parameters, and relaxation of the closure assumption when interest lies in survival and recruitment. These developments would contribute to the emerging holistic framework for the study of animal ecology, one that uses modern technology and spatio-temporal statistics to learn about interactions between behavior and demography.

Abstract Fear of predators can behaviorally mediate prey population dynamics, particularly when predation risk influences reproductive investment. However, the costs of reproductive investment may mitigate predation risk aversion relative to periods when the link between reproductive output and prey behavior is weaker. We posit that intensity of reproductive investment in ungulates may predict their response to predation risk such that the sexes increase risk exposure during biological seasons that are pivotal to reproductive success, such as the fawn‐rearing and breeding seasons for females and males, respectively. We examined the activity patterns of sympatric white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a sexually segregated polygynous ungulate, and Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) in the context of the “risky times – risky places hypothesis” and the reproductive strategy hypothesis. We compared detection rates and diel activity overlap of both species using motion‐triggered camera traps positioned on (n = 120) and off (n = 60) anthropogenic trails across five reproductive seasons. Florida panthers were nocturnal and primarily observed on‐trail providing an experimental framework with risky times and risky places. Contrary to studies in other taxa inversely correlating prey reproductive investment to predation risk, the sexes of deer were more risk prone during sex‐specific seasons associated with intense reproductive investment. Our results suggest spatiotemporally variable predation risk influences sex‐specific behavioral decision‐making in deer such that reproductive success is maximized.

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and this necessitates understanding their influence on organisms. Animal behaviour may mitigate the effects of ECEs, but field studies are rare because ECEs are infrequent and unpredictable. Hurricane Irma made landfall in southwestern Florida where we were monitoring white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus seminolus) with GPS collars. We report on an opportunistic case study of behavioural responses exhibited by a large mammal during an ECE, mitigation strategies for reducing the severity of the ECE effects, and the demographic effect of the ECE based on known-fate of individual animals. Deer altered resource selection by selecting higher elevation pine and hardwood forests and avoiding marshes. Most deer left their home ranges during Hurricane Irma, and the probability of leaving was inversely related to home range area. Movement rates increased the day of the storm, and no mortality was attributed to Hurricane Irma. We suggest deer mobility and refuge habitat allowed deer to behaviourally mitigate the negative effects of the storm, and ultimately, aid in survival. Our work contributes to the small but growing body of literature linking behavioural responses exhibited during ECEs to survival, which cumulatively will provide insight for predictions of a species resilience to ECEs and improve our understanding of how behavioural traits offset the negative impacts of global climate change.

Fire influences the distributions of cover and food resources for ungulates in frequently burned systems. Fire typically improves forage quality, and as a result, herbivores are often drawn to recently burned areas a response termed the 'magnet effect.' Thus, fire can be an important tool for manipulating vegetation to benefit wildlife. However, most studies of ungulate responses to fire occur at broad temporal scales (multiple years post burn), and the immediate effects of fire on ungulates are poorly understood. While conducting a study of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in southern Florida, we were able to evaluate a natural experiment investigating the effects of wildfire on the spatial ecology of deer. In May 2015, the Mud Lake Fire Complex burned approximately 10,250 ha in Big Cypress National Preserve. This area included portions of the home ranges of 19 of 79 deer that we were monitoring via GPS-telemetry and permitted a Before-After-Control-Impact design to investigate if fire altered the area of use and movement rates of deer at 1, 2, and 3 months following fire compared to the month before the fire. Relative to the white-tailed deer in the unburned areas, white-tailed deer in the burned areas increased movement rates, potentially because fire reduced concealment cover, resulting in increased predator detection and decreased predation risk. Counter to our predictions that fire would increase forage quality and result in decreased space use, white-tailed deer exposed to the fire increased their space use following the fire when compared to deer whose home range did not include burned areas. This appeared to be the outcome of balancing competing demands for site fidelity and to increase, access to improved forage in the recently burned areas. In general, deer exposed to the fire increased their use of the burned area following the fire, but also maintained portions of their home ranges that were not burned. Our results provide a behavioral confirmation that white-tailed deer are attracted to recently burned areas and that they respond rapidly to the alteration of vegetation.