Suburban landscapes can alter spatial patterns by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and increase animal contact with vectors, pathogens, and humans. Close-contact relationships at a landscape level can have broad implications for disease epidemiology. From 1995-1999, we captured and radio-collared 41 deer in two suburban forest preserves in Chicago, Illinois. We collected blood to determine if animals were seronegative or seropositive for Jamestown Canyon virus and tracked deer movements within suburban habitats. We developed utilization distributions at the population-level and evaluated resource selection for seronegative and seropositive deer. We used maximum likelihood estimation for model selection via Akaike information criterion and then restricted maximum likelihood estimation to attain unbiased estimates of the parameters in the top-ranking models. The top-ranking model describing the resource selection of seronegative deer received almost the full weight of evidence (Akaike information criterion ωi = 0.93), and included the proportion of wetlands, precipitation in year t, and an interaction of the proportion of wetlands and precipitation in year t. The top-ranking model describing resource selection of seropositive deer received the full weight of evidence (Akaike information criterion ωi = 1.00). The model included distance to nearest populated place, distance to nearest river, length of road in each grid cell, precipitation in year t, and an interaction of the length of road in each grid cell and precipitation in year t. These results are valuable for mapping the spatial configuration of hotspots for Jamestown Canyon virus and could be used to educate local residents and recreationalists to reduce human exposure.

The presence and abundance of vertebrates influences the circulation of zoonotic diseases. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are widely distributed in North America and deer densities are frequently high in unhunted areas, including most major metropolitan regions. This study investigated the seroprevalence for Toxoplasma gondii from live-captured and culled deer sampled in two suburban forest preserves around Chicago, Illinois, from 1995 to 1999. Seroprevalence for T. gondii was 55.9% (n = 443) and was significantly higher at the northern study site, Des Plaines. Seroprevalence for T. gondii varied by year and month. Multivariate logistic regression (LR) screened main effect variables (age, sex, site, year, and month) by backward stepwise elimination. The final LR model for T. gondii contained all main effect variables. This study provides baseline data for future T. gondii suburban deer studies and information to public health and wildlife officials regarding the prevalence a parasitic pathogen present in two public forest preserves in Chicago, Illinois.

Emigration behavior by female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is an important attribute of population dynamics in Illinois. The factors influencing the process of selecting a new home range are largely unknown, yet may affect hunting success, other interactions with human activities, and deer social behaviors. Twenty-five radio-marked dispersing (N = 14) and migrating (N = 11) female white-tailed deer (4 adults, 7 yearlings, 14 fawns when marked) were followed from 3 sites (2 in central and 1 in northern Illinois) to the home ranges selected for parturition and fawn rearing. Dispersing deer (i.e., those making one-way movements to a new home range) moved an average of 44.9 ± SE 6.4 km whereas migrators (i.e., those moving to a new range) moved 14.0 ± SE 7.2 km from their natal ranges. Females moved rapidly in nearly a straight line to their new home range readily crossing roads, rivers, and under high tension power lines on their journey. Females marked in east-central and northern Illinois where forest cover totaled <5% of the landscape, selected sites with greater forest cover, grasslands, forest patch size and density, and total patch richness than were available in random locations. Habitats selected by females in west-central Illinois where more forest cover was available did not differ from random sites. Parturition ranges (used May 15–July 15) at all 3 sites contained fewer houses and roads and more forest patches compared with the natal ranges and the larger new range (used May 15–October 1). Migrating females survived longer than dispersing females, but female life span and fawn survival were not significantly affected by the habitat composition of the new home ranges.

This study of dominant and subordinate led social groups of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was designed to investigate longevity and associations among members as well as the reproductive success that determines the durability of these groups. Characteristics of 25 dominant and 17 subordinate female led social groups of white-tailed deer were studied on three areas in Illinois. Group size for dominant led social groups ranged between 3.8 and 5.2 deer/y and for subordinate led groups only 2-2.5 deer. Dominant females survived significantly longer (8.2 y) then did subordinate females (5.4 y) and fawns born to dominants were significantly more sedentary after independence. Fawn recruitment (fawns alive at 1 y) was also significantly higher for fawns born to dominant females. Members of a dominant female's social group generally confined themselves to the home range of the dominant female but as they aged were seen less often with her. Dominant females occupied stable habitats free of environmental problems while subordinates occupied ranges with frequent natural and human induced disturbances. By association, fawns of dominant females inherit a stable home range that fosters Unproved longevity and successful fawn recruitment

Thirty-nine female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were migrators from three study areas in central and northern Illinois, 1980-1993. Migrants averaged 21.5%, 9.4% and 14.6% of marked females known alive each year on the east-central, west-central and northern study areas, respectively. Females migrated to a summer range between late Feb. and early Jul. and to the winter range between late Sep. and early Jan. Spring migration distances averaged between 7.3 and 15.9 km from the winter range. Female fawns of migrating mothers were more likely to disperse or migrate than were fawns of sedentary mothers. Migrating females survived as long as sedentary females and significantly better than females that dispersed, but fawn recruitment was lower for migrating females compared with sedentary females. Winter severity did not affect return behavior from a summer range. Hunter harassment on the summer range initiated migration back to the winter range in 59% of 22 monitored migrations for 14 radio marked females. Prevailing winds from the winter or summer range appeared to help locate these ranges for 10 of 19 spring migrations for 16 females and three of seven fall migrations for four females. Migration behavior allows females to more fully utilize the fragmented landscapes of the agricultural Midwest. Migration behavior among females appears to result from resource competition among females including parturition sites where female densities are high and available habitats are scarce.

Dispersal behavior was examined for 119 male and 102 female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns marked in central and northern Illinois. Fawn movement behavior was recorded for 35 single, 78 pair and 10 triplet litters that survived intact beyond family breakup in late spring. Males (65%) dispersed at a higher rate than females (39%). Females dispersed Apr.-Jul., while males dispersed Apr.-Jul. and Sep.-Nov. The dam's and siblings movements most affected fawn movement behavior with most fawns of dispersing/migrating females and siblings leaving their natal range. As yearling-adult densities and forest cover increased on our study areas, female fawn dispersals decreased. Habitat scarcity in spring coupled with high fawn survival into the spring months promoted higher than expected female dispersal behavior. Distance traveled to a new range did not differ among study areas, years or month of dispersal for either sex. Single fawns were as likely to disperse as fawns from pairs or triplets. Control of high density deer populations will be more difficult where female dispersal is prevalent, as in the agriculturally dominated Midwest landscape.

Urbanization is currently considered to have a negative effect on biodiversity, including the abundance and diversity of bat (Chiroptera) communities. However, relatively little attention has been devoted to the urban ecology of bats despite their ubiquity and ecological importance. We conducted a study during 1997–1999 to acoustically monitor species‐specific distributions and activity patterns for bats in a highly urbanized landscape. Of 11 896 passes recorded during the study that satisfied our criterion for species classification, 8672 (73%) were identified to species. We identified calls from five species (Eptesicus fuscus, Lasionycteris noctivagans, Lasiurus borealis, Lasiurus cinereus, Pipistrellus subflavus) and the Myotis group. Few landscape variables were significantly related to E. fuscus activity; however, L. borealis and L. noctivagans activity had positive relationships with adjacent industrial/commercial land use and an urban index. We determined mean occurrence at monitoring sites for all identified species, and each species and the Myotis group exhibited positive relationships with the urban index. More species were detected in habitat fragments within urbanized landscapes, and each of these species was detected more frequently in urban areas than in more rural habitat fragments. Correspondence analysis suggested community structure was similar among classes of urbanization, with E. fuscus predominant, although fewer species occurred in rural areas. Urban areas may represent islands of habitat for some bats within larger landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture. Thus, the nature of the relationship between urbanization and bats is probably dependent on context at the macrogeographic scale and local habitat quality within the urban matrix.

Relatively little attention has been devoted to the urban ecology of bats (Chiroptera) despite their ecological importance. Although previous studies,have indicated that urbanization has a negative effect on the abundance of bats and bat activity, this relationship may differ among regions. We monitored bat activity during 1997-1999 in 1520 natural areas distributed across a 3500-km(2) area spanning the Chicago metropolitan area in northeastern Illinois. Our objectives were to elucidate relationships between landscape and microhabitat characteristics and bat activity. Bat activity was correlated with visual estimates of abundance. Among adjacent land-use classes, industrial/commercial use was positively related,to bat activity in 1997 and 1999, and the predominant rural land use, agriculture, was negatively associated with bat activity in 1998. Proportion of woodland habitat within study areas was positively related to bat activity in every year. There was a positive relationship between agricultural land use and relative use of water sites in each year. Microhabitat analyses revealed that distance between trees was positively related to. bat activity in woodlands, and-in open habitats there was a relatively strong, negative relationship between distance from the edge and bat activity. Within open habitats, mowed areas had more bat activity than agricultural areas. Our landscape results suggest that the relationship between urbanization and bats may be related to context. Heterogeneous urban landscapes may represent islands,of habitat for some bats within larger landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture, such as much of the Midwest.

Management of high-density suburban deer populations requires knowledge of survival and movement to predict population trends. However, natural and human-induced influences on survival and movement of suburban deer are poorly understood. Therefore, we marked 208 (60 bucks,, 148 does) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from forest preserves in Chicago, Illinois, USA (1994-1998). Seasonal and annual survivorship was >0.80 for 114 does and 13 bucks. Deer-auto collisions produced the highest mortality rates, 0.10 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.14) and 0.17 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.37). Spring dispersal for does was 7% (3 of 41) for fawns and 6% (5 of 83) for yearlings and adults; and for bucks it was 50% (8 of 16) for fawns and 7% (2 of 30) for yearlings and adults. All dispersals were <9 km, except for I parous doe that moved 33.9 kin. Doe home ranges aver-aged 51 (95% CI 40.5 to 61.5), 26 (95% Cl 22.0 to 30.0), and 32 (95% Cl 19.6 to 44.4) ha for winter-spring, summer, and fall, respectively. A priori, we developed a set of 10 logistic regression models for suburban doe survival relative to home. range size and traffic exposure indices. Using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), the best models included covariates reflecting home range size and traffic exposure. Inference across a greater than or equal to90% confidence set of survival models indicated substantial spatial heterogeneity in mortality risk for suburban does. High Survival and philopatry by suburban deer apparently contribute to their overabundance in metropolitan areas.

Survival of 265 female and 224 male [Formula: see text]1-year-old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) marked on 3 study areas in central and northern Illinois was examined. Females lived, on average, 5.5 years and males 2.5 years from birth. Twenty-four of the 265 females lived for at least 10 years from birth, but only 14 males for at least 5 years. The oldest female was 18 years of age and the oldest male 9 years old when killed. For both sexes, deaths were concentrated in the fall, with males more likely to die than females. Males were more likely to die from hunting and females from other causes. Known wounding deaths were 1 for every 3 retrieved deer for archers and 1 for every 8 for firearms hunters. Dispersing male and female yearlings and 2-year-olds suffered greater mortality than did sedentary deer. Annual survival rates of yearling and older females ranged from 0.56 (dispersing 2-year-olds) to 0.92 (8-year-olds). Survival was significantly reduced for 5-year-old females compared with those both older and younger. Annual survival of rates males ranged from 0.35 (dispersing 2-year-olds) to 0.76 (sedentary yearlings).

Urban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations can influence the epidemiology of many zoonotic diseases because they affect the distribution and abundance of pathogens and vectors. The risk of emerging zoonotic pathogens increases with human populations, as people have closer contact with wildlife in urban environments. We used radiotelemetry to study deer behavior and population dynamics in Chicago, IL. We monitored homerange use and habitat patterns for 43 radio-collared deer from 2 study sites, 1995-1999. Deer serology was conducted to test for various zoonotic diseases, such as babesiosis, encephalitis, and toxoplasmosis for 12 study locations. To analyze potential disease exposures for deer, we used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to compare land cover characteristics for home-ranges and point location patterns for seropositive and seronegative deer. From our preliminary analysis of toxoplasmosis, we conclude that the combined use of epidemiology, radiotelemetry, and GIS tools appears promising for understanding zoonotic patterns and ultimately for predicting and minimizing disease to humans.

Stability and retention of parturition sites were examined for 17 white-tailed does (Odocoileus virginianus) radio-marked on an 800-ha forested area in Piatt County, east-central Illinois. Pre- and post-natal home range sizes were not significantly correlated with density of females, age of doe, litter size (postnatal range only), or sex of litter. As females aged, parturition sites moved closer to prenatal centers of home range activity (P < 0.02), and overlap of both pre- and post-natal home range boundaries increased in consecutive years (P < 0.001). Postnatal core areas of related females evidenced considerable overlap, whereas those of unrelated does were discrete. Breeding does used upland successional forests (< 60 years old) more than expected and bottomland forests less than expected (P < 0.05) as sites for parturition. Through seasonal movements, including migratory and dispersal behaviors, does in east-central Illinois, where forests are scarce, use all available sites suitable for parturition. Selection and retention of these parturition sites promote the development of matriarchal social groups, which ensures continued use of these sites by related females.

Overabundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) continues to challenge wildlife professionals nationwide, especially in urban settings. Moreover, wildlife managers often lack general site-specific information on deer movements, survival, and reproduction that are critical for management planning. We conducted radio-telemetry research concurrent with deer culling in forest preserves in northeastern Illinois and used empirical data to construct predictive population models. We culled …