The annual habitat selection of released Père David’s Deer in Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve

The number of Père David’s (Elaphurus davidinus) deer which have been released into the wild is over one hundred in the third core area of Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve. Annual habitat selection of released Père David’s deer was studied from November 2008 to November 2009. The results of our research showed that: in autumn and winter released Père David’s deer preferred to choose the locations at Spartina alterniflora community with higher plant density, higher plant height and larger aboveground biomass; in spring and summer released Père David’s deer preferred to choose the locations at S. alterniflora community with lower plant height, smaller aboveground biomass. Released Père David’s deer preferred to choose the locations at S. alterniflora community which are close to water sources and shallow bogs but have a moderate distance from the sea. Principal components analysis was performed on 8 ecological factors. The cumulative contribution of the first 3 principal components reached to 75% and these factors could represent the annual habitat features of released Père David’s deer. According to the results of principal component analysis, the influential factors for annual habitat selection of released Père David’s deer were classified separately as food factor (aboveground biomass, plant height), water factor (distance to water, distance from the shallow bogs), disturbance factor (distance from human disturbance).