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Objectives and Scope Management of white-tailed deer habitat should be based on sound scientific theories (Joyce 1993; Fulbright 1996).1 Wildlife managers use scientific theories to predict the anticipated outcome of management practices (Fulbright and Hewitt 2008). Management practices may not have the same results in all environments. Deer management practices that were developed and work well in humid environments may have different, perhaps deleterious, effects in semiarid environments . An example of this would be harvesting female deer based on the theory that white-tailed deer populations are always density-dependent. Environmental factors such as low rainfall and infertile soils may change population behavior in a manner that makes density-dependent models less useful for predicting the outcome of harvesting females (DeYoung 2011). Managers must have a thorough understanding of the theories on which management practices are based so they will be able to adjust their practices to fit different environments and changing needs. Knowing when a particular practice is unsuitable for a certain environment or geographic location is critical for successful management. Our objectives in this book are to (1) provide readers with the foundation of ecological theory on which habitat management is based; (2) discuss the tools available to deer managers in rangeland environments within the context of the ecological theories on which they are based; and (3) link basic ecology, range management, and wildlife management. Our regional focus is the rangelands of the western United States—particularly Oklahoma, Texas, and the central and northern Great Plains from Colorado to North Dakota and Montana— and northern Mexico. Although we focus on rangelands, most of the basic concepts we present in this book apply in other ecosystems inhabited by whitetailed deer. Our target audience includes landowners who want to improve deer Habitat Requirements of White-Tailed Deer 1. Scientific names of plants and animals are in appendix 1. K e y C o n c e p t s ▼ The basic habitat requirements of white-tailed deer are food, cover, space, and water. ▼ A key to habitat management is identifying limiting factors and the optimum levels of these factors for survival, growth, and reproduction. ▼ Habitat use and diet composition of males and females differ, so males and females should be managed as if they were separate species. ▼ Managing for plant species diversity is more important than managing for what are thought to be preferred forage plants. 1 2 chapter 1 ▼ habitat; range, wildlife, and other natural resource managers; undergraduate students who aspire to be natural resource managers; and ecologists who are interested in application of ecological theories and principles to management. Three important principles underlie proper habitat management for whitetailed deer: (1) optimum habitat for white-tailed deer consists of a mosaic of vegetation dominated by woody plants and vegetation dominated by herbaceous plants interspersed within the landscape; (2) landscapes with diverse vegetation provide better habitat than homogeneous landscapes; and (3) plant communities should be managed to enable deer to maintain positive energy balance through ample food supplies and thermal cover. Plant communities are recognizably distinct groups, or stands, of plants that can be distinguished from other groups of plants based on the particular combination of species they contain. Our objective in chapters 1 through 4 is to establish the foundation on which these principles are based. Habitat and nutritional requirements of white-tailed deer, described in chapters 1 and 2, must be understood to manage for optimum habitat. In chapter 3, we explain the ecological theories that form the basis of white-tailed deer habitat management and show how these theories are applied in predicting the outcome of management practices. Chapter 4 focuses on determining the number of animals the habitat can support, a critical factor in managing for ample food supplies. Aldo Leopold (1933, vii) stated in the preface of Game Management, “The central thesis of game management is this: game can be restored by the creative use of the same tools which have heretofore destroyed it—ax, plow, cow, fire, and gun. A favorable alignment of these forces sometimes came about in pioneer days by accident. The result was a temporary wealth of game far greater than the red man ever saw. Management is their purposeful and continuing alignment.” Leopold’s ideas regarding habitat management are as applicable now as they were when he wrote them. The most effective method of habitat improvement for white-tailed deer often is adjusting numbers of livestock, wildlife, or both. The ax, plow, and fire, in the form of...

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