Observations on habitat use and social organization of a huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus coastal population in Chile

doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94)90003-5

Biological Conservation

Volume 67, Issue 1, 1994, Pages 13-19

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(94)90003-5 Get rights and content

Abstract

Habitat use and social organization of a huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus coastal population was studied in a periglacial fjord of Chile during spring. Only interior populations of this endangered deer had been previously studied. Typical group size was 2·2, and adult males and females were observed associating only twice. All age-sex classes (except fawns) fed mostly on the perennial herb Gunnera magellanica. Adult males and juveniles primarily used periglacial grassland, and adult females mainly bluff habitat. Newborn fawns were seen only on bluffs. Adult females may be using bluffs during spring to minimize predation on their newborn offspring. Old-growth forest was not used during spring, but fecal pellet-group transects suggested that this habitat had been used during winter. Coastal populations have suffered less human impact than interior populations, but some coastal areas are likely to be affected by logging, and there is a demand for transplanting coastal deer to interior reserves. To ensure the species' long-term survival, a better understanding of the behavioural ecology of coastal populations is necessary before resource extraction and transplants occur.

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Cited by (35)

Individual-based modeling as a decision tool for the conservation of the endangered huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in southern Chile
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Citation Excerpt :
This information includes census data and radio telemetry studies in some protected areas (Gill et al., 2008; Corti et al., 2010). Other studies have addressed general biology and reproductive strategies (Díaz and Smith-Flueck, 2000; Povilitis, 1983, 1985), natural mortality patterns (Smith-Flueck and Flueck, 2001; Corti et al., 2010), sexual segregation and habitat selection (Díaz and Smith-Flueck, 2000; Frid, 1994, 1999, 2001; Povilitis, 1998), home range (Aldridge and Montecinos, 1998; Gill et al., 2008; Povilitis, 1985), group size (Díaz and Smith-Flueck, 2000; Frid, 1994, 1999; Povilitis, 1983) and interactions with cattle (Frid, 2001; Povilitis, 1998). Although knowledge of huemul biology is more detailed than that of most of the other Chilean mammals, previous to this study, this information had not been compiled for the purpose of modeling the relationships between landscape configuration, individual movement and population trends.
One of the greatest challenges for conservation biology is providing solutions for endangered species in modern landscapes, usually with deficient biological information on how species respond to landscape disturbances. These limitations are severe in developing countries where the lack of resources restricts the potential for basic ecological research. One way in which this limitation has been mitigated is with the use of individual-based spatially explicit population models (SEPMs). We developed a SEPM for the endangered huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) of southern Chile. The goal was to project the population trajectories under three different development scenarios (present conditions, increased livestock density and hydroelectric dams) in southern Chile, identifying key demographic variables associated to landscape features. The model simulated weekly movements, age and general status of all individuals in the population and the landscape in which they lived during a 40-year period. Age-dependent and landscape-related mortality probabilities were applied. Four population sizes and three spatial aggregation patterns were used as initial conditions. Although the model was very sensitive to age-dependent mortality rate, individual landscape perception scale and initial population size and location, the general trend was that of a positive population growth. Livestock and dam scenarios had minimal impacts on population dynamics. Most simulations starting with 100 individuals resulted in extinctions and disaggregated initial location of individuals produced slow rates of population growth, suggesting the existence of a population viability threshold. Our results suggest that the huemul population in the Aysén region has the potential to recover only if limiting factors are kept under control and they highlight the urgency of conducting studies aimed at estimating total population size and distribution together with survival data to improve the conservation plans for this endangered species.
Coordination, independence or synchronization of individual vigilance in the eastern grey kangaroo?
2007, Animal Behaviour
Citation Excerpt :
Ambiguities arise when animals are not tightly clumped (Frid 1997), in particular if individuals join and leave the cluster of group members during short periods of time (Martin & Bateson 1993). Several ungulate studies have offered no definition (Berger 1978; Risenhoover & Bailey 1985; Prins & Iason 1989); others have defined groups on arbitrary interindividual distances (Alados 1985; FitzGibbon 1990; Scheel 1993; Frid 1994). Finally, Frid (1997) suggested that to belong to the same group, individuals had to be under a similar predation risk in terms of structural attributes of the environment.
Vigilance activity is usually considered an adaptive advantage of group living conferring protection against predators. An individual of a prey species is assumed to benefit from an increase in the number of group members by reducing its own investment in vigilance. However, the proximate mechanism generating the decrease in vigilance with increasing group size is unclear. Most models of this relation assume that either individuals coordinate their scans in nonoverlapping bouts of vigilance or animals scan independently of one another. We studied the relation between vigilance and group size in the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, analysing vigilance at two structural levels, individual vigilance and collective vigilance of the group. We tested both assumptions, coordination and independence of scanning. The time that an individual spent vigilant decreased with group size. However, the time during which at least one individual in the group scanned the environment (collective vigilance) increased up to a group size of seven individuals but decreased thereafter. Analyses revealed that individuals neither coordinated their scanning in an asynchronous way nor scanned independently of one another. On the contrary, both the onset and the end of individuals' scanning bouts were synchronized between group members, producing waves of collective vigilance. Bouts of vigilance and nonvigilance activity tended to be synchronized. Our results appear to support a hypothesis of allelomimetic vigilance.
Habitat relations of Rhea americana in an agroecosystem of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
2004, Biological Conservation
The maintenance of wild populations of Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) through effective management requires an understanding of their habitat requirements in terms of vegetation composition and field configuration. We studied the relative influence of some anthropogenic variables (presence of route, house and fences) and resource variables (presence of water source, composition and coverage of plant species, vegetation height and bare soil), on the habitat use by a population of rheas in a cattle ranch of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Habitat use was determined indirectly by documenting the number of faeces in summer, autumn–winter and spring 1999. The presence or absence of faeces was related to the measured variables through discriminant analysis that allowed the elaboration of predictive models of habitat use by this species. Contrary to what was expected, those variables related to human activity showed a low predictive value on the habitat use by rheas when compared with resource variables. Rheas preferentially selected the stream area in all seasons and sites with great percent cover of Bupleurum sp., Phyla canescens, Sida leprosa, Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens, Lolium multiflorum, Stipa spp., and Stenotaphrum secundatum. Low vegetation height was another important component of rhea's habitat in summer and autumn–winter. The high accuracy level obtained by validation tests of this model supports its utility for the management of rhea populations in other cattle ranches of the region, and to analyze the suitability of other ranches for reintroduction programs.
Habitat use by endangered huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus): Cattle, snow, and the problem of multiple causes
2001, Biological Conservation
Citation Excerpt :
Poaching, habitat destruction, and conflicts with cattle (Bos taurus) have been proposed as the principal threats to the species (Povilitis, 1983, 1998; Smith-Flueck and Smith, 1995). During 1990 I studied habitat use by 22 individual huemul at Fiordo Témpano, a remote and roadless periglacial site in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, south-coastal Chile (Frid, 1994). During observations, huemul spent almost equal amounts of time on rocky slopes and on grassland, and spent little time in other habitats.
Habitat use by huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endangered deer, was studied at two adjacent periglacial sites of south-coastal Chile. Fiordo Témpano (cattle site) was cattle-free in 1990, after a winter of little snow, but 20 cattle were concentrated on its 2.7 km² grassland in 1995, after a winter of deeper snow. Estero Bernardo (control site) was cattle-free and studied in 1995 only. During spring at the cattle site, deer were observed using rocky slopes both years but grassland in 1990 only. During spring at the control site, deer used rocky slopes and grassland-type habitats daily. At the cattle site, fecal pellet-group densities suggested that winter use of grassland was substantial during 1990 only, and winter use of old-growth forest relative to grassland was much greater in 1995 than in 1990. At the control site, pellet-group densities suggested that winter use of grassland-type habitats was greater than of old-growth forest. Cattle, a concomitant increase in hunting, and snow likely contributed to habitat use differences between years at the cattle site. Although my study could not untangle the relative contributions of multiple causes, results cautiously suggest that excluding cattle from periglacial sites may be important to conserve huemul, and that winter use of old-growth forest should be a research priority.
Detecting an increase in an Endangered huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus population following removal of cattle and cessation of poaching in coastal Patagonia, Chile
2013, ORYX
Population decline and demography of the world’s largest breeding population of huemul deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, Chile
2022, Austral Ecology

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Observations on habitat use and social organization of a huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus coastal population in Chile

Abstract

Anim. Behav.

Dynamics of understorey biomass in Sitka spruce-western hemlock forests of Southeast Alaska

Ecology

Comparative ecology of temperate rainforests of the Americas along analogous climatic gradients

Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat.

Proyecto conservación del huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus en Chile

Medio Ambiente

Observational study of behavior: Sampling methods

Behaviour

Mamiferos sud-Americanos

Beast the color of winter: The mountain goat observed

El huemul: Antecedentes historicos

Estudios fitosociológicos en las reservas forestales Alacalufes e Isla Riesco

Seasonal range selection in bighorn sheep: Conflicts between forage quality, forage quantity, and predator avoidance

Oecologia (Berl.)

El bosque magallinoc: cual sera su futuro?

Into the last outpost of the huemul

Int. Wild.

Chile's clearcuts

Equinox

Mountain sheep: A Study in behaviour and evolution

On the relationship of social evolution and ecology in ungulates

Amer. Zool.

Behavior: Adaptive strategies in mule deer

Seasonal movements of black-tailed deer

The social organization of antelope in relation to their ecology

Behaviour

Deer use in relation to forest clear-cut edges in Southeast Alaska

J. Wild. Manage.