The Alberta Boreal Deer Project: 2013 Report to PTAC

Woodland caribou are declining in Alberta’s northeast, and increased predation following elevated wolf densities is implicated. Wolf numbers are increasing in part due to white-tailed deer, which provide alternate prey for wolves. White-tailed deer are increasing in numbers and range in Alberta’s northeast boreal forest, changing wolf-caribou dynamics.  Although we know deer are expanding, our understanding of deer distribution within the expansion zone remains very limited. We don’t know how white-tailed deer select (or avoid) natural habitats, industrial features, or human footprint. Deer density is also unknown, as aerial surveys for white-tailed deer in the
boreal forest are uniquely challenged by dense conifer cover. Estimating boreal deer densities requires new techniques to overcome these problems. We are using a novel statistical approach that uses a combination of satellite collars on white-tailed deer, and remote cameras, to estimate deer density in the vicinity of the East
Side Athabasca River (Christina) caribou herd. Information on deer density and habitat selection will allow more effective deer management in the northeast boreal, and help assist woodland caribou recovery.
As of the end of the 2013 calendar year, we had satellite-collared 24 adult female white-tailed deer. Of these, 6 collars failed, and 13 deer died. As of this report 5 satellite collars are actively being monitored, and capture efforts are underway to deploy 15 more collars. We collected a year of data from the 60 remote infra-red cameras, and modeled white-deer distribution in relation to winter severity and forest composition.
Our main conclusions from this year:
1. Though the detectability of white-tailed deer via cameras is very high, the encounter rate of collared deer of cameras was low.
2. White-tailed deer distribution fluctuates among seasons.
3. White-tailed deer distribution shrinks in a severe winter, but rebounds quickly the following spring; expansion continues in the study area.
4. A combination of the amount of upland deciduous cover, and the percent of anthropogenic disturbance in the landscape, best explained annual white-tailed deer distribution in the region of Alberta’s northeast boreal forest.