Management implications of roe deer movement
1 Purpose: The objective is to resume field research in Norway on roe deer using GPS collars after an 8 year break..
2 Distress, Impacts: The impacts on animals are likely to be very minor. The main stress is associated with capture, but the use of box-traps which are tried and tested represent the most gentle method we have available. Risk of death is almost zero. The risk of injury is limited to minor skin abrasions or minor hair loss. Animal handling is less than 5 minutes because they are only manually restrained. Once released, the only impact is from the weight of the collar which is <1 % of adult body weight. Collars can cause some temporary, and highly localised, hair loss during the spring transition from winter coat to summer coat by causing winter hair to fall before the summer coat has emerged.
3 Scientific benefit: The benefit concerns obtaining knowledge of roe deer movement which is essential for multiple issues of practical management and theoretical scientific importance. Practically, movement data is essential for designating management units, managing harvest, understanding predator-prey interactions, targeting mitigation measures for vehicle collisions and managing potential disease spread. Because of the speed of environmental change (changing forestry practices, urbanisation, climate change, new disease outbreaks and the recent ban on winter feeding of ungulates) there is a need to periodically collect new data on animal movements. Theoretically, movement data from northern Europe, an extreme environment from a European perspective, is of great interest in collaborative efforts to understand the link between animal behaviour, environmental change, and ecosystem function.
4 Species and individuals: The research will focus on roe deer. In the 2 year period applied for aim to capture up to 30 individuals.
5 3Rs. Replacement is not possible as there is no other, non-invasive, methodology that can permit the collection of fine-scaled, spatially unbiased, individual movement data. Reduction is addressed through the sharing of data via the EURODEER network that makes all the data available to other researchers upon request. To date this cooperation has allowed the reuse of all previous data collected in past decades. These cooperations have also reduced the need to capture roe deer during the last 8 years, but we now see a need to begin updating our knowledge in light of the increasing pace of environmental change. Refinement is addressed using tried and trusted capture methodology and the lightest possible GPS collars, which are now <1% of body weight and lighter than previous generations, as well as the use of drop-offs. Collar material, shape, and fitting are optimised to prevent spring hair loss. The NINA team behind this application have been routinely capturing roe deer since the late 1980's, and therefore bring >30 years of experience.
2 Distress, Impacts: The impacts on animals are likely to be very minor. The main stress is associated with capture, but the use of box-traps which are tried and tested represent the most gentle method we have available. Risk of death is almost zero. The risk of injury is limited to minor skin abrasions or minor hair loss. Animal handling is less than 5 minutes because they are only manually restrained. Once released, the only impact is from the weight of the collar which is <1 % of adult body weight. Collars can cause some temporary, and highly localised, hair loss during the spring transition from winter coat to summer coat by causing winter hair to fall before the summer coat has emerged.
3 Scientific benefit: The benefit concerns obtaining knowledge of roe deer movement which is essential for multiple issues of practical management and theoretical scientific importance. Practically, movement data is essential for designating management units, managing harvest, understanding predator-prey interactions, targeting mitigation measures for vehicle collisions and managing potential disease spread. Because of the speed of environmental change (changing forestry practices, urbanisation, climate change, new disease outbreaks and the recent ban on winter feeding of ungulates) there is a need to periodically collect new data on animal movements. Theoretically, movement data from northern Europe, an extreme environment from a European perspective, is of great interest in collaborative efforts to understand the link between animal behaviour, environmental change, and ecosystem function.
4 Species and individuals: The research will focus on roe deer. In the 2 year period applied for aim to capture up to 30 individuals.
5 3Rs. Replacement is not possible as there is no other, non-invasive, methodology that can permit the collection of fine-scaled, spatially unbiased, individual movement data. Reduction is addressed through the sharing of data via the EURODEER network that makes all the data available to other researchers upon request. To date this cooperation has allowed the reuse of all previous data collected in past decades. These cooperations have also reduced the need to capture roe deer during the last 8 years, but we now see a need to begin updating our knowledge in light of the increasing pace of environmental change. Refinement is addressed using tried and trusted capture methodology and the lightest possible GPS collars, which are now <1% of body weight and lighter than previous generations, as well as the use of drop-offs. Collar material, shape, and fitting are optimised to prevent spring hair loss. The NINA team behind this application have been routinely capturing roe deer since the late 1980's, and therefore bring >30 years of experience.