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Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer
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Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Wildlife".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 7673

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Javier Pérez-González

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biology and Ethology Unit, Department of Anatomy, Cellular Biology and Zoology, University de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
Interests: population genetics; behavioral ecology; game management; red deer; wild boar
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The population sizes of wild boar and some deer species across Europe and Asia have increased significantly in recent decades. This trend has also been detected on other continents such as America and Oceania, where wild boar are an invasive species. Underharvest has been proposed as a major determinant that favors big game species. On the other hand, the number of hunters in regions such as Europe and North America has been declining for several decades, and this downward trend is expected to continue in the future. The densities of wild boar and deer deeply impact forest preservation and the spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, to deal with these threats to natural communities and human activities, it is necessary to improve current knowledge of the evolution and ecology of these species and to develop management strategies.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions on the evolution, ecology and management of wild boar and deer. The knowledge provided by these contributions could increase our chances of overcoming certain threats to biodiversity conservation and human activities.

Dr. Javier Pérez-González
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • evolution
  • ecology
  • game management
  • wild boar
  • deer
  • forest
  • infectious disease

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 113230 KiB  
Article
Automated Detection and Counting of Wild Boar in Camera Trap Images
by Anne K. Schütz, Helen Louton, Mareike Fischer, Carolina Probst, Jörn M. Gethmann, Franz J. Conraths and Timo Homeier-Bachmann
Animals 2024, 14(10), 1408; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14101408 - 8 May 2024
Viewed by 487
Abstract
Camera traps are becoming widely used for wildlife monitoring and management. However, manual analysis of the resulting image sets is labor-intensive, time-consuming and costly. This study shows that automated computer vision techniques can be extremely helpful in this regard, as they can rapidly [...] Read more.
Camera traps are becoming widely used for wildlife monitoring and management. However, manual analysis of the resulting image sets is labor-intensive, time-consuming and costly. This study shows that automated computer vision techniques can be extremely helpful in this regard, as they can rapidly and automatically extract valuable information from the images. Specific training with a set of 1600 images obtained from a study where wild animals approaching wild boar carcasses were monitored enabled the model to detect five different classes of animals automatically in their natural environment with a mean average precision of 98.11%, namely ‘wild boar’, ‘fox’, ‘raccoon dog’, ‘deer’ and ‘bird’. In addition, sequences of images were automatically analyzed and the number of wild boar visits and respective group sizes were determined. This study may help to improve and speed up the monitoring of the potential spread of African swine fever virus in areas where wild boar are affected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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11 pages, 538 KiB  
Article
Female Deer Movements Relative to Firearms Hunting in Northern Georgia, USA
by Jacalyn P. Rosenberger, Adam C. Edge, Charlie H. Killmaster, Kristina L. Johannsen, David A. Osborn, Nathan P. Nibbelink, Karl V. Miller and Gino J. D’Angelo
Animals 2024, 14(8), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14081212 - 18 Apr 2024
Viewed by 494
Abstract
Perceived risk associated with hunters can cause white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to shift their activity away from key foraging areas or alter normal movements, which are important considerations in managing hunting and its effects on a population. We studied the effects [...] Read more.
Perceived risk associated with hunters can cause white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to shift their activity away from key foraging areas or alter normal movements, which are important considerations in managing hunting and its effects on a population. We studied the effects of seven firearms hunts on the movements of 20 female deer in two Wildlife Management Areas within the Chattahoochee National Forest of northern Georgia, USA, during the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 hunting seasons. Deer populations and the number of hunters in our study area have declined significantly since the 1980s. In response, hunting regulations for the 2019–2020 hunting season eliminated opportunities for harvesting female deer. To evaluate the indirect effects of antlered deer hunting on non-target female deer, we calculated 90% utilization distributions (UDs), 50% UDs, and step lengths for pre-hunt, hunt, and post-hunt periods using the dynamic Brownian bridge movement model. Data included 30 min GPS locations for 44 deer-hunt combinations. Pre-hunt 50% UDs (x− = 7.0 ha, SE = 0.4 ha) were slightly greater than both hunt (x− = 6.0 ha, SE = 0.3 ha) and post-hunt (x− = 6.0 ha, SE = 0.2 ha) 50% UDs (F = 3.84, p = 0.03). We did not detect differences in step length, nor did we detect differences in size or composition of 90% UDs, among the periods. Overall, our results suggest that the low level of hunting pressure in our study area and lack of exposure to hunters led to no biologically significant changes in female deer movements. To the extent of the findings presented in this paper, adjustments to the management of hunting in our study area do not appear to be necessary to minimize hunting-related disturbances for female deer. However, managers should continue to consider female deer behavior when evaluating future changes to hunting regulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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11 pages, 475 KiB  
Article
Combination with Annual Deworming Treatments Does Not Enhance the Effects of PCV2 Vaccination on the Development of TB in Wild Boar Populations
by Javier Galapero, Alfonso Ramos, José Manuel Benítez-Medina, Remigio Martínez, Alfredo García, Javier Hermoso de Mendoza, Rocío Holgado-Martín, David Risco and Luis Gómez
Animals 2023, 13(24), 3833; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13243833 - 13 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 841
Abstract
Vaccination against PCV2 has been proven to be an effective measure to reduce the severity of TB in wild boar. The combination of this measure with strategies focused on treating other key concomitant pathogens, such as nematodes, could be a useful strategy. This [...] Read more.
Vaccination against PCV2 has been proven to be an effective measure to reduce the severity of TB in wild boar. The combination of this measure with strategies focused on treating other key concomitant pathogens, such as nematodes, could be a useful strategy. This study assesses whether a combination of deworming treatments and PCV2 vaccination may reduce the prevalence and severity of TB in wild boar. The study was conducted on five game estates in mid-western Spain where four groups of wild boar were produced: control, vaccinated, dewormed and vaccinated-dewormed. Wild boars from all groups were hunted between 2017 and 2020, and all of them received a TB diagnosis based on pathological and microbiological tests. Generalised linear models were used to explore the effect of deworming and PCV2 vaccination on TB prevalence and severity. PCV2-vaccinated animals showed lower probabilities of suffering severe TB lesions. However, no differences regarding TB severity were found between dewormed and non-dewormed wild boar. PCV2 vaccination reduces TB severity in wild boar. However, annual deworming does not produce a long-term parasitological reduction that can influence the development of TB in wild boar, nor does it improve the effect of PCV2 vaccination on TB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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16 pages, 1064 KiB  
Article
Population Dynamics of a Declining White-Tailed Deer Population in the Southern Appalachian Region of the United States
by Adam C. Edge, Jacalyn P. Rosenberger, Charlie H. Killmaster, Kristina L. Johannsen, David A. Osborn, Karl V. Miller and Gino J. D’Angelo
Animals 2023, 13(23), 3675; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13233675 - 28 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1178
Abstract
Although generally abundant, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the southeastern United States have recently experienced several localized declines attributed to reduced fawn recruitment following the establishment of coyotes (Canis latrans). The Southern Appalachians is a mountainous region suggested [...] Read more.
Although generally abundant, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the southeastern United States have recently experienced several localized declines attributed to reduced fawn recruitment following the establishment of coyotes (Canis latrans). The Southern Appalachians is a mountainous region suggested to be experiencing white-tailed deer declines, as harvest numbers and hunter success rates have substantially decreased in northern Georgia since 1979. Low fawn survival (16%) was also recently documented in the Chattahoochee National Forest (CNF) in northern Georgia, necessitating further examination. We radio-collared 14 yearling and 45 adult female white-tailed deer along with 71 fawns during 2018–2020 in the CNF to estimate field-based vital rates (i.e., survival and fecundity) and parameterize stage-structured population models. We projected population growth rates (λ) over 10 years to evaluate the current rate of decline and various other management scenarios. Our results indicated that the observed population would decline by an average of 4.0% annually (λ = 0.960) under current conditions. Only scenarios including antlerless harvest restrictions in addition to improved fawn survival resulted in positive growth (λ = 1.019, 1.085), suggesting these measures are likely necessary for population recovery in the region. This approach can be applied by wildlife managers to inform site-specific management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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13 pages, 3013 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Microsatellite and SNP Markers for Genetic Management of Red Deer
by Javier Pérez-González, Juan Carranza, Gabriel Anaya, Camilla Broggini, Giovanni Vedel, Eva de la Peña and Alberto Membrillo
Animals 2023, 13(21), 3374; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13213374 - 31 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1089
Abstract
The analysis of population genetic structure and individual multilocus heterozygosity are crucial for wildlife management and conservation. Microsatellite markers have traditionally been used to assess these genetic parameters. However, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are becoming increasingly popular. Our goal here was to determine to [...] Read more.
The analysis of population genetic structure and individual multilocus heterozygosity are crucial for wildlife management and conservation. Microsatellite markers have traditionally been used to assess these genetic parameters. However, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are becoming increasingly popular. Our goal here was to determine to what extent SNPs can provide better insights than microsatellites into the overall genetic status and population genetic processes in the species. To this end, we genotyped 210 red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the Spanish wild population with both 11 microsatellites and 31,712 SNPs. We compared parameters related to population genetic structure and individual multilocus heterozygosity obtained with both types of markers. Our results showed correlations between parameters measured using both microsatellites and SNPs, particularly those related to the level of genetic diversity and genetic differentiation. However, we found notably lower precision of microsatellites in measuring the distribution of genetic diversity among individuals. We conclude that microsatellites can be used to monitor the overall genetic status and detect broad patterns in red deer populations. Nevertheless, the greater precision of SNPs in inferring genetic structure and multilocus heterozygosity leads us to encourage scientists and wildlife managers to prioritize their use whenever possible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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11 pages, 471 KiB  
Article
Is the Intrasexual Competition in Male Red Deer Reflected in the Ratio of Stable Isotopes of Carbon and Nitrogen in Faeces?
by Giovanni Vedel, Eva de la Peña, Jose Manuel Moreno-Rojas and Juan Carranza
Animals 2023, 13(14), 2397; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13142397 - 24 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1046
Abstract
Isotopic analysis of carbon and nitrogen in faeces is a reliable methodology for studying ecology in wildlife. Here, we tested this technique to detect variations in carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in two different intrasexual competition [...] Read more.
Isotopic analysis of carbon and nitrogen in faeces is a reliable methodology for studying ecology in wildlife. Here, we tested this technique to detect variations in carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in two different intrasexual competition scenarios of male Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) using faeces of individuals collected during hunting actions in South-eastern Spain. The carbon isotopic ratio (δ13C) was not found to be significant, likely due to similar diet composition in all individuals. However, the nitrogen isotopic ratio (δ15N) was found to be lower in populations where sexual competition between males during the rut was higher compared to low-competition populations. Therefore, this study suggests a different use of proteins by an individual male red deer depending on the sexually competitive context in which he lives. Although further research is needed, these results show the potential of isotopic analysis as a tool for studying individual and populational variations in the level of intrasexual competition, with implications in evolutionary ecology and population management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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Review

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20 pages, 360 KiB  
Review
A Review of Cervidae Visual Ecology
by Blaise A. Newman and Gino J. D’Angelo
Animals 2024, 14(3), 420; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14030420 - 27 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1775
Abstract
This review examines the visual systems of cervids in relation to their ability to meet their ecological needs and how their visual systems are specialized for particular tasks. Cervidae encompasses a diverse group of mammals that serve as important ecological drivers within their [...] Read more.
This review examines the visual systems of cervids in relation to their ability to meet their ecological needs and how their visual systems are specialized for particular tasks. Cervidae encompasses a diverse group of mammals that serve as important ecological drivers within their ecosystems. Despite evidence of highly specialized visual systems, a large portion of cervid research ignores or fails to consider the realities of cervid vision as it relates to their ecology. Failure to account for an animal’s visual ecology during research can lead to unintentional biases and uninformed conclusions regarding the decision making and behaviors for a species or population. Our review addresses core behaviors and their interrelationship with cervid visual characteristics. Historically, the study of cervid visual characteristics has been restricted to specific areas of inquiry such as color vision and contains limited integration into broader ecological and behavioral research. The purpose of our review is to bridge these gaps by offering a comprehensive review of cervid visual ecology that emphasizes the interplay between the visual adaptations of cervids and their interactions with habitats and other species. Ultimately, a better understanding of cervid visual ecology allows researchers to gain deeper insights into their behavior and ecology, providing critical information for conservation and management efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolution, Ecology and Management of Wild Boar and Deer)
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